Last night, resourceful and charming WWE television producer, Heather Mitchell, informed me, cameraman Sean Sellman and still photographer Kristin Prouty that she had somehow arranged for us to be fortunate enough to attend and document the opening of a new school in Western Baghdad, and that we would be traveling off base on the ground or "outside the wire."

I had no idea what "outside the wire" meant until I was instructed that I had to wear a kevlar helmet and vest and asked,

"What is your blood type, sir?"
"Excuse me."
"I need to know your blood type, sir."

"WHAT!?"

At this point, four fully-armored Humvees each manned by a driver, a medic and a gunner pull up with our "tour guide," Lt. Col. Monty Willoughby, a man in his mid-40s, shaved bald and seemingly made of ice. For those