Andrea Bruce Woodall Photo Coverage of Iraq

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - SEPTEMBER 20, 2008: Lit only by the moon, a small US military outpost in southern Baghdad looks abandoned. Hulking armored vehicles, still hot from a recent mission, rest on imported gravel. Bats flutter and fall like a sudden twitch in the placid night sky. For a moment, light hits a wall of sandbags. A door opens, held by a soldier dressed in shorts, He walks into the window-blackened building to a room of microwave popcorn and locker room sweat. The door closes quickly, flatly, behind him. The area looks like a basement keg party. Fluorescent and worn. Soldiers from the fourth infantry division sit in rows, on any chair they can find, in front of the television. The soldier is greeted with a warning smack on the legs. No one stands in front of the game. Alabama vs Arkansas football. Out of respect, most soldiers are quiet, others lean forward to hear the cheers and announcers of autumn back home. So far, in the first quarter, Alabama is ahead 14-0. "They love it. I just kind of sit here and laugh at them," says Sgt. Adam Rainville, holding the unitÕs Òforced protection dogÓ like a baby. Another dog sleeps under homemade bookshelves stacked with donated books, labeled with love from small towns in Texas and Ohio. Their normal dinner, brought in from the main base, is late. Another Alabama touchdown. 21-0. The guys swear or cheer. During a commercial, the LT stands in front of the television. Knowing how unpopular he is about to become, he takes a deep breathe and tells his men to gear-up. They have another mission. An overall sigh of disappointment deflates the room. Some men, lips closed tight, hold back words of disappointment. Most don't. (Photo by Andrea Bruce Woodall/The Washington Post via Getty Images)