my new rifle

Here's one of my soldiers manning the gunner's post. This was during one of our trips into Qayyarah.

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.

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

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

This is a UH60 refueling. I don't recall what base this is on. They kick the passengers off while they're doing this, which is when I got this picture.

040426-F-7823A-003 A U.S. Army solder from the 1st Infantry Division, LSA (Logistics Support Area) Anaconda, Iraq, scans the area while conducting a patrol on 26 APR 2004. The area is being cleared of threats so the TACPs (Tactical Air Control Party) can call in an air-strike. (cleared for public release) Photo by Staff Sgt Aaron Allmon II

House clearing training.

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.

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.

If you fly much in Iraq, then you've likely been on one of these - a C-17. They are much better to fly in than C-130s.

QWBC, the FOB I was on, was an old Iraqi air force base and there were some of these old, beat fighters still lying around.

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

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.

Believe it or not, this is what they served for dinner one night. I think it was a case of a Turk not translating to English correctly.