Desert Storm Iraqi bring backs

[ScottG]

Although Iraq was oil rich and boasted the largest army in the Arab world, the quality of their general equipment I see featured here and elsewhere on the forum etc., seems to be of rather poor quality. Would that be a reasonable assumption to make?

 

In the last war (2003) I would say that it is more than a reasonable assumption. Iraq was crippled by economic sanctions and forced to try and develop their own means of supply for a very large military. Prior to 1991 it was a different story with countries like France providing berets, L'berge camouflage, and of course Mirage aircraft. The U.K. allowed Iraq to license the DPM pattern camo and even the Compton Web Group had a large contract with Iraq, supplying uniforms, field gear, and body armor. The Italians provided field communication gear and patrol boats. Hyundai and Daewoo of South Korea were also huge contributors. All of this combined with the former Soviet satellite suppliers makes for an interesting bag of goods and of course varying quality. Scott.

 

[agate hunter]

Very nice items and the gem there is actually the shoulder boards on the shirt. They are a printed version commonly used during the Iran-Iraq War but largely phased out during Desert Storm and pretty non-existent by OIF. As for the duffle bag, they are all marked that way, it is called a "Jihm" and is simply the acceptance mark for the Ministry of Defense, just like ours are marked U.S. A very nice haul of stuff from an up and coming area of collecting. Scott

 

Thanks for the comments. I've been told by others that they have never seen the printed shoulder boards before either.

[agate hunter]

Another close up of the shoulder boards.

 

 

[abn325]

Those Sumer (blue-box) cigarettes were AWFUL, Miamis were the tolerable ones!!! Great stuff, thanks for sharing!!!

[mmerc20]

When I was in AIT in 95, we had a reclass soldier who was in Desert Storm and we somehow got on the topic of bringbacks. He told me about an Iraqi diary he brought home (never showing it to anyone for potential intel). I convinced him that after Christmas break to bring it back so I could see it.

 

It was quite impressive and even had a pic of Saddam in the back with Arabic that translated to roughly "god bless saddam." I offered him $100 for it at the time (as a new E2 that was a lot) but I didn't press the issue. I wish I had gotten it. It is certainly something I regret.

 

I know he was in the AZ Guard and know his last name. I just wish I remembered more and could track him down.

 

Mike

[abn325]

When I was in AIT in 95, we had a reclass soldier who was in Desert Storm and we somehow got on the topic of bringbacks. He told me about an Iraqi diary he brought home (never showing it to anyone for potential intel). I convinced him that after Christmas break to bring it back so I could see it.

 

It was quite impressive and even had a pic of Saddam in the back with Arabic that translated to roughly "god bless saddam." I offered him $100 for it at the time (as a new E2 that was a lot) but I didn't press the issue. I wish I had gotten it. It is certainly something I regret.

 

I know he was in the AZ Guard and know his last name. I just wish I remembered more and could track him down.

 

Mike

Thats awesome, my old PSG brought back a tea cup and saucer that he found in a bunker during Desert Storm, I used to give him a hard time about it, until we went to and came back from OIF-1 together….then I understood.

 

Cool story brother!

 

-RICH

[thorin6]

Just saw this thread and thought I’d show a few things I brought back from Desert Storm. Starting at 12 o’clock, there is a police medal given to civilians for service (given to me by a Kuwaiti citizen), an Iraqi flag on top of an Iraqi helmet with a net, two signal flags for a tank platoon leader, an Iraqi swagger stick, a Kuwait City map off the wall of the American Embassy in Kuwait City, two berets with insignia-the maroon beret has Iraqi airborne wings, an AK-47 bayonet from Failaka Island, an Arabic map of the City on top of an Iranian flag, and an Iraqi surrender flag on top of a Kuwaiti flag. In the center is a map of all the minefields laid by the Iraqis during the occupation. It was the first edition made by British, French, and US topographic engineers; only about 20-30 were initially made before they were revised with the latest information. I asked for a copy of the old map and they gave it to me. I’ve got several other things, but this is the only picture I’ve ever taken of any of it.

 

 

 

 

[abn325]

Awesome group man!!! Especially the Iranian flag, Iraqi surrender flag and the Failaka bayonet!!! I was on Falaika in FEB of 2003 preparing for the invasion, surprisingly the island is now a resort!! You should check it out on-line, no joke!!! Great group, thanks for sharing, glad you made it back ok brother.

