Oh my goodness. What a journey this has been so far. I hate traveling with the military cattle call! I had a report time on 11 Sept of 1500. I had no idea what time that meant we would really be leaving. I started my day with a 9.11K Patriot’s Run. Turns out he 9.11K was just symbolic because the run was actually 6.4 miles, which is a bit over 10K! I did not budget my energy for that far, but it turned out OK. My pace was 10:22 per minute, which is slower than my 10K pace of 10:00 2 yrs ago, but faster than I was 2 months ago. But I was hurting at the end. I was still a bit sore from the dog wrestling, too. After my race, I laid down for about an hour, but was unable to sleep, although I was exhausted. Two nights before I had only gotten about 4 hours of sleep. Not sure why I woke at 0230, but once I got a knock at the door at 0300 to sign some emergency leave papers, I was definitely not able to go back to sleep and I ended up getting up at 0330 and doing laundry. I got started on a bunch of other stuff I had to do and was able to get all my stuff done that day. I lay down at 8:45 PM to sleep and was just going into a deep sleep when the air raid sirens went off. It was a rocket attack. I finally went to bed at 11:30 PM form that and then was in a nice deep sleep at 0330 when we got another attack. The enemy was celebrating the end of Ramadan and Sept 11th in style! So I was up permanently from that- it was time to go to the race by the time they called all clear. So I ran 6.4 miles tired and sore. Came back, laid down for an hour, got up and cleaned my room and finished packing and showered. About when I was getting ready to go in to work and finish a few last things, the air raid siren went off again! We had not had a daylight attack in the 6 months I was there- not even in March and April when they were attacking every week. So I hunkered down waited a while and then went in to work. I had lunch with a few friends and then went around and said my good byes. I packed up the truck and a friend drove me to the terminal at 1500 (3pm).
Once I got there, the fun started. I was actually concerned that my flight would not get out at all. Between mechanical problems and rocket fire, I was thinking it may not happen. I arrived at the appointed time of 1500 and then had an hour wait after check in and before we could go through customs. Then was the hour wait out in the customs yard while they finished about 150 Army personnel before they started the Air Force. Customs is an interesting affair. First you load all your junk on a table. Then you empty your pockets into your hat and get a body scan in those scanners that show everything. But the females did not have to get that since it was males doing the looking. I just got wanded. I happened to make a comment about when was the body cavity search and instantly about 3 guys volunteered to do mine…yikes! After the scan, you go to a table where you have to empty all of your bags onto a table and a customs agent (some poor Air Force sap who thought they were going to a good job but got stuck with customs instead) goes through all your stuff. Everything! Only my guy was not very thorough. He didn’t even want to see my authorization letter for my switchblade. He didn’t open any containers or anything. I watched a few others later and they were opening everything and patting down clothing. I got off easy! After the customs search, they put us in lock down – the plan was it would be about 7 hours, but military flights aren’t like civilian flights. In the Air Force world, the flight time is a guestimate. They make you show up way early and then they just get things moving as the manning and air traffic permit. We were supposed to take off at 1130pm. I lay down for about 90 minutes and tried to nap, but that didn’t really work very well. Once they lock you down, you cannot leave. Dinner was a cup of Total Raisin Bran with some cranberry applesauce I pilfered out of an MRE. Later I had an MRE cracker with MRE peanut butter. After resting, I got up and walked around outside a bit. After that got boring, I came in and watched the customs stuff going on from above on the steps that go to the second floor. I could also see the baggage scanner and talk to the guy who was running it- that was pretty neat. Next thing, I know, they are calling us to go load up the plane! It was about 2 hrs early- wooohooo!
