The Wild Roads of Iraq

[talllguy]

Greetings road enthusiasts,

I had the great honor of serving the United States of America in close combat during the Iraq War. My service dates were during the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the beginning of Operation New Dawn. My military job involved logistics, mostly over-the-road hauling of goods, utilizing the M915 Line-Haul Tractor Truck and the Heavy Equipment Transport System (M1070 & M1000). I also had the role of public affairs representative, and took many pictures during the deployment.

As a roadgeek, I had my camera (as well as my rifle) at the ready at all times. I took these pictures of the landscape and highways that traversed the desert nation of Iraq, over the course of many logistics supply missions. While my unit was attacked by bombs and bullets, I was very fortunate to avoid major injury. I hope you enjoy, and please comment on any particular roadgeek worthy shots. As usual, click through any to get to the full shot on flickr.

First, just one for context:


On to the road:


Passing on the left. Note the stellar curb and gutter, and pavement markings.


Wide open road.


Will it fit?


No clearance issues here


DOT approved loading?


Checkpoints


So that's what happened to my old car.


A trestle.

These were in and around Erbil, where things are a bit more civilized.


Helvetica?!


Iraqi sign salad looks better than many I've seen stateside. Note that posting of snipe signs will result in summary execution.


We never got pulled over.


Their version of the BGS.


Recycling symbol (traffic circle) and arrow per lanes. Note the non-functional traffic signals there.


Arrow per lane sign.


Traffic cops...

The rest of these are at assorted times and places, mostly around Mosul.


Wise to heed this warning.


Riding into town.


No bike horns.


All vehicles will be...


Failure to comply will result in personal danger. Sorry for the delay.

Best,
talllguy

[agentsteel53]

great stuff!!

Helvetica?!

nah, looks to be Transport, the British standard font.  "Transport Heavy" as seen there is the equivalent of Series EM; "Transport Medium" is Series E.  one is supposed to use heavy for dark-on-light and medium for light-on-dark, but these signs look to me to all be using heavy, regardless of contrast polarity.

"speed checked by radar" is in compressed Arialveticverstesk.  you just can't get away from that shit, can you!?  (makes me wonder which of the Arabic fonts are correct, and which cause those with a knowledge of both Arabic writing and basic graphic design principles to shudder.)

Note that posting of snipe signs will result in summary execution.

what is a snipe sign?

[talllguy]

what is a snipe sign?

That was a sarcastic remark (about execution anyway), but snipe signs are those illegal H state signs you typically see on the road side that say things like "We buy houses. CA$H." or "Homes for Sale -->".

Maryland's website for reporting road issues uses the term for all unofficial signs people post on roads w/o permit.

[corco]

Awesome! These are great pics- thanks for your service and thanks for sharing

[agentsteel53]

That was a sarcastic remark (about execution anyway), but snipe signs are those illegal H state signs you typically see on the road side that say things like "We buy houses. CA$H." or "Homes for Sale -->".

that definition does not clearly explain the difference between "snipe" and "bandit".  perhaps one bips and one does not?

I had never heard the term "snipe sign"; given that we're talking about places near and in a war zone, I thought you had meant "those posting signs about where snipers are hidden will be shot by said snipers".

just to learn more... what is an "H state sign"?

[agentsteel53]

also I note that some signs have what appears to be two different Arabic-looking texts.  Arabic and Kurdish?  furthermore; I'm assuming the three-language signs are in the north (larger proportion of Kurdish speakers) - valid guess?

[talllguy]

That was a sarcastic remark (about execution anyway), but snipe signs are those illegal H state signs you typically see on the road side that say things like "We buy houses. CA$H." or "Homes for Sale -->".

that definition does not clearly explain the difference between "snipe" and "bandit".  perhaps one bips and one does not?

I had never heard the term "snipe sign"; given that we're talking about places near and in a war zone, I thought you had meant "those posting signs about where snipers are hidden will be shot by said snipers".

just to learn more... what is an "H state sign"?

Ah yes, I should have used a better choice of words, I have no idea how the term snipe sign was defined. Also the H stake is a fashioned metal wire sign mount/frame that can be stuck into the earth with minimal effort. The wire that points up is the right diameter so that a corrugated vinyl sign fits nicely over it. They typically litter roadways here in Md, with political advertisements and home for sale type things. They are very inexpensive to produce.

also I note that some signs have what appears to be two different Arabic-looking texts.  Arabic and Kurdish?  furthermore; I'm assuming the three-language signs are in the north (larger proportion of Kurdish speakers) - valid guess?

