That's me flying in a UH60 between bases.

Me with one of the local kids in a nearby village.

Here's a couple of the Iraqi Army soldiers we had living on our base. Not exactly Western standards, but they tried.

Everyone going overseas, no matter your job, has to learn how to do room clearing. Here we are training a "four-man stack". The squad leader is taking up the rear.

We went through training on how to search a suspect and I got to play "suspect".

Me in the office. 'BDOC' stands for Base Defense Operations Center.

This gentleman was herding sheep around our FOB. The area we were in was predominantly farm and sheep-herding country.

Here I am at the infamous Abu Ghraib. While in Baghdad, I ran into a friend of mine and was able to join one of his unit's convoys to this prison. This is, of course, prior to this facility being turned over to the Iraqis.

Here's my section training in house clearing.

I took this photo while flying over Baghdad. It is the Grand Mosque which Saddam was building when the invasion occurred. When finished, it was supposed to be the largest mosque in the world. I doubt it will ever be completed.

This is the Perfume Palace on Victory Base Complex in Baghdad. The story I heard was that this was once where Saddam and his boys kept their extra-curricular female companions. Now, it houses contractors.

Me practicing shooting an AK47. As you can tell, it was a hot day. It was fun shooting the AK on full auto, but I still prefer the M4.

my new rifle

During training, we fired our weapons many times. Here I am getting in some practice firing three-round bursts for accuracy.

This graffiti showed up on some walls in a local national parking lot not long before I left. I was told it is a memorial to locals who had worked for the USA and been killed.

Believe it or not, it does rain in Iraq, as these poor soldiers found out when they tried to move this large forklift over some muddy ground.

This Qatari was selling opportunities to hold his falcon for $5. I didn't take him up on it.

Here I am during a trip to Qayyarah to check on a water-pumping station.