Jordan and Iraq

Iraq December 2012

In mid-December 2012, Todd had the opportunity to provide training to Iraqi Heritage Police in Baghdad, Iraq. The training was sponsored by the US Department of State and the training was given by staff from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and Todd as a representative of the National Park Service. Travel to Baghdad was through Amman, Jordan. Between Amman and Baghdad the flight was via a contract plane that did a number of defensive measures as it landed at the US side of the Baghdad Airport. To get from the airport to the US Embassy within the Green Zone, a nighttime helicopter ride was utilized, which included flying blacked out with a door gunner on the helicopter!

The training cadre stayed on the embassy grounds and the course was conducted at a hotel within the Green Zone. This required exiting the embassy and traveling to the hotel in armored vehicles and returning to the embassy compound the same way. All in all, a truly fascinating trip. On the way home, Todd overnighted in Amman and was able to do a brief tour of the city.

Jordan February/March 2019

In February-March 2019, Donette and Todd spent six weeks climbing and traveling around Jordan. They lived for several weeks with a Bedouin family in Wadi Rum, which was a fantastic experience. While in Jordan, Donette and Todd climbed in Wadi Rum and near the Dead Sea. They climbed classic routes such as Merlin’s Wand and the Haj, as well as establishing 12 new routes. They also visited Amman, Aqaba, Jerash, Petra and a number of other historic sites.