VIP PAX
We had an opportunity to take Adm. Timothy Keating, the commander of Central Command's naval forces, into Baghdad for a meeting with Gen. Tommy Franks on 16 April. We did a lot of planning for threats and flew a minimal risk route into Baghdad. We carried chaff and flares and came in by combat approach. We landed on a parallel taxiway because of debris on the runway.
     — Lt. Cmdr. Chris Saindon

Tough Schedule
We had a lot of eighteen-hour days. We got eight hours of sleep every thirty-six hours whether we needed it or not. We were flying every other day for a while, and then it got to be we flew once every couple of days. We were flying sixty to seventy hours every month in March, April, and May. We were down to forty hours by June.
     — Maj. John Raulston

Above The Fight
The contribution of the U-2 to the war effort is sometimes hard to see. We provide imagery so the strikers have a good look at their target before they go in. We're looking at the target after they strike it to assess battle damage. We're gathering lots of information on other emissions. The pilot is detached from a lot of this collection. We are far above the fight. We can see all the shooting and all the missiles going off. But we're usually not interacting directly with the guys who are performing those strikes. Everything we collect gets disseminated electronically and we don't see most of it. The pilot seldom, if ever, sees the pictures he takes. But we know those images are important.
     — Maj. Tom Parent

Sand Effects
We saw a lot of things with the aircraft we don't see at home. The air conditioning worked great for the first month, but then sand started building up. Maintenance had to get a pressure washer to blow the sand out of the oil coolers. The props were sandblasted.
     — TSgt. C.M. Madden

Technical Advances
This was the first time we used the Litening pods in combat. It was also the first time we integrated that with SADL, which allowed us to network the jets together. We could see information within our flight as well as information from CAOC and also tracks for the JSTARs. The system did away with a lot of the communication requirements and allowed us to get our sensors looking where we wanted them to look much quicker. If the CAOC had a point of interest, or JSTARs had a mover they were interested in, they would put the coordinates on the network. We'd select it and then, zing, the targeting pod would be focused on that location immediately. We could then provide real-time intelligence or destroy it if necessary. We could also send them images of the point of interest after we landed.
     — Lt. Col. Sammy Black

Misfit Toys
Nobody really understands a U-2 pilot like a U-2 pilot. I call our U-2 squadron the Land of Misfit Toys. Everybody here is a little bit different. You need a unique quality to operate the U-2.
     — Maj. Jeff Olesen

Competitions
Baghdad had a little bit of everything—Reservists, Army, Navy, British, youngsters, experienced guys—all working to get the job done. We all helped each other. We couldn't go anywhere, so we concentrated on work. The various groups competed to get the cargo downloaded and uploaded the fastest.
     — SMSgt. Clinton Foster

Air Force Food
Thank goodness for the Air Force and their Services people. If they hadn't shown up, we were looking at a lot of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. The galley that was first set up was only open at certain times, usually when we were leaving, gone, or coming back. When the Air Force got there, they were open twenty-four hours. They also made our in-flight meals.
     — Lt. (j.g.) Samantha Poteete