Hi All, I’m David MacDougall. I’m based at the FOX News Baghdad bureau, and spend about six months each year in Iraq. The first time I went to Iraq was after the initial invasion in 2003 – and I’ve been going there regularly ever since. I’d didn’t go to Iraq before the war, although I had done a fair amount of traveling round the Middle East, and lived in the region for two years when I worked as a diplomat.

The worst moment I had in front of the camera was also my first time live on TV for FOX – so I’m not likely to forget it! It was Thanksgiving 2004 in Mosul with cameraman Tommy Doig. I had just started interviewing some soldiers, and talking to the anchors back in New York when a couple of helicopters decided to land close by. Of course, the engine noise drowned out the questions, which meant I couldn’t hear a word the anchors were saying. I was convinced my first live report on FOX had been cursed. But the same thing happened to a reporter from CNN a couple of hours later, so I didn’t feel too bad in the end!

Earlier this year, I met three amazing children in Ramadi. Each one had a combat-related injury and little chance they’d get the medical help they needed any time soon. Nine year old Abdul lost his right eye after being shot in the face. Five year old Mustafa took a bullet through the throat. And 12 year old Ayad had all the bones in her legs crushed – as well as being horribly burned – in a roadside bomb attack. The spirit of resilience in these children was quite remarkable, and it was impossible not to be touched by their plight.

The question I get asked most often is “how do you cope with the heat?”

When the temperatures rise to 140 degrees in the summer, I frequently find myself wishing for a reporting assignment in the Arctic! Back in June, I went to Anbar province with cameraman Pete Rudden and producer Martin Francis. One of the marines we met told us it got so hot, the mercury in his thermometer exploded out the end of the glass. By contrast, Iraqi winters can get pretty chilly, and it often rains – which is my favorite kind of weather – maybe it’s because I’m Scottish?

The end product that viewers see on television from Iraq is really just the tip of the iceberg. Behind the camera there’s an amazing group of people who make it all happen so smoothly – cameramen, producers, engineers, security and local Iraqi staff. Over the years, these people have become more than colleagues and friends, they’ve become family.