Honestly, this is probably my favorite DCS video that you've done yet. All the reminiscing and little tidbits of Mover trivia, along with the really nice map just kinda set the whole thing off.
My twin brother was flying all over this area in 2006 as a pilot in the Blackhawk UH-60. I purchased him this map so he could show me where he flew during his three tours in country. It has been awesome to listen to the different stories and perspectives. TOMCATS!
I love that military pilots are able to share their experiences like this with DCS. Gaming creates a whole new genre of social psychology within the veteran community. Also, IDK why but my cat watched this entire video with me so you got his approval! Thank you for your service!
As a young paratrooper I went into Iraq on day one of the ground invasion in 2003. It was chaotic to put it lightly. We could always count on the people in the air to help us out when we needed it though. Thanks Mover.
My first non-graded sortie was combat support in Dec '03, hauling cargo from the dirty Deid to Somalia. I logged the last hours I needed for my training eastbound over the pond. My second solo was my first combat mission, Deid to Bagdad and back. We lost an engine on the way out. Oh, and that was after my first missile warning just after takeoff from Bagdad. We held low cleaning up in ground effect, zoom climbed at the end of the runway, got the warning, popped flares, and went right back down to the deck standing on the left wingtip, pulling all the G we could get with not much airspeed. I only had a vague idea what was going on. At least I didn't pee myself.
I spent 15 months there (Sep 07’- Dec 08’. We would do convoy escorts from VBC, north up to, Taji, JBB , Speicher and Diamondback. We typically would stage at Camp Striker or Seitz Annex. We always had the best view of the F16’s departing VBC into the night from the convoy staging lanes
My father used to fly the mig 21 fighter jet During Saddam Hussein's regime in the Iraqi air force , he served at balad airbase many times as a fighter pilot and retired in 2021 Now balad airbase is the home of the Iraqi f16s
2:30 “15 Aug 2015 #85-1549 Collided with #85-1546 shortly after landing at Nellis AFB around 1120h local. The mishap was caused by pilot error of both landing aircraft. The aircraft came in too hard and landed long on the runway without applying proper braking and aerobrake procedures. This in combination with the other aircraft not vacating the runway in the right manner caused this mishap. The pilot suffered life threatening injuries. The airframe was considered a complete write-off due to extensive fire damage.”
As of Oct 11, 2016 85-1549 lives on Tail number 85-549 was placed on another F-16 air frame and is currently on display at the Houma Terrebonne Airport in Houma, LA.
I remember watching F16 take off at night and once they got to altitude and shut the burner off and the lights off...they were just gone. i always felt better being able to just hear them above us.
Crazy how we went over there, made nothing better, and offed a bunch of random people... I think we won't ever do that ever again, I'm so embarrassed o.O
No one in my family was ever in the military, so I don't have much connection to it. That said, I could sit and listen to videos like this, just a vet sharing stories of their time in service, all day long. Thanks for this.
i really enjoy authentic videos like this. When i meet someone who had experiences like this, of course i want to ask questions about it.. but i also dont want to annoy the person... So thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the tour of the base. I flew Guardrail in 2003 when our hangar and runway were still cratered. It's nice to see that the hole in the hangar has been repaired. 😁
Brilliant mover, especially love the real footage that’s included in this video. Looking forward to seeing typical sorties you would carry out. Love the content and podcast, say hi to Gonky and wombat too. Love from the UK
I was deployed for tcn duty to Balad in 06. I watched them upgrade the airfield lighting and build a new pad on the fingers down on y'all's end. Green Mountain Boys were there at the time, and I remember standing just short of the hold line watching them takeoff. Thanks for bringing me some great memories! As for the new map, I didn't see any mortar craters (or "chips"/scratches/blemishes/imperfections, etc) on the taxiway while you were taxiing out. 😄
I’ve been to “Mortoritaville” almost a half dozen times while providing convoy security. It was during the draw down during Operation New Dawn in 2011. For me, just looking at the map in mission editor brought back memories and feelings. Our second mission, about a click or two outside the gate at Balad and our lead truck got hit with an IRL (Improvised Rocket Launcher). Basically 2 RPG warheads attached to rockets. No one as hurt, it hit the back of the Caiman MRAP, and went right through it.
Great video sir. And I thought I recognized that bird. 85-1549, former 13th FS bird when I was at Misawa in the 14th FS, "91-"93. It's a shame she's no longer with us after that fubar mishap at Nellis. Keep up the great videos sir and Code 1 for life!
