Mom dresses us funny

Bob in Kuwait

We wear these desert camouflage uniforms pretty much everyday, with a few casual days for civilian clothes. There is a Beetle Bailey cap too. Many of us, me included, have our names in Arabic sewn onto the back of our hats along with our names in English. Strickly speaking, that's against the rules, but the uniform police look the other way. There are a bunch of pockets, but rules about keeping them buttoned and not letting them bulge. The laundry service takes our washables twice a week and there is a dry cleaner that picks up our stuff that we'd rather not treat to a commercial washing machine. With all the money I'm saving on my commute to work, I can afford to dry clean my uniforms. I was pretty sure the raincoat they issued us was going to be sitting in the closet, but it occasionally pours here and the raincoat is welcome.

There are a few subtle differences between our outfits and the enlisted folks, but mostly it's the facial hair that distinguishes the civilians, and the absence of a gun. Occasionally we'll get a "better safe than sorry" salute anyway.

Iraqis almost all have at least a mustache. When emphasizing the seriousness of a point they are making, they are likely to tug at the corner of their mustache. One Iraqi asked me upon meeting me for the first time if I was British. When I asked why he thought that, he pointed to my mustache, not knowing the English word for it.

Here is a link to a blog by my friend Ken's who shares my office trailer http://kens1728iraqphotos.blogspot.com