R&R adventure

First off, a quick SHOUT out to Mary Ann in Arizona; thank you for the Coffee beans....I did not have time to enjoy any before I left, but I'll have some when I return.

Next, I did make it home almost 3 days after my adventure began and getting home was an adventure. It all started when I showed up at 0600 f0r my flight from Baghdad to Kuwait. The flight was delayed and the new show time was 11am. I had been up all night and by the time we took off at 1PM; it was HOT and I was beat. Oh yeah, we got to fly in a crowded C-130 pictured here. The Jump Seats are about two feet apart and you sit knee to knee. It was probably the most uncomfortable flight I've ever been on. The plane was packed, we all had our Flak vests on and the air conditioner wasn't working too well. At least the flight was only an hour and a half. We landed in Kuwait and after 3 hours of in-processing, we were told we wouldn't fly out until the next night....so I spent 28 hours in Kuwait waiting for the next leg of my adventure.

There really isn't much to do in Kuwait and I did not bring any bedding. We were placed in transit billeting...which pretty much consisted of 10 bunk beds in an air conditioned tent. At least I was smart enough to bring a towel and shower stuff. My uniform was nasty. After mustering the next morning at 9am to find out our afternoon show time, we didn't start our next set of briefs until 1:30pm. At 1:30 PM, we were briefed on the US Customs requirements and how the flights would go.

After clearing the US customs, which included dumping your nicely packed bags on a table for the inspectors to rifle through, we made our way to the airport and left Kuwait at 1030PM. Our route took us to Shannon, Ireland for a quick stop for gas which turned out to be a 3 hour repair job on the airplane. The next 10 hour leg was from Ireland to Dallas-Fort Worth TX. When we landed, we were greeted by a cheering crowd. It was a small gesture, but it made most of us feel really good about serving our country. Next, it was a 3 hour flight from Dallas to San Diego.

All told, I flew more than 22 hours and crossed 11 times zones to get home. It was a long 3 days, but it's very nice to being home and enjoying the liberties we have sworn to protect.