… and we’re back!
So let's start with:
You are creating an impression for the general public that operating an aircraft around Tallil is not operating "in a combat zone", and that operating into Tallil is no different to operating into Richmond, New South Wales.
Not quite! I’m saying that in my opinion, the province of Dhi Qar, and the area around Tallil is one of the safest in Iraq.
However, YOU are creating the impression to the general public that it isn’t safe to fly around Tallil due to attacks on ground troops taking place over 20 km away.
The fact that there have been attacks on ground troops is a testament that the local “bad guys” have both the willingness and the means to do so. Why not ask instead why there haven't been attacks on aircraft around Tallil (I can't go into the reasons here - the answer is there in the public domain)
And please don’t put words in my mouth. Just like I never mentioned Basra over a month ago, I’ve made no mention of Richmond, NSW.
You were a pax. Was the profile flown exactly the same as flying into Richmond? Probably a bit hard to tell from the cargo compartment I guess.
I’ve said this at least twice before, but you don’t appear to be listening. So, ONCE AGAIN, I’m NOT basing my opinion from being a pax; I’m basing my opinion on my having lived in Tallil for some months, and being clued up on the local threat environment. I’m still in daily contact with people there, and I keep up to date.
Well thankfully you don't do the threat assessments for the ADF,
I’ve done more than my fair share, thanks very much, and one of the factors is the likelihood of the event occurring. That factor is affected by "many things" (that again I'd rather not go into here) as well as the history of such events in that area, so whether there have been any similar attacks in the past 12 months is significant.
you'd have had the guys flying circuits for fun on weekends and driving around in a Commodore so long as they still within B miles of the circuit area.
Okay… AGAIN, please read back to one of my previous posts. It’s not unknown for aircraft to do circuits there. There are no commodores in Tallil, but plenty of SUV’s, quad bikes, bicycles, pedestrians, joggers, etc.
And for your "a" through "g" questions and how they add all this “extra stress”? I don’t know. But I’d have thought that someone who has
passed a military pilots course, logged several thousand hours operating C-130's and was upgraded to a captain, undergone significant flying training to become qualified to operate into an area of operations as crew on a military aircraft, and has done so.
would be able to cope with the extra workload. Particularly as I'm assuming you'd do some significant pre-deployment training.
I await your reply. We CAN do this via PM.
DIVOSH!