So we grab out stuff and head to the plane. I came in on a C-130 cargo plane, which is loud and a rough ride. The only seating is the web seating along the walls. The toilet was a pull down affair with a curtain that went partly around it, but I had to go, so I used it. I did not care! The flight home was on a C-17- this is a huge cargo plane that has over 100 seats. I was one of the last to get on, but it turned out fine. I got an aisle seat. I remembered from getting here that the ride was short before because I was watching a movie on my iPod and did not get all the way through it. Some guy was trying to tell me it was a 4 hour flight. I was hoping he was wrong. We got on the plane and sat for about an hour while they loaded the cargo on the pallets behind us. Then they closed up the back and we sat for another 30 minutes or so. Once they said we were taking off, I mentioned to the guy next to me that I we had passed the first hurdle- breaking down- and now all we had to do was get airborne without getting shot down. He is Army and it’s apparent that he had not really thought about that possibility! We took off uneventfully for what turned out to be a 2 hour flight. Let me describe the seating. If all there was was me and my airline pillow- no problem. But there is me…with my giant flak vest on…with my helmet strapped to the front. With my carry on (a soft briefcase with a strap) slung across my chest. With my gigantic military backpack with a pillow strapped to one side and a blanket to the other side. Picture ALL THAT crammed into an airline seat! I actually was able to put the backpack in the seat next to me, but the flack vest, helmet, and briefcase are all on me. I could barely move a muscle or adjust my posture for 3 hours on that plane. Closer to 4 by the time we landed, taxied, waited for cargo to be unloaded and then we able to get up. My butt was killing me. That was the easy part.
Next, we file onto busses. This is 0130 by now and I have had about 8 hours sleep in the last 70 hours. From the busses, we go into a building where they collect out IDs. We have a seat and bored briefers fly through welcoming and information slides. Then they tell us about 4 different times and locations and processes we have to be at, but nothing is written down and sometimes they don’t give the whole story. Then the Army leaves and the AF has to stay for another briefing. Finally, we get out at about 0230. I am told I had to go find my checked bags, put my personal bag on a shelf, but make sure everything I needed for the next 72 hours was out of it because I would not be able to get back into it until it was time to leave. Well, as sleep deprived as I was, I remembered to get the DVD player and some movies out, but I forgot my sweatshirt. Plus, I was sweating from lugging my crap all over the place and did not realize it was cold here in Kyrgyzstan. Then I had to drop my chem bag in some wet box and was told I’d see it again later to turn it in. I had to check into lodging and get my room, then get linens, then get my ID back at 0400, then go check my outbound flight starting at 0800, then at 0900 go turn in my vest and helmet and chem gear. Turns out the ID cards were ready early, so I picked that up at about 0330. I went to lodging and got my room without problem. Then went to get linens. They gave me an Army blanket and a plastic pillow. Apparently, they were out of everything else. I asked for an extra blanket and the lady objected, but after I said fine, I brought my own, she gave me another one. So picture this- I have a flak vest on, helmet strapped to chest- that’s 40 pounds right there. My briefcase is probably 8 or 10 pounds slung across my chest. My packpack is at least 20 pounds and is on my back. I am carrying an armload of blankets and a pillow and looking for my dorm in the dark at 0400 looking for my dorm. The buildings were not labeled consistently and building 470 was nowhere near 465. But after about 20 minutes of lugging 70 pounds of crap and linens all over the place in a drizzling rain, I found my dorm, made it to my room, made my bed, put my stuff down. I then made my way to the dining for an actual meal because I was starving. After breakfast, I got back to my room at about 0500, took my pants and boots off and laid down for what I expected to be about 3 hours of sleep. At about 0530, the door opens and someone flips on the light! It was my new roommate, who, when I asked her to turn off the light, didn’t. She rooted around for about 10 minutes and then managed to find her flashlight and turned off the overhead light. She is a Marine. Most AF personnel keep a small flashlight attached to our uniform collar for occasions such as this. She didn’t even apologize. She then proceeded to go in and out for the next hour or so, waking me up each time.
I had decided that there was no need to check my flight right at 0800, so my next appt would be at 0900 to turn in my vest. I set my watch alarm to 0830, not really sure that I would hear it, but hoping I would. I did not remember where I had put my alarm clock. I found it later in my backpack. Next thing I know, after a few hours of waking up frequently, my roommate entered the room again. I looked at my watch and it was 0900! YIKES! I leaped up, threw on my uniform, put in my contacts because I couldn’t find my glasses quickly, and rushed off to find the place to turn in chem gear. Turning in the gear was an easy process. After that, I headed to breakfast, bought a long sleeve PT shirt at the BX because it’s pretty chilly here and my sweatshirt is in my luggage, then scheduled a massage tomorrow because I am still sore, went to the coffee shop and had a café mocha with way too much mocha (believe it or not!!) and read the Stars and Stripes, and now I am sitting here on my bed telling you about my day.
I think I will read for a bit and then take a nap. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be at BWI the evening of the 14th- then crabs and beer with Kristin- yippppeeee!
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