A descriptive study was performed of the U.S. and coalition forces patients admitted to the Intermediate Care Ward (ICW) of the 86th Combat Support Hospital (CSH) in Baghdad, Iraq (2007-2009). A prospective study was conducted of the patients admitted to the ward between April 12 and July 19, 2008. Three hundred and fifty three patients were included in the study. Characteristics of the patients admitted during a 3-month period of the deployment of the 86th CSH in Iraq, as well as the types of illnesses and injuries most commonly seen are reported. Implications for nurses preparing to deploy as well as implications for future research are discussed.