T-Wall Art: Beauty in the eye of the beholder

Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Corenthia Fennell | Service members have left their marks on T-walls as a way to express their units’ contributions during Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. All around base, T-wall murals are slowly being painted over in preparation for the transition.  

JOINT BASE BALAD, IRAQ

04.28.2011

Story by Senior Airman Tong Duong 

332d Air Expeditionary Wing

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- T-walls are everywhere you look here.

The twelve-foot-high steel-reinforced concrete walls protect lives from indirect fire attacks. They also serve as canvases also.

Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have left their marks as a way to express their units' contributions during Operation's Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. As the "end of mission" for American forces draws near these legacies will soon be gone - more accurately painted over. One man hopes to capture these legacies before it's too late.

"This has been a personal interest of mine because a lot of the art works are absolutely marvelous," said Dennis Chase, United Research Services Rough Terrain Container Hauler enhancement program lead.

Dennis, who loves to walk, rises every Sunday at 5:30 a.m., in search of hidden gems.

"I've found some pretty neat ones out there," Dennis said. "Some of them were painted inside a bunker outside of [a dining facility,] so I sat in there and took pictures of them."

For this retired Army master sergeant, favorites include two T-walls pieces behind the Air Force Theater hospital.

"There are some great artists in the military and their works are just unbelievable," he said.

Dennis has recruited several coworkers in his cause, but was a step behind the pace of the JBB's transition. All around base, T-walls are slowly being painted a shade of gray in preparation for the turn over.

Dennis started to capture the work about a year ago. As a rough terrain container hauler, he travels frequently to different locations throughout Iraq with a camera in tow. Naturally there are T-walls everywhere he goes.

The native of Colorado Spring, Colo., has collected more than 1,000 images of T-wall pieces from as far north as Mosul Air Base. He has taken pictures in central Iraq, at Forward Operating Base Ramadi, Camp Liberty, FOB Warhorse, Camp Taji, Camp Speicher, Al Asad AB and Tallil AB in southern Iraq.

Dennis, an accidental documentarian, intends to set up a Web site so people can visit images of the outfit they were deployed with. He also plans to send photos of T-wall art in his possession to Guard and Reserve units.

"Some of them are pretty old, dating back to 2003, he said. "I want to send them photos for their viewing pleasure. A lot of history is going to be lost. Once they paint over them... it's gone for good."

• Date Taken: 04.28.2011
• Date Posted: 05.02.2011 04:57
• Story ID: 69688
• Location: JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