Category: Iraq

Bag, CHECK, and Bag Check

I got my bar of soap everything else I need, and I’m in Logan’s international terminal waiting to get on British Airways flight 238. It’s 7 a.m., and as you can see the sunrise is spectacular.

I picked up a new backpack last night that fits all my reporting equipment perfectly, and my checked bag was 45 lbs., well under the limit.

It was -2 degrees outside at 4 a.m. when I got in the car to drive here. When I came through security I got to go around the full body scanner that’s caused such a commotion in recent weeks, but they did have to pull apart my backpack. It was carefully packed so all three of my microphones, both my cameras and both my audio recorders fit. When they saw that on the screen they let me know they were going to have to pull it apart (as I knew they would). Luckily it was 6 a.m., so the security checkpoint wasn’t crazy.

There’s nothing like an airport on a Saturday morning. Aside from the occasional threat level announcement (currently orange) the mellow pop music combines with the constant stream of CNN, conspiring to lull me to sleep.

I figured out that while I’m landing in Kuwait at 6 a.m. tomorrow, to me it’s going to feel like 10 p.m. tonight. I’m interested to see how my body deals with that. I’m going to be on an “overnight” flight from London to Kuwait at what should feel like the late afternoon. Yum.

OK, I’m even more on my way. The next three days will be more of the same, because it won’t be until 5:30 p.m. Monday that I get to Baghdad, and then the following day when I get to FOB Kalsu. But I have a friend in Kuwait and a reserve unit in Baghdad to visit with, so none of it should be too bad. I even have friends in the U.K. I’d love to see, but I don’t have 24 hours there. So we’ll see what I come across in the next 72 hours.

Smile

I’m officially on my way. I’ve left my house, so hopefully I’ve got everything I need. I grabbed a quick shot of myself, bulletproofed up with Mount Washington in the background, for NHPR. I have to admit, if I can make this happen in the long-term, coming home to northern New Hampshire while reporting from around the world, then I’ll have found the perfect lifestyle.

I’ve still got to get that soap, and I’ve got to make sure my luggage weighs less than 50 lbs., but otherwise I’m ready to go. And since I’ve left home for the last time before my feet hit sand I feel I’ve officially started the journey.

Now I just need to capture sound and shots along the way…

Last Night

It may seem strange that I call this post “Last Night” even though it’s two nights before I leave, and probably four nights before I reach Baghdad. But it’s my last night in my house, my last night to get my things together. I am fully outfitted, I think, except I need to grab a bar of soap. That’s it. Other than that I’ve checked off every piece of equipment on my list. Some pieces I’ve checked off twice.

Redundancy seems to make sense when your going to be half a world away. Baghdad has an eight hour time difference, so maybe my posting will be a little close to when people expect it. I’ll be putting photos, videos, all sorts of material up. Hopefully it piques some interest.

I have two cameras, two microphones and two audio recorders. I’ve got extra socks, a sleeping bag, two puffy jackets (my friend Bryan who served during the war warned me it’s cold there this time of year) and a hat. I’ve got ballistic goggles and ballistic sunglasses, and a spoon and a fork.

I hope I’m ready. I’m as ready as I’m going to get. I’ve got to get a picture of myself tomorrow for NHPR, so they’ll have something to post to the mini-website. And then I’ve got to go to work for the day. It’ll likely be a long day, since it’s basically the day before the most intense vacation of my life.

I’ll keep things flowing to LPJ, as well as NHPR. If I haven’t posted here in 24 hours, look for it at NHPR. I’ll be shooting video, posting photos, making journal entries and uploading audio. It’s going to be multimedia, for certain, as it should be.

The news director at NHPR was looking at photos of FOB Kalsu, and he said it didn’t look like there’s a lot to do there. I said that means I’ll have plenty of time to work. His response: “With all that time on your hands, it better be good.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Bulletproof

As you can see, I’ve got a bulletproof vest and helmet. The vest covers less of me than I would like it to, and the helmet is too big, but they should work. I have armor-piercing plates in the front and back of the vest, which make it weigh about 15 lbs. It certainly isn’t fast or light.

So I’ve been looking around at who I’ll be with when I first get there. I fly out to FOB (Forward Operating Base) Kalsu a few days after I get there, and that’s where I’ll spend the majority of my time. I’ll be with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which has at least 13 New Hampshire soldiers. They are active duty, which means it isn’t quite the same as the units I had requested (one reserve, one national guard), but I certainly have no complaints.

I can’t say I look dashing in my outfit, but I’m glad it got here on time. I’m still waiting for a few more pieces of the puzzle, but I think overall I’m set. I’ve still got two days of work to get done at the Sun before I leave, but overall I’m pulling it all together.

NHPR is working to set up a little mini-website off their normal site so I can fully document my trip, with photos, stories and one-on-one interviews. It’s great to have their support, as well as the support of my coworkers in Conway.