-RICH

Just saw this thread and thought I’d show a few things I brought back from Desert Storm. Starting at 12 o’clock, there is a police medal given to civilians for service (given to me by a Kuwaiti citizen), an Iraqi flag on top of an Iraqi helmet with a net, two signal flags for a tank platoon leader, an Iraqi swagger stick, a Kuwait City map off the wall of the American Embassy in Kuwait City, two berets with insignia-the maroon beret has Iraqi airborne wings, an AK-47 bayonet from Failaka Island, an Arabic map of the City on top of an Iranian flag, and an Iraqi surrender flag on top of a Kuwaiti flag. In the center is a map of all the minefields laid by the Iraqis during the occupation. It was the first edition made by British, French, and US topographic engineers; only about 20-30 were initially made before they were revised with the latest information. I asked for a copy of the old map and they gave it to me. I’ve got several other things, but this is the only picture I’ve ever taken of any of it.

 

 

 

 

 

[agate hunter]

Just saw this thread and thought I’d show a few things I brought back from Desert Storm. Starting at 12 o’clock, there is a police medal given to civilians for service (given to me by a Kuwaiti citizen), an Iraqi flag on top of an Iraqi helmet with a net, two signal flags for a tank platoon leader, an Iraqi swagger stick, a Kuwait City map off the wall of the American Embassy in Kuwait City, two berets with insignia-the maroon beret has Iraqi airborne wings, an AK-47 bayonet from Failaka Island, an Arabic map of the City on top of an Iranian flag, and an Iraqi surrender flag on top of a Kuwaiti flag. In the center is a map of all the minefields laid by the Iraqis during the occupation. It was the first edition made by British, French, and US topographic engineers; only about 20-30 were initially made before they were revised with the latest information. I asked for a copy of the old map and they gave it to me. I’ve got several other things, but this is the only picture I’ve ever taken of any of it.

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice collection of items!

 

[Martygraw]

Cool souvenirs. I hope he deloused all that stuff. I've heard from vets that was a problem with souvenir Iraqi helmets.

[HoovieDude]

Nice! I had just a bit more when I returned, but eventually gave it all away over the years. For the longest, I used one of the AK pouches as my shoe shine bag, and another as my hygiene bag. About the only thing I have left now is one of the helmets, and a few pieces of paper items.

[thorin6]

I sold or traded off a bunch of stuff, including a couple of tanker helmets and set of web gear. I still have a footlocker of stuff; uniform, flags, etc. I put some of the field gear in our cars (ponchos, shovels) and still have the one helmet shown. I also have another helmet that looks just like a kevlar, but isn't made of that material. I think the neatest item is the map of Kuwait City that I got from the American Embassy. I was there right after the Special Forces guys that "lliberated" it were packing up and getting ready to leave, and I got some great pictures of their vehicles and the embassy itself. There were a couple of embassy staff that had either come in with the SF folks or arrived right after they got there. When I asked if they had a map of the City one of them took me inside and took the map off a bulletin board. I also mailed stuff to the states for guys at Fort Bragg, and one of the berets I sent back ended up on display at Range Control there.

[Azeeze312]

Nice collection you got yourself going there !

-Nick

[agate hunter]

Nice collection you got yourself going there !

-Nick

 

Thanks, Nick.

 

[RedLegGI]

Nice grouping!

[thorin6]

Just saw this thread and thought I’d show a few things I brought back from Desert Storm. Starting at 12 o’clock, there is a police medal given to civilians for service (given to me by a Kuwaiti citizen), an Iraqi flag on top of an Iraqi helmet with a net, two signal flags for a tank platoon leader, an Iraqi swagger stick, a Kuwait City map off the wall of the American Embassy in Kuwait City, two berets with insignia-the maroon beret has Iraqi airborne wings, an AK-47 bayonet from Failaka Island, an Arabic map of the City on top of an Iranian flag, and an Iraqi surrender flag on top of a Kuwaiti flag. In the center is a map of all the minefields laid by the Iraqis during the occupation. It was the first edition made by British, French, and US topographic engineers; only about 20-30 were initially made before they were revised with the latest information. I asked for a copy of the old map and they gave it to me. I’ve got several other things, but this is the only picture I’ve ever taken of any of it.

 

http://s16.photobucket.com/user/thorin6/media/DSBringBacks_zps297a1ff8.jpg.html

 

 

 

 

Updated to add photo again after links were removed:

 

[gunbunnyB/3/75FA]

cool thread, one of the guys in my unit went over to SA just in time for desert storm, he brought back three full sets of combat gear, i was able to buy one of them, no body armor tho.