Life in the Refrigerator

Wake at 0430 without an alarm.

Check email if the internet is working.  

Go run.  

Eat breakfast.  

Shower/dress.  

Wander aimlessly around the compound, maybe stopping at the office where I just get in the way.

Eat lunch.

Sit in my room, a blank room with white walls, a refrigerator door for an entryway, and air-conditioning that doesn't seem to get warmer than 55 degrees.  The alternative is outside, where it is 109.

Eat dinner.

Chat with SW, since the internet is so slow Skype is sketchy.

Go to bed.

Repeat.

At some point it would be nice to actually get to the place I came here to work at.  The next flight isn't until Tuesday, since the one opportunity was blown by "not my job"-itis.

Baghdad

I was packed into the rear of a C-130 for the 1.5 hour ride north by members of the New York Guard. In all the hours I spent flying one of these I don't recall ever receiving a flight in one anywhere rear of the cockpit. I'm glad I didn't. Sitting sideways on cargo netting between two civilian women who clearly thought perfume was the way to go made for a long flight.

After getting our bags off we were shuttled to a makeshift terminal off the side of the flightline. Several C-130's, a few Beechcraft prop planes, and one or two I didn't recognize was all the sat on the ramp. I had to imagine in my mind what the scene was like five years ago--where parking space was a premium to the hundreds of US aircraft shuttling troops in and out. I then went further back, and imagined what it had to be like on the night we unleashed hell on this city--with massive explosions in the distance, and some here on this very ramp.

The heat was there, but as in Kuwait it is bearable. Now granted, this is not summer and the heat has not reached 130 degrees. But even more so, we are definitely in the desert as there is not a spot of green to be seen.

After dragging our bags in I was met by two officers--the AF site lead for Baghdad and his deputy. Fortunately I have a history with the site lead going back to my Tweet days, so the transition was easy. As I processed through customs I found it interesting that the customs officer claimed that I did not need a visa if I had an official passport--I'm still debating whether or not to bring that up in the future.

Once we left and were on the main compound, an annex of Baghdad International Airport, one thing is abundantly clear: this is a war zone. Bombed-out bunkers, 50' high walls, and armed guards are everywhere. Things are improving as there is construction everywhere, but it is definitely still considered a high-threat environment. As I suspected, the withdrawal of US troops did little to diminish the constant threat of violence this city holds. But one thing is different--its not the military here anymore, it's civilians.

From what I gathered when the military left, civilian corporations moved in to do the job that we were formerly doing--and likely at a much higher price. Americans are still risking their lives here, but now it is for the benefit of the companies they serve rather than their country. Funny how you don't see a whole lot of that on CNN.

My room is much like it was in Kuwait--a sparse trailer with a bed, a refrigerator with water, and not much else. The difference between here and Ali Al Salem, however, is that this trailer is surrounded by 50' high concrete walls and a giant roof to protect from falling mortars. Very kind of them.

Tomorrow I will head out with an overnight bag (again) to the embassy via helicopter to meet with my bosses and inprocess the country. Hopefully the reasons I am here will begin to crystallize and I will finish the day closer to getting to my final destination.

Day Two Timeline

0700 EDT: Arrive Leipzig Germany. Exhaustion starts to set in. Managed to send a couple of emails and have a couple of beers.

0900 EDT: Depart Leipzig for Qatar

Enroute: Close out "Nikita" Season 1. Good ending.

1430 EDT: Arrive Qatar, almost immediately told to expect a 4 hour delay due to weather. They stick us in a tent with a few power cords, and the promise of WiFi. WiFi barely works due to there 100 people trying to send messages home.

1830 EDT: Depart Qatar for Kuwait. Sleep the whole way.

1930 EDT: Arrive Kuwait Intl. Immediately told I was the chalk commander, responsible for all 100 or so airmen on board. We then proceed to unload the bags and load up on two busses after I select two bus commanders. They then take us to a holding area while we await police escort to take us on a 1.5 hour bus ride to Ali As Saleem Airbase. Remnants of a dust storm are settled all over everything, indoors and out. After lengthy wait, we depart for the airbase.

2115 EDT(0415 Local--21 hours after arriving at Terminal in Norfolk): Depart for Ali As Saleem with blacked out windows and a police escort. We are instructed not to use headphones and to avoid going to sleep to stay alert. Didn't realize there was that much of a threat in this country.

2230 EDT (0530 Local, Friday): Arrive Ali Al Salem. Fortunately the PERSCO team knew I was coming and hustled me along to get my body armor and chem gear, and got me to my room as fast as they could. Arrived my room at 0700 Local, roughly 30 hours after waking up in Norfolk).

Departure

I awoke on the Wednesday morning bright and early--too nervous to sleep. To occupy myself I watched "Game of Thrones" (awesome, by the way) and double checked that I had everything.

I arrived at the terminal at 1130 via shuttle. The first thing I noticed was that the atmosphere was significantly less charged than the last time. In 2005, when I arrived at the hangar to head out they had rock music blaring, families around, and a super-charged atmosphere that motivated everyone to go. This time it was different--more like everyone was waiting to get on a prison barge. Why? Beats me--it could be one of many reasons. All but three of the 150 of us were going to Kuwait or Qatar, technically not war zones. War fatigue is another possibility--most of the people there were on the second, third, or fourth deployments.

With a planned 1300 departure, we didn't have much time to hang out. I called and said goodbye one last time, and waited for the boarding call.

At 1245, we were advised that the boarding call wouldn't come--until 2100 that night. 150 people in a hot terminal, with no transportation.

Ugh.