As someone who will probably only ever fly planes in sims, it's really cool to see just how close these sims have come to the real thing. Like, it's insane that Mover can just take off and explain where what happened when he deployed there not too long ago. Crazy.
Map looks really great, especially in these lighting conditions. Would be awesome seeing you and Casmo doing some heli action. "alien roof structure" - Wombat's tic tac confirmed landed and transformed in Baghdad. 😅
Brings back a lot of memories, ive been holding off getting this map just because of that. Hopefully 4ya, rotorheads etc. will start making missions on other maps cuz caucus is getting old AF.
@@CWLemoinethis map truly looks amazing, thanks very much for this video and putting the map in proper context for us. Map *is* heavy; DCS VR must be one of those real actual use cases for the 5090 (w/9800x3d+64) coming out, but even the 4090 (w/7800x3d+64) renders it well on my triple qhd 32s. (I also have a combined racing/flight rig, love it).
It is so cool to see this, and hear these stories, about what it's like, and also crazy to think as a DCS pilot that it is pretty realistic and that the views are similar to what real pilots viewed as well. It was a little bit sad you didn't set up a sandstorm and then do an ILS landing, I know they've been improving dcs's weather heavily (plus there's the bandit Weather mod also) I have practiced a lot of ILS landings in different aircraft and had heard that if you can't see the runway you are supposed to divert if the is visibility is ultra bad , so it's cool to hear one option in real life was use the ils all the way down.
I was stationed at Balad in 2009, but I was in the army doing escort duty for KBR convoys. Our barracks were right behind your flightline and your engines woke us up all the time!
Great vid Mover! Hope you do more of these…really enjoy your trip down memory lane. What would really be great too would be to see you in one of the Multiplayer servers dishing out some F-16 punishment and narrating your thoughts of how and why. Stay safe!
Dang what a trip. I was there with Signal in 04. I did comms for the building next to the movie theater, then moved to the airfield to run phones there. I went inside a few of those trapezoids! Did tower guard at 33, just off the airfield. Saw mainly little birds, but I did get to see an F16 in anger once. This video even got my blood pressure up, crazy accurate.
Loved your stories and videos. I have learned a lot about being a pilot from watching your breakdowns, DCS tournaments and vids like this. Would love a MOVER STORY TIME while you fly. Like i just now learned that you deployed in '09. I didnt know that and its super cool to see.
Just came back from Iraq not too long ago flying 64s around most of Iraq except the southern portion. Would be interesting to see the similarities. Will have to check out the Sinjars and the mountains around Sulay and Bashur. There's a pretty sweet valley we flew up that's just north of Bashur, some really big mountains up there. Different perspective from you of course since we fly much lower and slower lol. Furthest south we ever got was AAAB, and man, the flight from Erbil to AAAB at night was the blackest black I've been in. Even being up NVS didn't help break out anything. Didn't make it to Baghdad as 64s are banned from flying around Baghdad. Must bring up some bad memories for the locals seeing 64s lol. To answer your fishing question - yes. We flew up around Mosul Dam a lot and there's a pretty big lake up there. We'd sometimes find dudes on the TADS on boats out there.
Was there 2005-2006, U.S. Army. Lots of....fun! Can't wait to "return" there myself once I get the map(sorry, DCS: A-10C II). Thank you for uploading! And thank you for your service!(If interested, I do have a video of a C-5 taking off from Balad(Yathrib), view from runway 12. But, I'm sure you saw enough of that also 😄.) Awesome video!!!
I was at Anaconda from 04-05. Mostly happy with it, but the buildings are a lot different than when I was there with none of the trailers or T barriers set up where are housing was. Also, the covered motorpool on Texas Ave is just a building. Tried to fix it and add all the helicopters, fencing, buildings, etc but my framerates drop to 30 when I look at them.
That’s funny you mentioned the mortars on washer machine timers. Because it was 4 120mm RPG’s. One went right over my billets next to the launder facility. Then two next to our compound which was right next to the strip. Where they would pull at test the jet engines.
I love it when you do flying videos in the F-16 (that was the bird I supported in the AF). However, I have a small request; could you show more of the instruments in the video? I think it is interesting to see what the plane is doing when you are maneuvering around the sky!! I just wish I was up there with you!! Keep doing what you do!!
