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- Collection: Ronald Oakes collection
Captured Iraqi armor just outside the wire of FOB Diamondback
Captured Iraqi armor just outside the wire of FOB Diamondback.
Civilians houses overlooking FOB Diamondback in Mosul
Civilians houses overlooking FOB Diamondback in Mosul.
Interior of the living quarters at the airfield in Mosul (FOB Diamondback)
Interior of the living quarters at the airfield in Mosul (FOB Diamondback).
Constructing a perimeter of rails around the motor pool at the HHD 1225th Battalion HQ
Constructing a perimeter of rails around the motor pool at the HHD 1225th Battalion HQ.
Area 51, the parking / staging area for civilian 7,500 gallon tanker trucks
Area 51, the parking / staging area for civilian 7,500 gallon tanker trucks.
Entrance ramp to an underground power plant at FOB Q-West
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.
FOB Q-West perimeter consisting of a chain-link fence topped with barbwire backed up by a dirt berm
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.
Oakes standing in front of a Blackhawk helicopter
Oakes standing in front of a Blackhawk helicopter.
Interior of a HUMVEE on convoy duty
Interior of a HUMVEE on convoy duty. If ambushed, the men on the side of the ambush were expected to crawl across the equipment and exit through the opposite side of the vehicle.
Mercenaries from in the parking lot of FOB Q-West only mess hall
Mercenaries from in the parking lot of FOB Q-West only mess hall.
Looking up the ramp that lead down to the underground power plant at FOB Q-West
Looking up the ramp that lead down to the underground power plant at FOB Q-West.
Interior of the crashed S.F. C-130
Interior of the crashed S.F. C-130 after engineers had blown the nose off to destroy all the sensitive equipment.
Golf driving range the men constructed on FOB Q-West
Golf driving range the men constructed on FOB Q-West.
Crash S.F. C-130 at FOB Q-West
Crash S.F. C-130 at FOB Q-West. In the foreground is the hole that the plane hit upon land with debris from the plane still in the hole.
City of Mosul and Mosul Air Base from the air
City of Mosul and Mosul Air Base from the air. The airfield is in the middle ground with the city in the background.
Crashed Special Forces C-130 on the FOB Q-West runway
Crashed Special Forces C-130 on the FOB Q-West runway on December 31, 2004.
Armored vehicles preparing for a convoy from FOB Q-West
Armored vehicles preparing for a convoy from FOB Q-West.
AH-64 Apache flying into FOB Q-West in Iraq
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 hovering at an Apache refueling point at FOB Diamondback. (Mosul)
Inside the living quarters at Camp Virginia, Kuwait, December 2004
Inside the living quarters at Camp Virginia, Kuwait, December 2004.
Commercial airliner that carried Oakes and the other men to Kuwait.
Commercial airliner that carried Oakes and the other men to Kuwait.
40 ft. Connex containers
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.