Pics from ASOand random Bucca shots:

Alamo building- The Alamo is what we call one of the areas in our AO around 
Bucca.  This is what the buildings in the Alamo all look like after a few wars.

Alamo buildings- Two of the Alamo's less successful buildings.  "Alamo position" 
is just off screen to the right of the building in front.

Alamo position- There are a lot of Iraqi fighting positions in this area, as 
well as an artillery battery position.  This was one of their gun emplacements, 
we're guessing in the range of 105mm or whatever Russian caliber is its 
equivalent.  There's a concrete pad for the gun that allows it to be speed 
shifted, with compass points cast into the concrete.  The foxhole next to the 
gun pad has a tunnel which apparently comes out in the farther of the two 
buildings.  We're not stupid enough to check it out to be sure.

Alamo revetment- A large position with concrete, lots of sandbags and dirt 
bulldozed onto it.  What's weird is that it provides protection from the north, 
completely open on the side that faces Kuwait, just a couple hundred meters 
away.  It's the only position I've seen anywhere around Bucca or on the way to 
Navistar that faces into Iraq, so I can't think of a good reason for it to be 
like that.

ASO at the Alamo- us parked in front of two of the Alamo's more substantial 
structures.  Umm Qasr is in the background, and Hazen is on the roof.  

Back of our truck- It's a largish truck and there're only 3 of us (and we're not 
living out of it), but it gets crowded as hell.  The armor plate behind the 
cooler (part of the side armor kit) cuts us off from the trunk, so we have one 
seat for personal gear and water, one seat for the AT-4 (peeking up behind the 
cooler), flares, smokes and other assorted ammo, and the cooler takes pride of 
place.  Hazen just got himself a Gatorade.  Westcott's knee keeps him from 
active jobs, so that's Ayotte in the driver's seat wearing the wrist brace.

Barber tailor- Next to the PX is the barber shop and alterations/embroidery 
shop.  That's where I got the 197th FA patches through.  Had I waited for 
Concord to get them, I'd still be holding my breath.

Bldg 21- Next door to me, it's one of the 2 trailers that HQ plt. lives in.  
That's the NH flag that Bensen cave to Fesseden.

Bldg 22 door- You remember the whole "Marauders" story?  They took Merrill's 
Marauders' crest and altered it a smidgen, with the Iraqi eacle and a cannon 
tube.  The writing on the tube says "Steel on Ground" in Arabic.  The 
company motto is "Steel on Target," an artillery saying, but there's no word 
for target in Arabic.  I think the flag sticker was there when we got here.

Bldg 22 side- There are as many ACs on the other side, too.  That pallet is our 
bulk water storage.  When what we keep inside gets low we haul this in.  When 
the pallet runs out, we send a truck over to the Class 1 yard to fill it back 
up.  The humvee in the back is on standby.  We've got the Last Minute Escort 
mission this week.

Bldg 23- They call those concrete things "scud bunkers" and there's one at each 
end of our trailers.  There's generally a picnic table between every couple of 
trailers.  2nd plt. moved theirs out front and rigged up a camo net for shade.

Bunk- The floor mat and the shelving that I put in.

Cacti- The cacti need sunlight, so they're going out on patrol.  Hazen's on the 
.50 and Huang is driving.

Cave- Me watching Canadian GP practice.  My drawers are the ones next to the TV- 
on board with Reubens.  5 and 6 show our overhead storage and that even the TV 
hates it here.  6 shows the cacti.

E-5 McCarthy- SGT William McCarthy Working Burma gate.

Entrance- 1 is looking through it into our cave, while 2 looks out.  No, you 
can't really fit through it while wearing IBA.

Fox- Some call them foxes, others call them jackals.  I don't know.  This one is 
in the military lane of Burma gate going after a tomato slice that someone 
hadn't wanted.  Picture 3 shows one of the portable generators with the lights 
mounted on it.  

Grader- Part of the roadwork equpiment on post.  Designating some random patch 
of desert as a road takes a lot of persistance.  KBR is always doing something 
to keep the roads on post driveable.  I zoomed in to show the craftsmanship of 
its roof.

Hazen bunk- Watching a movie.

Hazen OP1- With and without the flash.

Herding- We got to herd more camels last week!  We've gotten quite efficient at 
it.  We sliced through the herd to get between it and the wire, wheeled on line 
and drove them away, with minimal honking and waving.  We didn't even have to 
dismount team leaders to make our line longer.  That's my view, Hazen's view and 
our view of Jones' team handling their end of the herd.  Emond is on Jones' 
roof.

Laundry- That's where we drop it off and pick it up.  It gets sent down to 
Kuwait to be washed.

Marauder Base- Every unit here that conducts operations has an ops center that 
they call base.  The 160th MP Bn is from Florida and they call theirs Seminole 
Base.  B 1/107 FA (MP) is from Hampton, PA and call theirs Hampton Base.  Our 
command calls us Marauders, so it's Marauder base.  Manchester let us bring the 
Battalion guidon, so that's what we fly there.

Marauders- Whatever your opinion on the name, even whatever your opinion on 
hijacking the lineage and crest from the 75th Infantry (Airborne)(Ranger) 
Regiment, it's still a really well done piece of work.  I think it's really well 
done, but that we should have come up with our own instead of stealing someone 
else's name and lineage.

McCarthy OP1- With and without the flash.

MWR- Morale, Welfare and Recreation.  It's 3 large tents connected to each 
other.  The first one has the Playstation room, a TV/library/common room and a 
small movie theater/classroom.  The next one over has a game room (pool, air 
hockey, fooseball, etc.) and the gym.  The third is a couple of classrooms and 
more gym space.

NH- a closeup of the flag in front of Bldg. 21.

One tree- I've mentioned the tree in our AO.  This is a wide shot of it from OP 
7.  The buildings are on the far right of One tree.jpg.  See the mounds of 
trash?  An Iraqi dump is as far outside of town as the guy driving the tractor 
feels like hauling it.  This country is full of trash blowing around.

Post office- That's it.  I took it from too far away to read that they're only 
open for 6 hours a day, less on Saturday and not at all on Sunday.  It annoys me 
to have people like this taking up space in my chow hall and my computer tent.

PX- that's the PX.  The barber and tailor are on the left.

Shower trailers- These and the handwash sinks outside the chow hall are all the 
running water I ever see.  The camo net is a smoking area out in front of the Bn 
Ops trailer.

Typical truck- With or without the trailer, this is about it.  They also use 
tractor trailers, but the semi has 6 wheels instead of 10 and the trailer I 
think has 4 instead of 8.  I'll try for a clean shot of one of them.