JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – Meet Swat. He’s one of the stray cats unofficially adopted by Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment at Joint Base Balad.

A few people I asked don’t really seem to know when he showed up. One thought it was shortly after the 81st Brigade Combat Team arrived in Iraq in November. Another thought the unit inherited him from the Indiana National Guard unit it replaced.

Either way, he’s friendly. He purrs when you pet him (and meows until you do), and a head scratch seems to send him into a sense of existential relaxation.

The positive benefits seem to go both ways. One soldier said that taking a few minutes to pet Swat is a nice distraction amid a stressful atmosphere.

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – Tom Cruise trying to kill Hitler – what else could a base full of soldiers and airmen want in a movie?

"Valkyrie" opened at Joint Base Balad this weekend. And Sunday night’s show was packed, with hundreds filling the lower deck and balcony of the base’s sole movie theater.

Admission to all movies is free, and snacks are affordable by American movie theater standards. (A large bag of popcorn went for $3.50.)

The showing began with a playing of the national anthem, complete with a series of video clips from the Vietnam War to today’s conflicts – including a Stryker driving in a very Fort Lewish setting. After that, it was easy to feel like it was back home – if you ignore all the M-4s the service members brought with them.

Some of the movie’s lines clearly resonated with the almost all-military crowd.

"Remember," one of the conspirators tells Cruise’s character, "this is a military operation. Nothing ever goes as planned."

That caused a short roar of laughter in the crowd.

"Preach it, brother, preach it!" yelled one airman sitting near the front.