Flashback 8

During Saddam’s time Al Asad Airfield was the second largest airbase in Iraq. It housed three fighter squadrons - the bulk of the Iraqi air force. The airfield is served by two main runways. It is located about 110 miles west of Baghdad and six miles southwest of a meander in the Euphrates River. It has numerous hardened shelters and hangars built by Yugoslavian contractors in the 1980s, and multiple runways and taxiways, patterned after Russian designs.

We arrived at the USMC section of Al Asad air base close to dark. The sea-can sleeping rooms we would call home for the next few days, were built into what was once an Iraqi air force semi-hardened aircraft revetment. A group of Marines had managed to concrete-bolt a well-worn hoop to a twenty-foot-high force protection barrier, and were playing basketball. A few more Marines were sitting around a (I kid you not) fire pit burning broken shipping pallets. While I was still unloading bags from our ride I spotted this scene of a Marine giving a haircut to another in the motor pool area. The ubiquitous MarineCorps ‘Semper-figh-and-tight’ doesn’t require a shampoo and hair dry afterwards, so I didn’t have long. I meant to go back at this and finish it later but forgot, and never did. Too late now.

I am here now as part of a small contingent of field artists working on behalf of the National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC) in Quantico, Virginia. We have been chasing the possibility of creating live art of Marines in Syria for the last two years. This trip is the culmination of all that planning. Two Marines and two civilians (two teams with one of each). Two youngies and two oldies. The civilians being the oldies. The plan was for us to spread out into Iraq and Syria over the next couple of weeks and illustrate the lives of USMC personnel in the field. That plan changed recently with the limitation of any access into Syria. We will now be limited to operations inside Iraq only. To call this a disappointment would be a massive understatement. We have spent all of the first week at Al Taqaddam Air Base about five miles west of Fallujah, before splitting up. Myself, and USMC Cpt. CJ Baumann are now here at Al Asad Air Base with a group of Marines who provide quick response force (QRF) coverage to Navy Seal special forces operations against holdout ISIS targets and supportive villages nearby.

After we had dumped our gear and gotten settled we joined Lt. Eames by the fire pit where we discussed options over the next few days. Just a bizarre scene. It was still well over 90 degrees out. Fantastic night sky though. By the ridiculous firelight the Lt. gave us the bad news that there was not much going on other than the QRF support. So, we were going to have a little downtime hanging around. We decided to make lemonade with whatever the Marines WERE doing, while hoping that the seals might have some art worthy mission going on before our time here expired.

So, we crossed our fingers and did what we do. We went looking for Marines to draw. We found some in the make-shift armory. They were on a constant rotation of weapons cleaning and magazine loading. Along one wall the QRF gear hung on cruciform after cruciform, ready to go at a moment’s notice. It was a great visual.

An individual wooden cross supported all of the gear for one Marine in one place ready to put on in a hurry should it be required. So, I started out with a sketch of the body armor, weapons, ammo, and Kevlar of one of the Sergeants. There is so much personality in all the well-worn kit. It is worn from rough living as the Marines put it on and take off dozens of times every day.

This sketch below is of Cpl. Jean-Claude diligently polishing and lubricating a .50 cal machine gun. I had started out drawing a still life of personal equipment hung on the gear crucifix. Jean-Claude was so focused on the weapons cleaning that he didn’t notice me change my attention to him. He was a great big bloke who almost managed to make the heavy machine gun look small.

On another night sometime after two in the morning we joined three Marines on guard duty outside the armory. Only two of them were actually on shift, the other had just come to help them pass the hours. They were playing a never-ending game of UNO to pass the time. The banter and piss-taking was more or less constant with the conversation bouncing from topic to topic. Much of it was irreverent, to someone, somewhere. Some of it would have made Howard Stern raise an eyebrow. Bits of it would have made him blush. But it was good natured and designed to help the time pass. I taught them an additional (much more vindictive than usual) rule to the UNO game that my kids use, and they adopted it immediately. The banter went on continuously as the never-ending game played on.

In some ways it is these simple scenes of military life outside of the obvious militaristic vistas that I find I enjoy drawing most of all. Not the predictable rifle-toting scenes but the images of the mundane aspects. Men and women, going about duties that allow a little relaxation to creep in. The haircutting, the weapons cleaning, the filling of magazines, or playing cards to pass the time.

Marines are taught that violence of action and the unrestricted use of speed, strength, surprise, and aggression are the keys to achieving total dominance against your enemy. But additionally, I feel, the ‘racking-out’ skill is one that cannot be underestimated. Being less exhausted than your enemy has to count for something. And with enough imagination everything starts to look like a bed. “If in doubt, rack-out.”

The ability of Marines to rack-out at the slightest opportunity also makes for great art. Providing I can manage to stay awake myself long enough to draw. Those scenes in repose while recovering from a day of soldiering, or Marine-ing in this case, tell a story. On a C-130 flight I took the opportunity to sketch exhausted Marines in the hold of the plane. The flight was relatively smooth compared to the Osprey ride, and once my eyes had adjusted to the limited green light, it was just like drawing on the subway into DC back home.

Spotting an opportunity for sleep is key. I have a sketch I remember of a US Army Sgt. and Cpl. In the back of an MRAP rolling through the Afghan desert looking for the source of rockets hitting FOB Shank each night. Each response of the rocket hunters patrol usually coincided with some kind of IED attack along their route. It was their third such mission in as many days in a deadly game of whack-a-mole. Rather than wait nervously for the inevitable IED, in spite of the stress, they took to napping. I have another sketch of a US Army soldier sitting on a force protection barrier in full kit doubled over at the waist, head down, leaning on his rifle, and snoring quietly. He was waiting for a Chinook helicopter after a two-day operation out of COP Mizan. These are real warriors. Just real-tired warriors as well.

Unfortunately, this is not the vision that any public affairs would like to be released to the public. It doesn’t fit well with the ‘ever-vigilant’ visual they like to promote. But I think it tells a story of the humanity and fragility. And artistically of course this kind of a subject is too easy an opportunity to miss.

I caught this sketch of one of the USMC load masters utilizing this well-honed napping ability. He had kept his headphones on in case he was suddenly needed of course. The floor of a Marine C-130 is a bed of nails - torture chamber of hooks and rollers designed to keep the average human awake all night, unless you are a Marine in need of the sleep, in which case not even sudden turbulence will rouse you.