By 1600 I decided I was hungry enough to spend the $20 to go eat at a restaurant. I took a taxi to Chili's, by myself, and directed the waitress to bring glasses of Blue Moon as fast as she could. An hour and half later I was back at the terminal, feeling much more relaxed than when I left.

2100 came and went. And 2200. By 2300 we were finally boarding and I got the first perk of the trip--first class. I always thought those seats looked comfortable (and yes, they were better than coach) but they're not as good as I imagined.

After a 30 minute taxi we were finally airborne into the midnight sky. I looked across the aisle, thinking of the kids and how this was the furthest away I had ever been from Ben and Lilly. The thought lingered on my mind until I saw the lights from the eastern seaboard drift into darkness.

Goodbye

When I left to go to Qatar in 2005, Monkey was 6, Cowboy was just over four. It was Patriot Day 2005, and we were departing from my home-station at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. Dropping me off consisted of a 20 minute drive to the base, so we decided to drop the kids off at their school first.

They both knew I was leaving--Monkey had broken down a few days earlier because we told her I was leaving after my birthday, which we had celebrated. As we dropped them off at school, with me wearing a desert uniform that they had never seen before, Sammy gave me a hug and ran off to his pre-school. He clearly had no idea. Sarah, however, did, and it was a very difficult separation, with both of us crying pretty hard. Eventually, she was strong and went into her classroom, and I cried the rest of the way to the base.

Just before the waterworks were turned on

This time was much different. First, we had been expecting this day for a long time due to the delays in getting me out of there. Having a deployment hanging over your head is very difficult because you never really know when your "last" will be--your last real meal, your last outing with the kids, your last beer, etc. Second, we live 3 hours from the nearest large airport--so we had to get up bright and early and drive the whole way out there--knowing what awaited us on the other end. Third, we now have four kids, with the younger two almost the same age as the older two were last time. And lastly, the drop off has to be quick--as we pulled up to the curb and the San Antonio Airport police don't care if you're donating a kidney on the curb--you have 5 minutes.

I was overwhelmingly nervous, since I was alone this time, versus one of three hundred deploying last time. Like shaking nervous. On top of that I was an emotional wreck due to the fact that I was separating from all of them for the first time. After the bags were on the curb, Ben lost it first. He actually got out of the car crying and was hysterical by the time I was pulling my bags away. Sarah and Sammy were as expected, as we had gotten the hardest parts out of the way the night before. SW was holding her own, and I was too, until I started pulling away and something happened.

Lilly, in all her three years, figured it out.

With all her siblings and mother crying around her, on a busy side street with daddy hauling over 100 pounds of bags, something HAD to be amiss. As I was walking away she very quickly ran after me to hold my hand, as if she thought she was coming with me. I kissed her on the head and brought her back to mom. As I walked away she did the same thing again. She didn't cry, she didn't pull me back--she had a very serious look on her face and appeared that she thought it incredulous that I would go anywhere without her.

I lost it.

Eventually I made it into the building and just sat down for a minute to collect myself.

This is going to be a long six months.

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On the Road

Moving a family of 6 1/2 plus a dog is no small feat. Every time thus far, I get to haul the majority of the cargo in my truck--without much room for anything else. Gives me lots of time for deep thought...

Farewell Montgomery

Moving Day.

They say things are slower in the South, but this has been kind of taken to an extreme. The longest I've had movers take to pack us up was two full days, and that was when we went 2,000 ponds over our weight limit. This time around they took a full THREE days, and still hadn't finished packing when the truck showed up on the fourth day.

It is now 2100 on the fourth day, and I'm guessing they have a couple of more hours to go. Unbelievable.

So...an update.

I have officially graduated ACSC. What I learned in the end that while it is extremely difficult to do very well here, it is multitudes more difficult to do poorly. I ended up with an average GPA (which was significantly higher than the GPA I earned after four years of college), made some good friends, and got in the best shape of my life. On top of that--one more goal was accomplished:

Baby #4 (and God-willing, final) is on the way.

This brings with it a whole slew of concerns. The majority of the pregnancy will occur while I am in training in San Antonio learning to fly my next aircraft. During that time we're essentially living out of suitcases until we can find a home in Del Rio. Once that happens the rest of the family minus me and the pooch will go there in time for Princess and Cowboy to start school. The remaining two months of my training will be done solo while they are several hours away.

The biggest reason that we had such a big split between Cowboy and Odie was because we took a hiatus while we were stationed in Del Rio the first time (sidenote: it is extremely rare for someone to be stationed there twice, and even more rare to have someone volunteer to do it). The hospital there is not what I would consider spectacular, and SW was working there. Those things combined made us wait. By this strange twist of fate, in the end we're going to be having a baby while we're stationed there anyway.

Funny how life works that way.

We also made our long-planned and highly anticipated Disney World trip last week. I'm not going to go so far as to say we were disappointed, because a) we weren't, and b) that would mean I flushed $3500 down the drain. I will say that, to my surprise, we liked Disneyland better. Unfortunately I don't see us blowing the cash to take a trip all the way to Cali just for one park. Either way, we've gotten Disney out of our system for a few years.

So, as I sit here in Cowboy's empty room, watching the last pieces of furniture being moved away, I can say that this last year was a life-changing experience for me. Not because of the school, or the education, or the friends I made here. Rather, this "pause" in my career gave me an opportunity to re-evaluate what was really important to me. I wear a "livestrong" bracelet on my wrist now and no watch--things I didn't do deliberately but am glad that I have. I am so much more concerned with the wellness of myself and my family that things that don't directly contribute to that goal have fallen by the wayside. I only hope that I can continue to keep this focus after I leave the deep south.

So--that's it. Goals accomplished, motivation charged, I'm off to the next leg of my life's Desert Odyssey. There's so much happening--I hope to be able to write about it.