The first days back in the US were a bit more of a shock than I had expected, which I suppose is good training for when I'm home for leave and then home for good.
The first, most noticeable and most irritating aspect of returning to the States was the presence of cell phones. The constant use of cell phones in public places annoyed me even before I deployed, and 4 months away from cell phones, Blackberries, pagers, etc has only strengthened my distaste for hearing someone else's phone conversations in public places.
After checking in to our hotel, the next order of business was to obtain additional civilian clothing. None of us on the trip had more than one set of street clothing, and we wore that on the trip home. I started my shopping at the PX of the base where I was training. After nearly 7 months of wearing nothing but Army uniforms, I was a bit overwhelmed by the opportunity to choose what I wanted to wear. I came to my senses and quickly decided that whatever I purchased would look as little like "issue" clothing as possible and would NOT include the colors green or brown.
My first sit down meal (at a local Applebees...not exactly haute cuisine) was also a real pleasure. It was a huge relief not to have to carry a tray and have a relatively wide selection of food. I enjoyed real beer, too, though my first "real beer" was about 20 minutes after take-off from Kuwait.
I also found myself "jumping" at loud noises a bit, which was not a reaction I expected. We live in relative safety a FOB Enormo and I was surprised by my startled reaction to a muffled but very noticeable "thud" during my workout at the base gym. Apparently I am staying much more alert at FOB Enormo than I had realized.
Driving was far less eventful than I had expected, probably because we do have "non tactical vehicles" (pick-up trucks, SUVs, etc) to get around FOB Enormo and I do get to drive occasionally over there at greatly reduced speeds. We have traffic on Enormo too, though not the kind of traffic I'm used to at home.
At this point, my trip is over and I am sitting in an airport in the mid/southeastern US enjoying a last cup of Starbucks and decent Internet bandwith. In a couple of hours, we will start the long journey back to the desert and I will be back to my usual 16 hour days soon.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Freedom from FOB Enormo comes with a price: the trip home.
The first leg of the journey begins with a "space available" flight on a military cargo plane from Enormo down to Kuwait (normally about 90-120 minutes). Military flights require that we arrive at the pick-up point at least 3 hours in advance--even though we don't have to pass through security or obtain boarding passes. We do check our bags in military fashion; bags (you are only allowed one "checked" bag) are placed on an Air Force cargo pallet which is then weighed and prepared for flight. As the plane arrives, we tug on our body armor and helmets and squeeze into the back of the cargo plane onto "seating" made of nylon webbing. The seats are somewhat comfortable for about the first 20 minutes and the rest of the flight revolves around feeble attempts to alleviate an ever more pained backside.
We then arrived in Kuwait, and found ourselves spending nearly two days at an American base in Kuwait before our commercial flight to the US. We then boarded a commercial flight from Kuwait to Germany (6 hours), changed planes in Germany (2 hours), flew from Germany to a major hub in the US (9 hours), changed planes at the hub (2 hours), flew from the hub to an airport near our final destination (1.5 hours) then drove from the airport to our destination (1 hour). The trip back to Iraq will be largely the same, though our stay in Kuwait should be much shorter.
Despite the challenges and fatigue, my travelling companions and I made the best of the situation. I wasted no time and ordered my first "real" beer within an hour of lifting off from Kuwait, followed by another in the airport in Germany (both of which helped me sleep during various segments of the trip). One of the advantages of travelling back to the US on temporary duty is that we wear civilian clothes while travelling to/from Kuwait to the US. When I return home in the spring for "R&R," I will be on a charter plane and wearing a uniform for the whole trip.
In spite of the travel pains, I am glad to be back in the US--and experience a little bit of fall--if only for a short while.
The first leg of the journey begins with a "space available" flight on a military cargo plane from Enormo down to Kuwait (normally about 90-120 minutes). Military flights require that we arrive at the pick-up point at least 3 hours in advance--even though we don't have to pass through security or obtain boarding passes. We do check our bags in military fashion; bags (you are only allowed one "checked" bag) are placed on an Air Force cargo pallet which is then weighed and prepared for flight. As the plane arrives, we tug on our body armor and helmets and squeeze into the back of the cargo plane onto "seating" made of nylon webbing. The seats are somewhat comfortable for about the first 20 minutes and the rest of the flight revolves around feeble attempts to alleviate an ever more pained backside.
We then arrived in Kuwait, and found ourselves spending nearly two days at an American base in Kuwait before our commercial flight to the US. We then boarded a commercial flight from Kuwait to Germany (6 hours), changed planes in Germany (2 hours), flew from Germany to a major hub in the US (9 hours), changed planes at the hub (2 hours), flew from the hub to an airport near our final destination (1.5 hours) then drove from the airport to our destination (1 hour). The trip back to Iraq will be largely the same, though our stay in Kuwait should be much shorter.
Despite the challenges and fatigue, my travelling companions and I made the best of the situation. I wasted no time and ordered my first "real" beer within an hour of lifting off from Kuwait, followed by another in the airport in Germany (both of which helped me sleep during various segments of the trip). One of the advantages of travelling back to the US on temporary duty is that we wear civilian clothes while travelling to/from Kuwait to the US. When I return home in the spring for "R&R," I will be on a charter plane and wearing a uniform for the whole trip.
In spite of the travel pains, I am glad to be back in the US--and experience a little bit of fall--if only for a short while.
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