They find themselves stuck on a road not far from the Euphrates with palm tree groves on either side. Palm groves give rise to mixed feelings. On one hand, they are site for sore eyes because the Renegades have spent most of their tour of duty in the profound desert where there is nothing for miles but dirt. However, palm groves are definitely not safe. Attacks, I have learned from documentaries and news reports, often come from palm groves simply because they provide excellent hiding places. 
As they accelerate, they pass civilian cars on the side of the road. Because you can't tell if a civilian vehicle is friend or foe, you must be wary. This puts the civilians at extra risk as well.
It takes a bit, but they manage to catch up with the convoy. Once they do, they swap drivers and continue on, approaching a small town. To their left, you can see civilian trucks lined up along the road. To the right, Iraqis are walking by. My brother comments, "Oh, they don't like us. They aren't waving."
As they drive, my brother shows us a little bit the inside of the vehicle. His hat is jammed in the windshield. To the right is the first aid box. The piece of paper clipped to the dash is the IED report. Then, to reassure his viewers, he says, "No IEDs. No reporting going on." Wheww! They are headed back to home base.
As they prepare to make the turn into their destination base, which has been handed back and forth between the Marines and the Army a couple of times, the driver messes up a little. "Um, are you gonna make this turn? You took it too late," my brother points out. The driver has to back up a little, and retake the turn. Then in a half joking way that I know is his way of disciplining the troops, he says, "That’s it, I'm not gonna let you drive anymore. " The driver stops and starts to back up, with my brother reminding him of the trailer. All they need is to ram into something or jackknife it. "Man, you're a non-driver. What's da matter wid you?" His driver responds. "Ah. I'm a little rusty." "All right. I'll drive back gall dang it. You're grounded." He still sounds like his is kidding. But I know he's not as does his driver.
The road is so bad, and they are bouncing so much, you hear them yelping and ouching as they bounce all over. They pass by the main checkpoint to get on base. To the left is a marine vehicle that "is not armored very well. They get the hell blown out of them with IEDs."
Once the arrive, they get out, stretch their legs, and get some air and have some fun.
My brother plays a little hookey to show us around a little bit.This is the inside of the base that I am guessing is in the Northern part of Iraq outside of Kirkuk. They will stay the night before heading out on the Mosul route.
This base had a rec room, typical on bases, that includes a gym, pool tables, ping pong, air hockey, dart boards, climatization, computers, movie room etc. Of course, my brother's group doesn't get to play. "I have no time for this. The only reason I am seeing the inside of this is because I am on mission which means I'm not being micromanaged. When we aren't on mission, this is what we do. Work out, play pool. I won $50 at poker last night. Yep, its cool."
This is where they stayed the night. "This is it. This is how we live when we are on the road. It's not that bad. It's better than Al Asad. I hate that place." My brother has explained to me before that being near the flag pole (i.e. the big military brass) is stressful. I happen to know a little about that from my own work and I agree.
He explains that sometimes, when you are out on the road and it's late and it's summer time, you don't even bother with the barracks.
You just throw your tent cot and sleeping bag on the back of the truck because you don’t have to mess with cleaning the place up when you leave. This is a tent cot.Check back for the final series, Part V
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