Speaking of support, I received calls from a friend I haven’t heard from in six months today. He heard I was getting ready to ship out and he had to call. It’s funny what these sorts of events inspire in people.

And I have to say, I have the utmost respect for the people who do this for real. I’m going for a couple weeks to tell soldiers’ stories, but what do you say about the soldiers themselves, on a year long tour, with real concerns about getting shot or killed? My wife is going to be sad to see me leave until February. I can’t imagine what her reaction would be if it was until NEXT February.

So I’m preparing to leave with conflicting feelings of excitement and reverence. I hope to be able to connect people back home with those sacrifices, to help them better understand what soldiers and their families go through. I don’t even understand it yet, but I hope to be able to get it across.

Three Days…

I have my bulletproof vest and helmet, my ballistic goggles and my sleeping bag. I’m still waiting on a new microphone for the road, but I’m pretty much set to go.

So here’s the plan — I’ve been talking to NHPR about what we’re going to do, and they’ll be linking here to LPJ. I’m sending them a number of regular length feature stories, on topics from what the day to day is like to how soldiers relax in their time off. I’m also going to sit down for four one on one interviews with soldiers. Those will get sent back and posted to NHPR’s website. And I’ll send back a couple batches of photos. They’re going to put a place on their website for people to ask questions if they want to, in order to make it interactive.

I’m hoping to create an audio slideshow or two by combining the photos with the soldier interviews. We’ll see how that goes.

I’ve also got the Sun. I’m hoping I can make connections with Mount Washington Valley soldiers or North Country soldiers, to run in the Conway or Berlin Daily Sun. I may also send back dispatches, but the specifics of that have not been discussed.

And I’ll be doing some other statewide stuff for the Union Leader. I haven’t hashed out the details with them yet, but I’ll be looking for stories that don’t fit into the Sun’s purview for that.

Granted, with the vest rental, airplane ticket and equipment I’ve bought I don’t see this being a money-maker, but the business of journalism seldom is these days. I’m going to be telling a story people haven’t heard lately. That’s the value in the trip.

I’ve still got one more package to get, and then I’m good to go. I also cleared up the last questions about a visa, so I should be good there as well. And I might get to meet up with a friend in Kuwait before I fly into Baghdad, so that’s even more good news.

I’ve got two weeks to tell a story that’s been almost eight years in the making — I don’t see that happening to it’s full potential. But it’ll be a start, and if I like it it’ll be one among many. So here’s to Saturday morning flights…

Five days…

Ok, so things are getting crazy. I’ve got budget committee meetings, and selectman meetings, and Leadership North Country and everything else with five days left to go. I got my ballistic goggles today, and my vest and helmet should be here on Wednesday. I admit I feel I’ve fallen a bit behind on LPJ in the last day or so, but that’s because I’m trying to get my time in with my wife while still preparing for my trip.

I’ll be heading to FOB Kaslu, south of Baghdad, for the first week, to hook up with New Hampshire soldiers. I laid out plans with the news director at NHPR today for the type of stories I’ll be sending back. It’s a little crazy now, but once I’m on the bus to catch a plane to catch another plane to go to an embassy to catch another plane to get an ID badge and ride on a helicopter it will all be back to normal. Except I’ll be in Iraq.

What is a soldier’s day like? What is modern deployment like? Is it what they expected? What are they doing? I’m ready to just ask the most basic questions, because for so many people back home it’s just so unimaginable. Hopefully I can bring some of that back.

I’ll have more, lots more, as I get there and get into this. Right now, I’m still trying to keep up with the hill I started running down. So far so good.

Step Two: Ballistics

I spent almost $3,000 today.

Not really, but sort of. I picked up a few items for reporting, and I rented my bulletproof vest. All together it was about $2,600, but a big chunk of that was the security deposit that will hopefully be returned when I get back. And the equipment, while important for this trip, will be part of my tech repertoire for years to come.

I also got some good news today — the New Hampshire Union Leader wants to carry my stories. Now, in addition to the work for NHPR and the Conway Daily Sun, I’ve got a third media outlet on board.

That means I’ll almost make back my investment in this trip. Maybe I’ll even make a few dollars? Doubtful.

I’ve been jokingly telling people “it’s cheaper than grad school” whenever they ask why I’m going to Iraq. The truth is I’m both nervous and excited, and I know the experience will be worth the expense. And as I get closer I feel more and more like I’ve made the right decision. I want to make sure soldiers, whether they are from the Mount Washington Valley, the North Country, New Hampshire or elsewhere, are not forgotten. Iraq is in transition that the administration isn’t calling war, but those soldiers are serving nonetheless. They deserve recognition, and the public needs reminders every once in a while.

