Plastic water bottles were indeed all the rave in Baghdad. You'd even see the kids we sent over there packing them in hip holders or in the off hand. Sentries inevitably had them stashed on the nearby discharge box or sandbag ledge. Their other big stash was usually a six pack of Red Bull hijacked from the chow hall on the way out the door.

A nice cold 2 liter bottle would last from the gate of our compound to the Terminal at the airport. Even though it wasn't at all necessary, often you'd find yourself "sneaking a drink" regularly, not wanting to take your eyes off scan too long.

Funny how when you are that stressed out, you can go from empty bladder to full inside of half an hour...

Anyways, if you ran out of water over there, all you had to do was ask a soldier where you could get more. They always knew where more water was.

I only wish I could've returned the favor and bought the ones I met a round or two. Unfortunately the Green Zone dried up halfway through my tour, and those soldiers weren't of legal drinking age at the time anyways.