Flying with Blackwater over Baghdad, Iraq

Author: James Mattil

Blackwater USA was a controversial private security contractor in Iraq. Among their various missions were providing security details for embassy officials traveling around Iraq, and other covert missions. As an embassy official I/we were required to have an armed escort when traveling into the Red Zone for meetings with Iraqi officials.

In Nov. 2006, Blackwater hosted a confidence-building show of strength at the Baghdad parade grounds, famous for its gigantic crossed swords sculpture. They demonstrated their skills at infiltration and exfiltration while under fire. It was an impressive show and I took pictures, which I later offered to share with Blackwater in exchange for a ride in one of their Little Bird helicopters. I never expected to collect on that debt.

But Iraq is home to the unexpected and the next week my cell rang from a blocked number. Ron from Blackwater asked if I want to fly and could I report to LZ Washington within 10-minutes. As it happened, I was nearby and made our date.

Upon arrival the helo pilot, formerly from 160th SOAR Nightstalkers (Special Operations Air Regiment), asked if I had eaten recently. I thanked him for his hospitality but said i wasn’t hungry. He replied that he didn’t care, he just didn’t want me to puke in his bird. I reassured him and he said, “We’ll see.” I clamored into the seatless area behind the pilot’s seat. They quickly showed me the proper seating placement, which entailed sitting with my feet outside the helo, essentially standing on the side rails, hanging out of the helo. They said to hang on. You betcha!

Unlike regular planes we took off straight up, not forward, which was unexpected and flew straight up for quite a ways, then stopped very quickly. The we flipped over sideways, with me hanging out below the helo. This maneuver was intended to empty my stomach outside the bird, just in case. I actually thought we’d then drop down, land I’d I be happy. Wrong.

As the helo tipped back to level and my stomach settled returned to its original position, the pilot changed course, heading directly toward the Crossed Swords at Saddam’s former parade grounds. Whoosh we went beneath the crossed swords, veered upward and turned right toward the Al-Rasheed hotel. It seemed we would buzz the hotel, then pull up and over it. Wrong again, we flew directly at the hotel, then stopped just outside the guest room windows near the top floor. Might as well give everyone a thrill.

But enough flying around in the relative safety of the “heavily-fortified” Green Zone, off we went into the wild west of the unfortified at all, Red Zone. The Little Bird was darn fast buzzing low across the cityscape toward the Tigris River. Only then did it occur to me that I had not been asked to wear a helmet nor bullet-proof vest. We were like a flying duck for Iraqi insurgent target practice, as we sped onward to the Sadr City area, home to Iraq’s most militant militias.

Unable to draw fire from surprised insurgents, we turned back toward the river, flying just above the water as we approached a low bridge. God no! We couldn’t fly beneath that. At the last moment we pulled up and over the bridge, gained altitude and returned to LZ Washington and back to Earth.

As I gained my footing and my heart rate stabilized, I thanked the pilot, who told me not to tell anyone about the ride and simply walked away – all in a morning’s work. It was quite an unforgettable ride. But, what was the point if you couldn’t tell anyone?

The Nightstalkers actually do this for a living, flying at night into battle, drawing enemy fire for whatever the assigned mission.