Back in 2005, I spent 180 days at LSA Anaconda in Balad, Iraq. As part of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, our main duties were to escort LNs and TCNs (local nationals and third-country nationals) on and off base. It was a shit job... daily sandstorms and 130 degree days.
I was going through some old boxes recently, and came across a couple of Sony "memory sticks" with these images stored on them. These were all shot with a Sony DSC-P71. Shit was only 3.2 megapixels (lmao). I will be updating this section with more photos from my tour in Iraq as I find them.
All photos are shot by me unless otherwise noted.
This bus was full of Iraqi nationals who worked the cement truck shift. Basically, my guys unloaded cement trucks while I watched and filled my lungs with tobacco. Here, some of them are attempting to throw up west side.
How long do you think it took them to unload one cement truck? I can't really remember, but these guys used to get close to 10 trucks per shift.
Little known fact, I invented the selfie in 2005.
Sandstorms were a problem. Productivity definitely dropped when one rolled through.
One of the homies and I climbed up to the top of one of these silos to catch the fighter jets during takeoff.
The cement crew taking a breather. Peace peace.
I don't remember who took this, but shout out to them.
LSA Anaconda was the target of constant mortar barrages. Insurgents would shoot mortars randomly onto the base at all hours of the day. As the story goes, this mortar ripped a hole through the roof and landed right in a bed before exploding late one night. Word on the street was the airman who should've been sleeping in that bed had just switched to a late shift, and was working when the mortar went off.
I don't remember this dude's name, but I do remember he was a Turkish national who worked the gate to one of the flight lines. I worked this shift towards the end of my tour. It was definitely one of the cushiest shifts I worked, but I can still smell the stench of Turkish cigarettes in that tiny shed. At least he had an AC unit in there.