Route Irish,Baghdad,Iraq,PSD in Defensive Formation changes Tire June 2005

Route Irish traffic situation (june 2005). Nothing unusual here. In those days access to that highway stretching barely 6 miles from the Greenzone (today International Zone) to the Baghdad International Airport was still unrestricted, not well checked by local police yet and basically all driver were "on their own" to get through unharmed. (Local civilian vehicle and also pedestrian (!!) traffic, children and cattle owner, Security contractors, Military). This explains the agressive driving practiced by security teams on convoy or allone (PSD). Any unknown car travelling on route irish, to be passed or following you, can be a VBIED on its way with a suicide bomber sitting inside looking for a valuable encounter. In this precise stressful situation a PSD convoy cruising at high speed has a sudden problem with a vehicle and they form a defensive formation in the middle of Route Irish to fix the issue (punched tire). Thus becoming a "sitting duck". Approaching this formation could mean death by shooting. Not to understand what is going on in front of your car, not to stop, not staying away, not paying enough attention, or having just bad eyesight, can simply expose you to be shot ! Route Irish was a permanent school of "how to do it' and "how to survive". Everybody had his ways, thousands of ways and combinations. Of cause "run flat" tire inlays wouldn't have been a bad idea neither. But things were as they were.
The Baghdad Airport Road is a 12 kilometer (7.5 mi) stretch of highway in Baghdad, Iraq linking the International Zone, a heavily fortified area at the center of Baghdad, to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). It also links different parts of Baghdad to the Airport and connects neighboring areas to each other. It became prominent after the 2003 invasion of Iraq following its capture by the Coalition Forces. Although it was commonly referred to by the military Main Supply Route (MSR) designation 'Route Irish', the route from the International Zone to the airport stretches over two MSRs: Route Aeros, the section leading into and out of the International Zone, and Route Irish, which stretches east from the airport then turns south (past the junction with Route Aeros) to a junction with Highway 1 (MSR Tampa).
Due to heavy military traffic and high-profile convoys, route from the International Zone to the airport was extremely dangerous in the years following the invasion. The many roadside bombs, suicide bombers attacking its checkpoints, drive-by shootings and random shooting from the areas on both sides of the road lead to its notoriety. In late 2005 after increased patrolling, the road become safer and more reliable.
The designation 'Route Irish' follows the common practice of naming MSRs after sports teams, in this case the 'Fighting Irish' of the University of Notre Dame.
A security detail, often known as a PSD (Protective Services Detail, Personal Security Detachment, Personal Security Detail) or PPD (Personal Protection Detail), is a protective team assigned to protect the personal security of an individual or group. PSDs can be made up of military personnel, private security contractors, or law enforcement agents.
PSD teams are often made up of private security personnel. Organizations such as Academi's security department, DynCorp and Triple Canopy, Inc. offer armed security teams to clients traveling in war zones.
In the U.S. Marine Corps, an individual's security team is called a Personal Security Detachment and assigned to Personal Security Company.
(Wikipedia)