Hillah, Iraq.

A combat cameraman came with us on the helo assault mission, and continued to hang around today. In fact, he has sort of moved into our C-Hut. But, he did take some cool pictures, so we don’t mind if he sticks around.Today we employed him to take team pictures. Pictures are the sort of thing that nobody will ever admit to wanting, and will, in fact, act as though the entire evolution is thoroughly beneath them. But everyone makes sure to get copies.

Military photographs are consistent, if not imaginative. Everybody lines up with their weapons, and we cycle through different combinations of weapons, flags, and states of readiness. Nobody ever smiles in a picture. Good form dictates that the subjects must have a serious ‘war face’ on.I, of course, do not subscribe to that philosophy. I got a lot of trouble from the team because I refused to wear a hat, and I smiled big in every picture.