My husband was in Iraq 06-07 extended 3 mo. and again mid 09-10. Not always at BIAP, passed through Balad many times. Mostly very small FOBS. Started 06 in Mosul Then moved to Camp Lyberty. Right next to BIAP. Then Aghan 2012. The stories. Only talked about the good times. Served with the Strykers.
Thank u for your service. My dad was Vietnam (us army) I always wanted to be a pilot. Never tried. I watch alot of your videos. Im a content creator myself I cover more paranormal and fringe topics. I really appreciate your channel. Its always something interesting
had to do a little background check on that jet you were taxiing in that clip at 2:30 and it looks like it rear ended another viper at red flag 15-4 resulting in a fire and for the airframe to be written off
Thanks for this! I'd been hoping someone qualified would review Balad in the new map. I crewed Block 40s with the 555th FS in Balad 2005-06, including the alert shack for Christmas week ’05. I can still close my eyes and remember my way around the HASs, how the AMU was set up, and most of the bus ride back to the sleeping trailers. Got my first up-close look at an RQ-1 there, too. Going back through my photos, I actually found a couple shots of tail 85-1553 from the 457th at Balad, dated 2 Jan 2006. Before your deployment but, hey, small world!
Hey we were in Balad at the same time. I worked as a contractor in Iraq from 2008 to 2011. Did many trips to Balad and got woken up by F-16 taking off right next to my CHU.
i honestly didnt know they actually model it after the city i just went to google earth and looked at it as you were flying over Baghdad international and was pretty much identical landscape.... again i dont play dcs but i do enjoy watching it
In 1985 while serving in VA-174 Hellrazors we had a maintainer arm the seat and ejected himself into the hangar, he had a suicide note in his room in the barracks.
6:10 Night flying in Iraq away from population centers is no joke. Dark AF and due to haze there isn't really a horizon 'line' but a gradual transition. All my night time there is under NVG, but on zero illumination nights, it was something.
My personal record for daily sorties was summer of '08 when we spent one day just hopping back and forth from Balad to Bagdad, 10 legs in one day. That was as horrible a day as I've had in the air.
They usually set rockets on timers, not mortars. We whacked a few guys who were dumb enough to shoot mortars at us. If you got more than one or two rockets from the same point, they were generally 57mm rockets laid out on corrugated roofing material. If you only got one or two, it was probably a 107mm.
I was also there in 2009! There's a 99.9% chance I put gas on your jet! Map looks about 90% What I remember on the air force side of the base. I also remember that roundabout ; D.
I just took some guys I fly (virtually) with on a tour around Afghanistan RC South and Kandahar a couple days ago, first time playing tour guide. I was there '09-'10. Surreal seeing the sights and describing all the areas we flew around. It was a bit sanitized below 1000' AGL, but generally correct. I was near Balad, Iraq (Samarra East) in '04-'05. Never saw it from your perspective though.. Looking forward to RC East and J-bad.
Great to see you flying over AW Fal palace just on the outskirts of Baghdad airport. Spent a few days sleeping on the balcony of that place, when we drove temporary buildings for the British Embassy from Kuwait to Baghdad in April 03. Just normal Uk trucks painted pink, no armour, certainly no body armour, didn’t get that until June 03, and then only the flak innards, never saw a ballistic plate. 😂😂😂🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️ Was a interesting😊 drive to Baghdad and back, that’s for sure.
This video is FAKE
Umm.. It’s DCS.
Someone can't read video titles
@@CWLemoine I think he was being sarcastic :)
Lol now you're pinned buddy
😂🤦♂️
I like how you intersperse your real footage.
Dude you looked so damn cool sitting in that F-16.
2009 was 16 years ago! Damn I'm getting old.
Me too. Me. Too.
So much better than the alternative though!
Cool vid
@@digitalperson108can’t find love pst 50 tho! 😊
@@pricelessppp nah, stay healthy and fit…it’s out there.
@@digitalperson108 to the point it over takes your other goals? I want to find love before than.
Honestly, this is probably my favorite DCS video that you've done yet. All the reminiscing and little tidbits of Mover trivia, along with the really nice map just kinda set the whole thing off.
Agreed. Would love to see more throwbacks to his real service.
My twin brother was flying all over this area in 2006 as a pilot in the Blackhawk UH-60. I purchased him this map so he could show me where he flew during his three tours in country. It has been awesome to listen to the different stories and perspectives. TOMCATS!
