Iraq

Military personnel adjust the placement of the US Air Force MQ-1 Predator aircraft at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, Calif., June 25, 2008. The air national guardsmen who fly Predator drones over Iraq are fighting a war from the safety of Southern California, but confronting some of the same wartime stresses as their comrades on the battlefield. Working in an air-conditioned trailer nicknamed the Dumpster, occasionally unleashing missiles on enemy fighters. Then their eight-hour shifts are done and they merge onto Interstate 215 and blend into the suburbs. For the growing number of air national guardsmen involved in unmanned combat missions, it can be a whiplashing daily transition, and one that is taking a toll on a few of them.