FOB Architecture

In the wild west, they had wooden forts-- today, in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have the HESCO FOB.
Golf Company 2/8 Marines depart on patrol from PB Hassan Abad, Garmsir District, Afghanistan

In my travels to Iraq and Afghanistan, I have always liked the many creative ways the HESCO barrier can be used, and how Marines make FOBs, PBs, and guard posts out of them. And I have always loved to see and draw ruins also, whether the Alamo, or the Alamo-esque buildings used to form much of FOB Delhi near Garmsir, Afghanistan.

A shot-up archway at FOB Delhi, near where they kept the cold water, and had the improvised chow hall...

Post #3 at FOB Delhi (the cammie netting which hung about it had an organic quality, and reminded me of webs and Spanish Moss):

Post #5 at Delhi (I was drawn to draw the post because of the improvised stairway, and the HESCO stamp on the barriers...)
Here's an old drawing I did of a post in Saqlawiyah, Iraq; interesting because of its ingenious use of stilts and several kinds of barrier, including Jersey walls, HESCOs, and good ol' sandbags.

InSanitation

"Some Things Never Change"

This is an old adage, as well as the title of the above watercolor by Marine Combat Artist Mike Fay, depicting Marines in Iraq burning fecal matter in barrels to maintain sanitation.

(I reprised it with my own version of that theme below):

Marine burning the sh#! in barrels at Fire Base Thunder

As I travelled around the AO in Afghanistan and witnessed various methods of dealing with sanitation in a combat zone, I couldn't help but remember that, yes, some things never change.

Today's military uses Port-A-Potties quite often, and it usually doesn't take long at any FOB for permanent bathroom facilities to be brought in. But due to the expeditionary nature of the situation in Afghanistan, many locations utilized some tried and true ways of disposing of waste and filth...The "facilities" at FOB Delhi

Burning the Trash near the perimeter at Fire Base Thunder

I thought it'd be good to capture in watercolor these old ways of doing things, as an historical record of the present and especially as a tie to our past.

The above sketch is of a make-shift shower at FOB Delhi (where the British were for years before the Marines got there). I depicted it because of the sign on it which read, "Short Arse Shower". I guess it's for those of smaller stature...!