The, Uhhh, Jolly Roger
November 17th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Members of 3rd platoon, Bravo Co., 4-23 Infantry have decorated their Stryker with a favorite deployment theme – and as they told me, “because they like pirates.” Then the rest of them chimed in, chuckling, to explain further, “Yeah! Ass pirates!”
To The Bastions Of Maywand
November 16th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Sgt. Timothy Guichard (right) prepares to leave on a patrol, going to a nearby village to ask locals about IEDs that have been planted in the area. I think Mr. Fury would be proud.
Don’t Bet The Mortgage
November 14th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Pfc. Israel Lupercio, Pfc. Nicholas Santos, and Spc. Kain Perkins, part of the Route Clearance Patrol – the anti-IED road sweepers, with the 4th Engineers, 576th Engineer Co., play spades while relaxing before their patrol early the next day.
Are We Not Men?
November 12th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
The sign posted (lower left) at one of the gyms on FOB Ramrod:
THE MANS GYM
-Open to the public
-Open 24 hrs
Rules
-No posing
-No standing around chatting while real men lift
-No whining about lack of equipment, real men make do
-Profanity highly encouraged
-Grunting and gutteral sounds of pain highly encouraged
Pack Your Bags
November 4th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Soldiers move their bags in the middle of the night from storage to prepare for deployment to another FOB – as one of them put it succinctly, “They don’t tell me where! They just tell me to move.”
The Service
November 4th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Members of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry regiment pause at a memorial service at FOB Ramrod for Pfc. Brian Bates, 20, from Gretna, La. He was killed in Kandahar last week by an IED while driving a Stryker on patrol.
Red Sky at Night
June 12th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Late night helo flights for the LZ at FOB Lagman.
Illumination
June 9th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
The mortar team at FOB Lagman mid-launch – sending multiple 120mm illumination rounds up at timed intervals.
A Handful of Dust
June 8th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
Pfc. Matthew Hoyt, 20, from Chicago, Ill., waits to move an ammo resupply from a Chinook helicopter at PMT Viper in SW Zabul province. This is a few seconds into the takeoff – it was actually a total brownout in the beginning – and there are more than a few pebbles thrown in there. Larger bases have gravel for LZs – but for the smaller FOBs, well, as always, one makes do in more than one way.
The High Ground
June 4th, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Chris Maddaloni
A Romanian solider prepares to test fire the weapons on a BTR at FOB Mescall in SW Zabul province – the tires on one side are in ditches, so it can fire downhill. The new base, which overlooks Highway One, has been used in past by others – notably Gen. Dostum – to secure the area. It is named after Maj. Brian Mescall, a U.S. Army officer who was killed this January by IED nearby.