Here is a shot of what my room looks like here. Note the plywood furniture, and the bed/mousepad desk extension. 
This is our community kitchen. 
On the left side of this shot, you will note our fabulously run internet connection. This is typical of the kind of high-grade wiring you get here in Iraq. Below the wiring mess, you can see where we keep the all-important coffee supplies and UPS. Now, I’m not a coffee drinker, but people get pretty grumpy when they can’t get their morning coffee. Hence, our coffee machine is one of the few things we have permanently attached to the UPS. You may also note the pile of assorted foodstuffs on the table. This is where all of the “If-I-eat-all-of-the-food-in-this-care-package-I’ll-get-fat” food goes. Interestingly enough, it always magically disappears by the end of the week. Strange how that works out…. This is one of our interpreters, Ali, standing outside my hooch for a picture. 
Ali is about 104 years old, and professes to be a teacher of physics and engineering and is one of the few Iraqi’s I’ve met that can actually assume the position of “attention”. Sadly, his military bearing is lacking, as he has decided to smile for this picture. He’ll never make it in the US military, but he’s officer material for the Iraqi’s if I ever saw it. Seriously though, he’s a good guy and very friendly. This is the hooch where I live. 
The sandbag defensive position was built by paranoid army guys long before we moved in. The camouflage camo netting is our recent addition. The Army worries about a frontal assault on an entrenched position. The Air Force worries about bombs from above. Just different approaches I guess. And I’d really like to say that we put up the netting for security purposes….but really, we just wanted more shade. This is the street where I live. You can sort of see the plywood basketball hoop at the top of the shot. The thing that startled me the most when we got here was the trees. I wasn’t expecting trees in the desert. 
This is one of our security guards from Uganda. He is armed with an AK-47, and if the 1000+ Iraqi junood (soldiers) down the street from us ever riot and decide to attack the compound, he will single-handedly fight them off while we load our gear into our trucks and run away. 
This is where I work six days a week. The JOC (joint operations center). It too is covered with security-enhancing camo netting. The paranoid army guys also took the time to pile up sandbags around the air-conditioning unit, so that it wouldn’t fall out of the window. 
A view of my co-workers hard at work in the JOC. The one with the diet Pepsi is TSgt DuPriest. Trust me, that look of confusion is common around here. 
Here is a view of Camp Habbaniyah from the roof of the JOC. The giant shade covered HESCO bags full of sand and topped with razor wire form the narrow wall that protects us from the Iraqi’s outside our compound. 
Here is another view from the roof. 
Also, it should be noted that one key will start every Chevy truck on this base. The beige building in the background is the Iraqi chow hall, and the yellow buildings is where their soldiers live while in training. Another view from the roof of where I work. That HMMWV you see in the shot is our Rhino. It has an attachment on the front that you put down like a Rhino’s horn to break detonator wires and set off infrared beams before the truck gets into the “kill zone”. Thankfully, we don’t need that much here. I’ve been here since September, and we’ve only had one detonation…and that was EOD disposing of ammunition. 
Just another shot of the street. This area used to be visiting officers quarters back when the British controlled Habbaniyah as a base. We’re doing our best to fix it back up again. 
Here are a couple shots of us working on our hooch, to build a game room. Note the three army guys standing around drinking sodas and “supervising” the one soldier who is actually working. This is how unions get started.  
Since we don’t have any real heavy equipment here, we used ball-peen (sp?) hammers and chisels to chip off the old uneven concrete to create a level floor. The guy in the Air Force PT gear right there is TSgt Clark. Sadly, he was evacuated from Iraq yesterday due to a medical emergency, and is not on our team anymore. 
Here is that one hard-working Army guy again. We’re leaving that dirt covered area alone. We’re thinking about growing some plants in a sort of protected garden back there. I’m cool with that, but I’ll have to keep an eye on it…we have some guard and reserve guys here that would probably plant weed as a “cash crop” if they got the chance. *lol* 
Here is a convoy coming in to eat chow at the DFAC (dining facility). 
That truck in the middle is a troop transport. Very cool. J This is the walkway to the chow hall. 100% ID check and we have to clear our weapons before we are allowed in. 
There is one 18 year-old marine who “guards” the chow hall and checks our ID’s. I feel bad for this kid sometimes. Plus, this has got to be the most heavily armed “restaurant” I’ve ever been in. Who would want to rob this joint? 
Driving in Habbaniyah. This is just an example of some of the high quality road maintenance we put up with. 
This is the same “pot-hole” up close. It’s probably about 2 feet deep. I swear, after driving here, I will never complain about road construction in America again. 
Irai mass transportation. Enough said. 
Just an example of the state of most of the buildings on this base. 
It’ll be awhile before this building is useable again. 
Here is a picture of one of our security guards on the side of the road by the compound. The rubble you see in this picture is all over the place out here. 
And if it’s not rubble, it’s trash. 
Here is a good picture of SSgt McCleod, TSgt Olexa and TSgt Clark with one of the Iraqi’s that guard the base. He is an honorary A1C in the USAF, as you can see by his hat. I’m not entirely sure if that’s a guard shack, or a clubhouse waiting for a tree. 
This is a picture of TSgt DuPriest taking a picture of Lt. Col. Douglas and the Iraqi generals that came to Thanksgiving dinner with us. There is nothing an Iraqi likes more than having his picture taken. 
Thanksgiving was served at my hooch, on the roof. I think our services guy did a great job putting something together over here for us. This is what I had as my Thanksgiving meal. A VERY small portion of turkey, a huge slice of bread, rice, chilli, some cucumbers and tomatoes and a Mt. Dew to wash it down with. 
This is basically the whole crew (minus yours truly, obviously) along with the majority of our Iraqi counterparts. This is the one time so far that we’ve been authorized to wear civilian clothes over here. 
Now some might say that this was not a traditional Thanksgiving meal…and I can see their point…but I disagree. What could be more traditional than getting together with the natives to share a meal of thanks? Just to make you know that not all of Iraq is a hell-hole, here are some shots a couple other guys took from the air when they were on their way from Baghdad.   
I’m pretty sure these next few were taken on the ground…   
See? It’s not so bad here. At least the sheep seem to like it. And that’s not a UFO, just glare from something shiny. 
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these pictures. I’ll try to take some more as I go along, but it could be awhile before I send another batch. I love you all, and I hope you are doing well. Your letters, prayers and packages are very much appreciated by me, and by everyone else here. It helps to know that life goes on like normal back home while we are over here dealing with the craziness of a different culture. | 
Enjoy!
