40 ft. Connex containers at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Q-West that housing four people each. These were what the men first moved into in December 2004.

A flock of sheep and their herders.

AH-64 Apache flying into FOB Q-West in Iraq. Notice the consentina wire and the sand berm constituting the perimeter of the base.

AH-64 Apache hovering at an Apache refueling point at FOB Diamondback. (Mosul)

AH-64 Apache ready-line at FOB Q-West. Oakes' unit's compound is just off to the right of the picture.

Albanian soldiers stationed at FOB Diamondback.

Area 51, the parking / staging area for civilian 7,500 gallon tanker trucks.

Armored HUMVEE gun truck escorts from the convoy. The sign on the back warns of danger to stay back in both Arabic and English.

Armored vehicles preparing for a convoy from FOB Q-West.

Tom Bilecki served in the Army National Guard in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He did two tours, one in 2004 and another in 2012. He was stationed at Forward Operation Base Frontenac 26 miles north of Kandahar. He served as an…

Born in White Cloud, Michigan in 1953, Gary Boucher just missed the draft for the Vietnam War. However, based on input from several of his friends and his own investigation, Boucher joined the Michigan National Guard in 1978. Following training at…

Captured Iraqi armor just outside the wire of FOB Diamondback.