I would love to hear those stories, thought about putting a channel together?
Spent time in that double HAS you taxied past about a year later....not simulated and not winter. Very cool Map. Thanks for the demo.
I love that military pilots are able to share their experiences like this with DCS. Gaming creates a whole new genre of social psychology within the veteran community. Also, IDK why but my cat watched this entire video with me so you got his approval! Thank you for your service!
Well put
As a young paratrooper I went into Iraq on day one of the ground invasion in 2003. It was chaotic to put it lightly. We could always count on the people in the air to help us out when we needed it though. Thanks Mover.
No doubt, I'll never forget it and the air support! I was there with you in the Marines.
USMC 1999-2007
"We'd play a game of I-spy"
"And then we'd put our targetting pod on it" Hahaha from wholesome to operator real quick
The Viper is such a beautiful machine. Our Dutch air force fully retired her last year. Now our only fighter is Fat Amy. It brought a tear to my eye.
Not fully retired - 24 of them are headed to Ukraine for a 2nd career
Vreselijk 😢
Watching you fly over Baghdad International (BIAP) brings me back memories too (deployed 2006-2007, US Army)
8:56 is so real
My first non-graded sortie was combat support in Dec '03, hauling cargo from the dirty Deid to Somalia. I logged the last hours I needed for my training eastbound over the pond. My second solo was my first combat mission, Deid to Bagdad and back. We lost an engine on the way out. Oh, and that was after my first missile warning just after takeoff from Bagdad. We held low cleaning up in ground effect, zoom climbed at the end of the runway, got the warning, popped flares, and went right back down to the deck standing on the left wingtip, pulling all the G we could get with not much airspeed. I only had a vague idea what was going on. At least I didn't pee myself.
I watched a 130 out of BIAP get clipped by an RPG and had an engine fire on the left wing in 03....makes me wonder
I spent 15 months there (Sep 07’- Dec 08’. We would do convoy escorts from VBC, north up to, Taji, JBB , Speicher and Diamondback. We typically would stage at Camp Striker or Seitz Annex. We always had the best view of the F16’s departing VBC into the night from the convoy staging lanes
My father used to fly the mig 21 fighter jet During Saddam Hussein's regime in the Iraqi air force , he served at balad airbase many times as a fighter pilot and retired in 2021
Now balad airbase is the home of the Iraqi f16s
WoW omg i love it.
Thank a lot CWL for what u share !
2:30 “15 Aug 2015 #85-1549 Collided with #85-1546 shortly after landing at Nellis AFB around 1120h local. The mishap was caused by pilot error of both landing aircraft. The aircraft came in too hard and landed long on the runway without applying proper braking and aerobrake procedures. This in combination with the other aircraft not vacating the runway in the right manner caused this mishap. The pilot suffered life threatening injuries. The airframe was considered a complete write-off due to extensive fire damage.”
Movers Viper got destroyed! 😢
FYI Mover took good care of her, he was NOT the pilot flying during the mishap.
As of Oct 11, 2016
85-1549 lives on
Tail number 85-549 was placed on another F-16 air frame and is currently on display at the Houma Terrebonne Airport in Houma, LA.
I was there in 09 as well with the 301st. Thanks for the video.
2:53 Did we just get the Mover origin story?
You get a like right at the start cuz of the selfie in the Herk. You're gonna make Gonky jealous.
I remember watching F16 take off at night and once they got to altitude and shut the burner off and the lights off...they were just gone. i always felt better being able to just hear them above us.
Crazy how we went over there, made nothing better, and offed a bunch of random people... I think we won't ever do that ever again, I'm so embarrassed o.O
No one in my family was ever in the military, so I don't have much connection to it. That said, I could sit and listen to videos like this, just a vet sharing stories of their time in service, all day long. Thanks for this.
i really enjoy authentic videos like this. When i meet someone who had experiences like this, of course i want to ask questions about it.. but i also dont want to annoy the person... So thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the tour of the base. I flew Guardrail in 2003 when our hangar and runway were still cratered. It's nice to see that the hole in the hangar has been repaired. 😁
Love nostalgic experiences. Great upload!
I was at Balad at the same time as you. The new map brought back memories. I was a little disappointed they don’t have the pool in the sim.
Very cool, thanks Mover!
Brilliant mover, especially love the real footage that’s included in this video. Looking forward to seeing typical sorties you would carry out.