That is probably correct. I do not speak either, but since this was up in Kurdistan, that would make sense.

[Zeffy]

Nice pictures! Thanks for serving our nation, and thanks for taking the time to take these pictures and share them with us. 

[formulanone]

Thanks for your photos and your service!

(Ah, now there's a term for those annoying signs: "Snipe/bandit signs"...always wondered that.)

[hm insulators]

Same here!

[Jim]

I agree with the other comments.  These are some of the most interesting pictures I've seen posted on this forum.  Thanks for sharing (and for your service).

[xcellntbuy]

Fascinating and interesting photos.  Thank you.

[talllguy]

Fascinating and interesting photos.  Thank you.

I agree with the other comments.  These are some of the most interesting pictures I've seen posted on this forum.  Thanks for sharing (and for your service).

Same here!

Thanks for your photos and your service!

(Ah, now there's a term for those annoying signs: "Snipe/bandit signs"...always wondered that.)

Nice pictures! Thanks for serving our nation, and thanks for taking the time to take these pictures and share them with us. 

Thank you all for the support!

[nexus73]

Put some stripes on those roads and it would look like SoCal's High Desert is my impression of the countryside.  I am curious, are the majority of the Iraqi roads divided?

Rick

[talllguy]

Rick,

Most of our convoys used the main routes, because most of the US forces bases were along them, outside of the city centers. Those routes were called Main Supply Routes (or Alternate Supply Routes) by the USA. The particular one in most of the photos is called MSR Tampa. Each of the main routes had an NFL Football name. There were other names for the ASRs. I believe MSR Tampa was locally Route 1. It was definitely Iraq's I-95, traveling from north to south, through all the major cities.

The MSRs were usually super 2s. There was never any guardrail or roadside anything, because that would provide a nice hiding place for roadside bombs. When there was guardrail, we would use backhoes and other heavy equipment to rip it up. Kind of the opposite of American road maintenance procedures

Side routes were typically two lane blacktop, nothing too exciting. The lack of road markings can probably be attributed to heat and lots of wear. They were probably marked under Saddam.

Outside of that one city, I never saw a single road sign that looked official. Any road signs were more like white paper with sharpie. There were definitely no speed limits outside of the major cities. It was not uncommon to get passed by late 90s model S500s passing at top speed. We also witnessed some horrific auto accidents, including one where there were some deaths. Our medics tried to help, but were not able to recover this poor man. I watched him die on the asphalt. They had 6 people (in a row) crammed into a tiny sedan that was T-boned by an SUV at speed. There was pretty much no kind of law on the roads.

Interestingly, our convoys were long and slow, and didn't allow people to pass (for fear of Vehicle Borne Explosive Devices). So, the locals would pass us on the left, in the opposite carriageway! You can see it in the picture going under the arch thing. The would just drive across the median and then go the wrong way on the other carriageway, it was pretty crazy to watch. Lots of bad things happen when you take two vehicles going 90+ and put them on a narrow unmarked asphalt strip heading towards each other.

It was a wild place. Over this latest winter I did actually miss the endless heat, but that's about all I miss.

[J N Winkler]

I echo what others have said--this is really good stuff.

Helvetica?!

nah, looks to be Transport, the British standard font.  "Transport Heavy" as seen there is the equivalent of Series EM; "Transport Medium" is Series E.  one is supposed to use heavy for dark-on-light and medium for light-on-dark, but these signs look to me to all be using heavy, regardless of contrast polarity.

The signs in question appear to follow Italian design rules, probably because they were erected by an Italian contractor.  My impression (formed after looking after Iraqi sign photos posted elsewhere on the Web) is that Iraq under Saddam hired outside contractors to build its roads, but did not have a very well-articulated set of native standards, so each contractor followed whatever standards prevailed in its home country.  Other signs with photos available on the Web use SNV (the former Swiss traffic sign typefaces, still used in Belgium), DIN-Schrift, etc.

These signs do use Transport Heavy but are recognizably Italian rather than British owing to the following features:  (1) a special condensed derivative of Transport Heavy (used only in Italy) for long names, (2) layout of the urban direction signs, (3) some of the symbolism (e.g. the "City center" symbol), and (4) filled-barb arrows.

[Duke87]

Cool stuff!

What is the purpose of that structure with "no clearance issues here"?