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.

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.

I was able to visit the Ah Shaw(sp) palace in Baghdad - one of Saddam's old haunts and now the home of MNC-I. These columns were huge.

In this photo, I'm in the lower right pulling perimeter security during a short halt in training.

This a friend of mine, working for EODT security. He was actually deployed with me, but retired as a Sergeant Major after coming back and starting working for EODT back in Iraq. He's striking a tough-guy pose, but he's really the nicest guy you could meet

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.

House clearing training.

Iraqi Police having their vehicles checked prior to entry to the base. We trusted the Iraqi Army in our area better than the police.

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

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

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

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.

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 Al Faw palace at Camp Victory in Baghdad. Saddam used to occupy it, but it's now home to MNC-I.

A McDonald's sign I saw at Ali Al Salim base in Kuwait.

This chair, located in the Al Faw palace was once owned by Saddam. It's a favorite spot for soldiers to get their pictures taken (can you tell?).

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.