27 OCT:
So a lot of time was spent on escort duty, meaning, providing security for convoys of different types. Sometimes long-range convoys to Kuwait, bringing in supplies, or short-range convoys around the immediate area to meet with locals for whatever reason. I always joked that we spent most of our time as a high-price “escort service” to visiting units. Except in this case, Patterson’s girlfriend isn’t the quickest on the uptake, and a sudden ill-dropped comment from PFC Glass only makes it worse…

The guy on the background, with the plain uniform and beard, is a contractor– these civilians were everywhere, running our recreational facilities. Barbershops, laundry, and internet cafes were among the many services civilian contractors provided for us. It wasn’t all poop trucks and cooks. Typically, the term “Contractor” became synonymous with “Mercenary”, someone toting a gun for hire in Iraq as part of a “private security” firm. But in reality, all civilians in the war zone on a business contract were “Contractors”, whether they were carrying weapons or doing dishes.