I’ll be posting a lot on my way there, I imagine — LPJ will serve as my war logs. When my equipment comes in I’ll make sure to toss up some photos, and I also plan to chronicle as things happen.

I’m all set, I think, other than I still need my visa, but otherwise I should be good to go. Vest, helmet and goggles are all in the mail, and I’ve got a shotgun (microphone) coming too. It’s now past midnight, so I have a week left. I’ll have to try not to hold my breath.

A Bit More…

A quick addendum to that last post: it was this image that got me thinking more about photography lately and really jazzed up about its storytelling power. Look at it for a moment. Click on it, and read the full caption. It comes from a photo essay titled Jim Comes Home, shot by Todd Heisler when he worked for The Rocky Mountain News.

(The Rocky Mountain News shut down in early 2009, when the newspaper industry seemed to be imploding alongside the banking sector. The industry has since revived a bit, but the News was never resurrected.)

This is just one in a series of photographs Heisler shot that took my breath away. Even now, as I write this post, I have to avoid processing the image to keep writing. It makes me cry. That’s what a photograph is supposed to do.

Heisler took second place in the Pictures of the Year International competition in 2006. It’s no wonder why. I look at these photos and I think about the profession I’ve chosen, the task I’ve been entrusted with, every time I try to tell someone’s story. That’s what he did so eloquently, and it shaped people’s views on events a world away. That’s what reporters, photographers, the media are entrusted to do. When they do it well, like Heisler did, it gives all the rest of us something to aspire to.

U-Turns

I heard an illustrative measurement about what it takes to be a great photographer today. U-turns. How many U-turns someones makes will tell you how great a photographer they are. If you’ve ever seen a great shot as you’ve driven past, you’ll understand.

I’ve got a shot I’ve always wanted to take. I’ve seen it twice now, once today, with a camera in the car but not stopped. The first time I saw it was earlier this fall, on the side of Interstate 93. There was a dead moose laying on the side of the road. It was early, and late fall, so the light was pale blue, not warm. After I shot passed on my way south I realized the photo I wanted: from on the ground, laying next to the moose, with his (or her, I didn’t notice) body filling most the frame, but with cars zooming past in the background.

Yesterday, on my way to a meeting, on U.S. Route 3, I saw another moose. I had my Lumix next to me on the seat, but I was running late and in professional clothes that would have shown I had been laying in the dirt. This time I knew what I wanted, and I thought of it first, but again I didn’t stop to make it happen.

I didn’t make the U-turn. Shots don’t wait around for photographers to get them. They disappear. The moose gets cleaned up, the ball flies through the net, the soldier’s body hits the ground. And it is up to the photographer to be there, and to be ready.

The classic phrase is the decisive moment. Ever try to capture that? Ever try to be in the right place at the right time, just when the action happens? I’m not talking about landscapes, which are challenging enough by themselves. I mean action, when people are there and doing something. Those moments are hell to capture, but that’s what a great photographer does.

I’m not a great photographer, but I love the medium. I can produce good shots when I need to, but the real professionals blow me a way.

But that idea — U-turn, turn around, make the shot the priority — that has power. It is enough to turn a mediocre photographer into a good photographer, and maybe a good one into an excellent one. I’m not sure, but it’s something I’m going to try to carry with me as I embark on 14 days of exploration, where my camera should never leave my hand (except when I’ve got a microphone in it).

The photo up top, by the way, I did turn around for, and I can prove it: that’s my wife and her sister walking away on the left side of the frame. It’s not a great photo, but it illustrates my point. A few more U-turns are in order.

New Class

I took a couple classes over at Plymouth State this past semester to beef up my transcript in case I ever decide to go to graduate school. I have a minor in economics, but I needed to fulfill a few prerequisites to be eligible for some of the schools I am interested in.

I’ve got a ton going on, of course, so I don’t foresee myself going anywhere anytime soon, but I figured as long as I’m somewhat near a school and have the time and the money I should just get it done. I’d love to study journalism, to really dig into it, but going into debt for journalism and then coming out to a sour job market doesn’t sound like a great plan. Who knows where journalism is headed, but having $50,000 in baggage isn’t going to speed me on the journey.

But then I found this. It’s a graduate-level journalism class aimed at 21st century media, without the classroom. I follow the professor, Mindy McAdams, on Twitter, and I was psyched when she posted the course material. The questions about privacy, activism and the online world that she poses are just the sort of discussions I love to engage in, but they only come up once in a while in the day to day of the newsroom. It’s a chance to check back into those questions, which may not make up the forefront of a reporter’s day, but they are pervasive in the background.

So I’m going to try to tackle as much of it as I can over the coming weeks, although I’ll have to integrate it into an otherwise pretty busy schedule. Oh well, it’s not like I’m afraid of a little work. I am taking a vacation to Iraq, after all…