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Former enemies joined for lunch in the spirit of friendship at Balad AB, Iraq, on 20 July. Six Iraqi Air Force pilots and ten American pilots shared stories at a dining facility and then took pictures in front of an F-16. Despite speaking different languages, the pilots had no problems understanding each other. Like pilots everywhere, the Iraqi pilots used hand gestures to describe their flying. Lunch was the idea of Col. Khaled Khadem, the former deputy commander at Balad AB before Operation Iraqi Freedom began, who approached Col. Blair Hansen, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander, about the possibility of bringing a few Iraqi pilots together with the American pilots.
Photo By A1C Heather Norris
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