I spent about 4 months in Northern Iraq with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, starting a couple days after the ground war ceased. We were mortared the first night at an Iraqi special forces base in Muqbal, but after that it was fairly quiet. Got a first hand look at a captured Soviet-made radio van, lotsa AK-47's, burned Kurds, a ton of Soviet ammo and landmines. My radio guy, Harry, filed open a bunch of the 12mm casings and we used the powder to burn "F&%K Saddam!" on the concrete roof of the tallest building. The BLT Commander flew over the compound the next day and we got busted.
One night on radio watch, an FA-18 from the Teddy Roosevelt reported taking ground fire from an Iraqi AAA gun. He reported it to me in the DASC (Direct Air Support Center),(I was a corporal, both LT's were asleep), after pissing my pants for 10 seconds I asked him his intentions. He calmy told me he was going to drop a flare on their heads and watch them run. I had forgotten the intense level of AAA our guys had encountered over Bagdad during the air war.
A couple weeks later I read about the incident in the London Times. I also was the map guy for the conference of officers that planned out the Northern No Fly Zone - still in effect.
Semper Fidelis!