Autumn DeRoo made the choice to join the Air Force at the age of 17 early in her high school career. Going into a technological field, dealing mainly with computers, Deroo was able to work at Cheyenne Mountain with NORAD and the U.S. Base Command in…

Robert Drew was born on March 16th, 1930 in Decatur, Indiana. Robert was the first and only member of his family to enter the military. He joined the National Guard while going to school and then chose to join the Air Force before the United States…

DURMO yard at FOB Balad. This is the area where all the discarded equipment is brought; everything from tanks to refrigerators.

Entrance ramp to an underground power plant at FOB Q-West. In the background is Area 51, where civilian fuel trucks from Turkey would wait to be unloaded.

Jim Flowers was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1963. After he graduated high school, enlisted in the Air Force and did a tour on a strategic air command base on Guam. Back in the US, he completed college while still in the Air Force, and then spent a…

Jim Flowers was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1963. After he graduated high school, enlisted in the Air Force and did a tour on a strategic air command base on Guam. Back in the US, he completed college while still in the Air Force, and then spent a…

FOB Q-West from the air. The white object in the middle ground is water palletized at the end of the runway.

FOB Q-West perimeter consisting of a chain-link fence topped with barbwire backed up by a dirt berm. Notice the dump on the left consisting of destroyed Iraqi vehicles.

Gregory Gilmore volunteered for the draft and served from 1962 to 1968. He was deployed to Miami, Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis as a part of the Quartermaster Corps. He was based in the United States during his time in the service.

Golf driving range the men constructed on FOB Q-West.

Gun truck from the Iraqi national guard. January 2005.

Gypsy farmers in a field between Mosul and FOB Q-West