CAMP BUEHRING, KUWAIT 02.20.2009
Photo by Chaplain Major Loren Hutsell
Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited
This gallery archives the work of Maj. Loren Hutsell, an Army chaplain who in 2014 wrote a 305-page thesis on Camp Buehring barrier art and troop identity in Operation Iraqi Freedom for the US Army Command and General Staff College. To view the thesis, please see the link below:
Abstract : During Operation Iraqi Freedom, American troops painted artistic murals on large transportable concrete barriers that protected them from enemy combatants. The murals provide an avenue to understand how troops and their units perceived themselves and missions during the war.
This thesis researches the barriers painted at the staging and embarkation Camp Buehring, Kuwait, to discover troop identity, values, and warfighting attributes as they deployed into combat. The research is conducted through study of 200 barrier photographs personally taken by the author from February 15th-20th, 2009. The barrier murals are significant because they capture a moment in time and record valuable history about American Service members and the military community. The murals reveal truths proclaimed not by others, but by the very troops who deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Consequently, the values and motivations that sustain an American Service member in combat are disclosed. Further, the barriers are not only a memorial of military personnel deployed to war, but a record of national history. As such, it is critical that our national and military leaders act swiftly in documentation and preservation of these barriers to fully benefit from their value.