Love the content and podcast, say hi to Gonky and wombat too.
Love from the UK
I was deployed for tcn duty to Balad in 06. I watched them upgrade the airfield lighting and build a new pad on the fingers down on y'all's end. Green Mountain Boys were there at the time, and I remember standing just short of the hold line watching them takeoff. Thanks for bringing me some great memories! As for the new map, I didn't see any mortar craters (or "chips"/scratches/blemishes/imperfections, etc) on the taxiway while you were taxiing out. 😄
When I was there, mortars made chips in the taxiway, not craters.
Cool. I too enjoy splitting hairs.
I’ve been to “Mortoritaville” almost a half dozen times while providing convoy security. It was during the draw down during Operation New Dawn in 2011. For me, just looking at the map in mission editor brought back memories and feelings. Our second mission, about a click or two outside the gate at Balad and our lead truck got hit with an IRL (Improvised Rocket Launcher). Basically 2 RPG warheads attached to rockets. No one as hurt, it hit the back of the Caiman MRAP, and went right through it.
The thing that’s missing from the map?
The trash everywhere. If the trash was in the map it would be perfect.
@ lol so true, plus water bottles and chem sticks
And the rest of when we're down on the lake fishing, we look up and think about zooming around the sky in an F-16 🙂
My favorite Mover's F-16 DCS video so far!
the way you make that approach, the angle, is so perfect i always think you will overshoot but im always wrong.
Good one Mover! Love hearing the stories and very cool how you wove in the real footage.
Great video sir. And I thought I recognized that bird. 85-1549, former 13th FS bird when I was at Misawa in the 14th FS, "91-"93. It's a shame she's no longer with us after that fubar mishap at Nellis. Keep up the great videos sir and Code 1 for life!
As someone who will probably only ever fly planes in sims, it's really cool to see just how close these sims have come to the real thing.
Like, it's insane that Mover can just take off and explain where what happened when he deployed there not too long ago. Crazy.
I love that there is a Crew Chief stand (Giant Halon fire bottle on wheels) in the shelter on the right. Realism to 100!
Congrats on the DOF! I got my H3 last year and you can hardly get me put of it. No better way to sim!
Map looks really great, especially in these lighting conditions. Would be awesome seeing you and Casmo doing some heli action.
"alien roof structure" - Wombat's tic tac confirmed landed and transformed in Baghdad. 😅
I worked in the motorpool off to the left that you passed on takeoff. It is absolutely surreal.
I did the same thing with Afghanistan in KAF and Farah. It was cool showing the family where I was.
Brings back a lot of memories, ive been holding off getting this map just because of that. Hopefully 4ya, rotorheads etc. will start making missions on other maps cuz caucus is getting old AF.
The Iraq map is a huge step up in quality compared to all the others. You should see it in 4k res.
OBS downscaled it during recording. It’s 4K native on my screen.
@@CWLemoinethis map truly looks amazing, thanks very much for this video and putting the map in proper context for us. Map *is* heavy; DCS VR must be one of those real actual use cases for the 5090 (w/9800x3d+64) coming out, but even the 4090 (w/7800x3d+64) renders it well on my triple qhd 32s. (I also have a combined racing/flight rig, love it).
Thanks for sharing your real life experience with us virtual pilots
It is so cool to see this, and hear these stories, about what it's like, and also crazy to think as a DCS pilot that it is pretty realistic and that the views are similar to what real pilots viewed as well. It was a little bit sad you didn't set up a sandstorm and then do an ILS landing, I know they've been improving dcs's weather heavily (plus there's the bandit Weather mod also)
I have practiced a lot of ILS landings in different aircraft and had heard that if you can't see the runway you are supposed to divert if the is visibility is ultra bad , so it's cool to hear one option in real life was use the ils all the way down.
I’d imagine you count yourself lucky to have something like dcs to be able to relive your career. Thanks for sharing man. Love your channel
Thank you for sharing your experiences, we are lucky to have you in DCS
I was stationed at Balad in 2009, but I was in the army doing escort duty for KBR convoys. Our barracks were right behind your flightline and your engines woke us up all the time!
Really enjoyed that! Best Viper landing I've seen! Great Job!
Great vid Mover! Hope you do more of these…really enjoy your trip down memory lane. What would really be great too would be to see you in one of the Multiplayer servers dishing out some F-16 punishment and narrating your thoughts of how and why. Stay safe!
