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.