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My dad was working abroad, in Iraq, and he was a doctor. We used to go and visit him, in Baghdad, off and on. For the first ten years of my life, we used to go backwards and forwards to Baghdad, so that was quite amazing. I spent a lot of time traveling around the Middle East.

I love the Middle East and have been lucky enough to visit a few of the countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Jordon and the U.A.E.

I have been to Iraq on a number of occasions. I was with the first group that went in.

I've done two USO Tours, one in the Middle East and one in Asia, and spent time with the troops.

Over the years, I've spent time in Saudi Arabia, the Bekaa Valley, Afghanistan, Jordan, and Kenya, among other vacation hotspots.

While shooting 'The Unit', I went to the Middle East twice to see the troops. I met some great men and women.

I served two tours in Iraq, in the Marine Corps.

Well, I've been to Iraq twice now. I was in Baghdad in June and then north of Baghdad in November.

By the time the United States went to war with Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, I had made three trips to the country. I covered the fall of the Taliban in Kandahar and have been returning routinely for the past 14 years.

I had first visited Kurdistan in 2003 before the invasion of Iraq, camping out in Erbil and Sulaimaniya while waiting for Saddam Hussein's fall.