Love the Viper. Brought back nostalgic memories of playing Falcon 4.0 on my Windows 98 machine.
loved the splicing of your real world footage at the start.
Dang what a trip. I was there with Signal in 04. I did comms for the building next to the movie theater, then moved to the airfield to run phones there. I went inside a few of those trapezoids! Did tower guard at 33, just off the airfield. Saw mainly little birds, but I did get to see an F16 in anger once. This video even got my blood pressure up, crazy accurate.
Loved your stories and videos. I have learned a lot about being a pilot from watching your breakdowns, DCS tournaments and vids like this. Would love a MOVER STORY TIME while you fly. Like i just now learned that you deployed in '09. I didnt know that and its super cool to see.
Just came back from Iraq not too long ago flying 64s around most of Iraq except the southern portion. Would be interesting to see the similarities. Will have to check out the Sinjars and the mountains around Sulay and Bashur. There's a pretty sweet valley we flew up that's just north of Bashur, some really big mountains up there. Different perspective from you of course since we fly much lower and slower lol. Furthest south we ever got was AAAB, and man, the flight from Erbil to AAAB at night was the blackest black I've been in. Even being up NVS didn't help break out anything. Didn't make it to Baghdad as 64s are banned from flying around Baghdad. Must bring up some bad memories for the locals seeing 64s lol.
To answer your fishing question - yes. We flew up around Mosul Dam a lot and there's a pretty big lake up there. We'd sometimes find dudes on the TADS on boats out there.
Cool vid, Mover. Didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did.
One of the coolest bits of taxi footage of an F16. Gorgeous bird.
Was there 2005-2006, U.S. Army. Lots of....fun! Can't wait to "return" there myself once I get the map(sorry, DCS: A-10C II). Thank you for uploading! And thank you for your service!(If interested, I do have a video of a C-5 taking off from Balad(Yathrib), view from runway 12. But, I'm sure you saw enough of that also 😄.) Awesome video!!!
Now…..just to get you back in a REAL Viper. And don’t ever say “Those days are over!” 😂
There’s a lot of us that have faith!
I love your enthusiasm, but sadly, probably not.
@CWLemoine Just remember…..there ARE privately-owned Vipers out there……lol
That brings back memories. I was there for the first push in 2003.
Thanks for sharing your footage!
USMC 1999-2007
I was at Anaconda from 04-05. Mostly happy with it, but the buildings are a lot different than when I was there with none of the trailers or T barriers set up where are housing was. Also, the covered motorpool on Texas Ave is just a building.
Tried to fix it and add all the helicopters, fencing, buildings, etc but my framerates drop to 30 when I look at them.
That’s funny you mentioned the mortars on washer machine timers. Because it was 4 120mm RPG’s. One went right over my billets next to the launder facility. Then two next to our compound which was right next to the strip. Where they would pull at test the jet engines.
One of the coolest video you made! I love hearing your stories and experiences flying.
I was in Mosul in 09-10. Recently got this map as well. Man the memories.
...they should add T- walls and hesco barriers, they were put all around for a full experience 😂
I love it when you do flying videos in the F-16 (that was the bird I supported in the AF). However, I have a small request; could you show more of the instruments in the video? I think it is interesting to see what the plane is doing when you are maneuvering around the sky!! I just wish I was up there with you!! Keep doing what you do!!
My husband was in Iraq 06-07 extended 3 mo. and again mid 09-10. Not always at BIAP, passed through Balad many times. Mostly very small FOBS. Started 06 in Mosul Then moved to Camp Lyberty. Right next to BIAP. Then Aghan 2012. The stories. Only talked about the good times. Served with the Strykers.
Thank u for your service. My dad was Vietnam (us army) I always wanted to be a pilot. Never tried. I watch alot of your videos. Im a content creator myself I cover more paranormal and fringe topics. I really appreciate your channel. Its always something interesting
just did the math and I was in iraq at the same time as you. Can't believe 2009 was 16 years ago. I even spent time in Balad.
had to do a little background check on that jet you were taxiing in that clip at 2:30 and it looks like it rear ended another viper at red flag 15-4 resulting in a fire and for the airframe to be written off
Thanks for this! I'd been hoping someone qualified would review Balad in the new map.
I crewed Block 40s with the 555th FS in Balad 2005-06, including the alert shack for Christmas week ’05. I can still close my eyes and remember my way around the HASs, how the AMU was set up, and most of the bus ride back to the sleeping trailers. Got my first up-close look at an RQ-1 there, too.
Going back through my photos, I actually found a couple shots of tail 85-1553 from the 457th at Balad, dated 2 Jan 2006. Before your deployment but, hey, small world!
Thanks for sharing the past deployment and service.
Hey we were in Balad at the same time. I worked as a contractor in Iraq from 2008 to 2011. Did many trips to Balad and got woken up by F-16 taking off right next to my CHU.
Would love to see you team up with longshot and growling sidewinder for a sortie.
20 years Iraq, Afghanistan.
And in a few years it will be a footnote in history, largely forgotten.
And Vietnam will remain on top.
I was there as well in 2009!! As a crew chief with the WIANG.
I remember those HAS’s and the alert area!
Were you the one that painted “Wisconsin Time” with an arrow to the clock in HAS 25?
@TDDummermuth I did not we were there 3 times and I twice could have been any of us lol. I suck at painting though
@ I was there twice. Summer/fall of’08 and Dec-Feb ‘09-‘10 with the SDANG.
i honestly didnt know they actually model it after the city i just went to google earth and looked at it as you were flying over Baghdad international and was pretty much identical landscape.... again i dont play dcs but i do enjoy watching it
"I remember that roundabout" is such a wild moment to capture on camera.
In 1985 while serving in VA-174 Hellrazors we had a maintainer arm the seat and ejected himself into the hangar, he had a suicide note in his room in the barracks.
That's a creative way to go about it.
"Everything reminds me of her" caught me off-guard and had me laughing.
6:10 Night flying in Iraq away from population centers is no joke. Dark AF and due to haze there isn't really a horizon 'line' but a gradual transition. All my night time there is under NVG, but on zero illumination nights, it was something.
My personal record for daily sorties was summer of '08 when we spent one day just hopping back and forth from Balad to Bagdad, 10 legs in one day. That was as horrible a day as I've had in the air.
Great vid Mover. Really cool to see the irl clip in the Spad bird.
I did Balad in 2007. I was in charge of the intel cell at the JDOC.
They usually set rockets on timers, not mortars. We whacked a few guys who were dumb enough to shoot mortars at us. If you got more than one or two rockets from the same point, they were generally 57mm rockets laid out on corrugated roofing material. If you only got one or two, it was probably a 107mm.
Great job...well worth the time. More DCS content would be welcomed.
I was in Balad in 20221-2022 and that map is still very accurate. And Baghdad for over a year recently, very accurate to this day as well.
"Everything reminds me of her." @8:56 😅😅😅
I was also there in 2009! There's a 99.9% chance I put gas on your jet! Map looks about 90% What I remember on the air force side of the base. I also remember that roundabout ; D.
I just took some guys I fly (virtually) with on a tour around Afghanistan RC South and Kandahar a couple days ago, first time playing tour guide. I was there '09-'10.
Surreal seeing the sights and describing all the areas we flew around. It was a bit sanitized below 1000' AGL, but generally correct.
I was near Balad, Iraq (Samarra East) in '04-'05. Never saw it from your perspective though..
Looking forward to RC East and J-bad.
9:42 - Meanwhile on the ground, you'd be staring off into the desert nothingness, zoning out and thinking of basically that exact same thing. 😂
Great to see you flying over AW Fal palace just on the outskirts of Baghdad airport. Spent a few days sleeping on the balcony of that place, when we drove temporary buildings for the British Embassy from Kuwait to Baghdad in April 03. Just normal Uk trucks painted pink, no armour, certainly no body armour, didn’t get that until June 03, and then only the flak innards, never saw a ballistic plate. 😂😂😂🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
Was a interesting😊 drive to Baghdad and back, that’s for sure.
thing i like about mover is hes genuine fighter material
I like that you even configured the same loadout :)
This has me wanting to get back into DCS
I was in Balad in 2009 as well, crazy the detail they put into it.
I was stationed in Balad in 05-06 I was a UH-60 Crew Chief with 4-101 Avn
C co. Black Widows
Wow, that was great to see. Thanks Mover
Lake Tharthar, the body of water you saw about halfway thru video had fishermen when I was there.
Hey Mover, interesting idea for the campaign, reposition the aircraft in the night and miss the spot... I'm wandering how to script it already :D