DAY 13: Independence Day

The flying freezer

This journey is basically a straight shot home on board a new C-17 cargo aircraft with only one refueling stop in England. The cabin inside a military aircraft is quite utilitarian – designed for cargo, it is very noisy and cold during flight. Thus, passengers must wear earplugs and bring a blanket to keep from freezing. The one plus side is the ability to lie down on the steel floor and catch some zzz’s during the long journey – all 17 of us sprawl out into every available nook and cranny that is not utilized by the cargo. One of my folks actually finds some room under the spare engine to sleep!

4^th of July

After our 24-hour trek, we land back in California around 6pm – and it is still the 4^th of July! I am the first to debark the plane and as I walk on the tarmac towards our hangar a sizeable party of greeters is on hand waving American flags – how patriotic! In all of my deployments, this is the first time we had such a wonderful greeting. I hook up with my family and we have such a fun dinner conversation that we miss the fireworks – but all is good on this Independence Day. Mission accomplished, it is good to be home with family and friends.

DAY 12: Out of Africa

Swimming like tadpoles

In the morning, I finally have a few free hours and head out to the pool to swim some laps. Swimming is one of those activities that I truly enjoy – it provides a workout not only for my muscles, but my heart and mind as well. However, the local pool is not in great shape – the pool maintenance is poor with chlorine chunks quite visible and a blue murkiness that reduces underwater visibility. Pool markings are almost non-existent and with no lane markings my swim turns out to be more of a game of survival than an enjoyable physical activity.

A time to ponder

Later in the day, the customs guys perform a 100% search of our personal bags to be checked in and I finally relax and enjoy one last meal before our 10pm showtime. During this downtime, I realize that I had a very unique deployment: I spent more days in transit in Qatar (5) than at my final deployment location of Djibouti (4). Also, the last four days have been intense as I scrambled to ensure that everything happened according to plan. One of my co-workers observes and informs me that I worked more in the four days I was here than some of our team members that were deployed the entire month – I think that was a complement!

Customs-go-round

The last customs inspection for our carry-on luggage turns into a farce. A disagreement between my troop commander and the customs’ personnel devolves into a merry-go-round with the inspection table moving from the inside of the building to the outside and then back inside again. Since I have all of the cargo lock combinations memorized, I am separated from the group and brought directly to the plane – a just-in-case measure if the aircraft loadmaster requires another cargo inspection as it is loaded. After a long delay, the rest of the group finally arrives at the plane 4-1/2 hours later. At a few minutes before 4am on the 4^th of July, we finally take off and head out of Africa!

DAY 11: It's all about the Cargo

Africa Hot

Today is the heavy physical work day that I coordinated, yet eerily anticipated. The skies have also cleared and work starts at 7am to coordinate the movement of cargo into a consolidated area along the flightline. Next, the local fire department brings their fire trucks to hose down the dust and bugs from the cargo – cool! During the heat of the afternoon, the customs guys show up and inspect every crate, box and package. With 14 pallets, this turns into a grueling 5 hour inspection during the hottest part of the day. Finally, my team seals up the crates, installs the pallet nets and after 12 hours in the searing “Africa Hot” sun, we head off to the chow hall for a well-deserved meal. A moment of elation finally starts to hit me as the realization that everything is starting to slowly fall in to place.

DAY 10: The African Queen

Stereotypes

Along with other nations in the Muslim sphere, the local women cover up according to strict Islamic dress requirements. However, many westerners often assume that all Muslim women dress in the stereotypical black burqas that are frequently seen on TV during Muslim pilgrimages. That is only a slice of reality. From my travels throughout the Middle East, the type and amount of cover varies quite considerably from place to place, and with variety even within a country.

Burqa, Burqa, Burqa!

In Saudi Arabia – the home of Islam’s holy sites and most of its pilgrimages – the stereotypical black burqa is standard requirement for all women that is strictly enforced by a zealous religious police. Just across the border in Kuwait, the women wear everything from the standard black burqas to western clothing with light makeup. In Afghanistan, there are different burqas to differentiate the female’s status: young girls wear white sheets that cover the hair only; married women wear bright blue burqas that completely cover everything; and older women wear black sheets that cover the hair and body only.

Individualism in a conformist society

Here in the Djibouti, the local women wore brightly colored head covers – reds, yellows, greens, blues, and purples all made with a chiffon-like material to allow breathing. Underneath, they wore opaque clothing to conceal their body parts except for their faces and hands. It was cool to see a bunch of the local women walking along the road in an eclectic mix of bright rainbow colors – a sign that they were conforming to their culture’s restrictions, yet making individual statements that reflect their personal color preference and taste in clothing design.

A thought to ponder: not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are Arabs.

DAY 9: Urban Ghetto

Urban chic? No, it’s urban ghetto!

There is an unclassified website that displays pictures of the camp’s main facilities. When I arrived, I was amazed that the base did not look anything like the website – I would actually consider the pictures as false advertisement. Sure, the headquarter facilities and compound on the hill are nice and featured on the website. But for most of us, the flatland is quite congested with many connexes – large shipping containers – interspersed between our tents. In addition, the spacing is extremely tight and along with the compressed dirt road, there is a definite “urban ghetto” feel that permeates the camp. Many years ago, this was a French Foreign Legion camp!

Get working!

Right away, I hit the required logistics paperwork: Passenger Manifest, Aircraft Load Plan, Hazard Declarations, Packing Lists, Military Shipping Labels, etc. This is the job that I came here to perform and with just a short timeframe, I was buzzing around like a bee to make it all happen.

Last celebration

That evening, I head out to the on-base cantina to celebrate the last night our entire team will be together at this deployed location. The organic crew will be flying our C-130s back home and depart in the morning. Given that this is an all-service camp, soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen all co-mingle within this outdoor cantina which becomes one boisterous – albeit testosterone filled – atmosphere that is a great outlet for all parties involved.

A call out: I am a member of the San Francisco Renegades Drum and Bugle corps, and this weekend the corps competed in three competitions throughout California. Unfortunately, I had to miss all three shows since I was a half a world away, but the corps did very well scoring a 72.663 in Sunnyvale on Saturday – way to go!

DAY 8: Groundhog Day

Deja vu

Did you ever see the movie, “Groundhog Day”? The premise of the story is that Bill Murray’s character wakes up, goes through the day’s routine and then goes back to bed. He then wakes up the next day, but everything around him is still in the previous day – a bit of deja vu. He is caught in this repeating cycle that seems endless. You’ll then understand why I felt exactly this way when I woke up this morning. Unfortunately, with each failed attempt it is not as simple as going to the terminal and then going back to bed. To leave, you have to turn in your bed linens, check out of Billeting, out-process with the PERSCO (Personnel Contingency) Team, take a bus shuttle from one compound to another and then emigrate through Qatari Customs. So, when I’m bumped I have to perform this whole process in reverse. And so much so, that much of the support staff kept on saying “You’re back, AGAIN?!?!” My fun meter was now pegged in negative territory…

Magic Number 5

After spending 5 days in Qatar, on the 5^th try I board a C-130 cargo plane and we take off – woohoo! The max temperature for the day in Qatar manages to hit a sizzling 115F. The flight time is 5.5 hours, and I will be landing on my 5^th continent. All along, I never realized that my magic number was not “3”, nor “4” – but lucky “5”!

Africa, at Last!

We land at noon on the civilian side of the airport in the Horn of Africa – I finally made it! I was anticipating what I call are “Africa Hot” conditions – clear skies with scalding temperatures well into the 110s – wrong! Instead, it is cloudy, muggy with temperatures in the upper 90s. A KBR (Kellogg, Browning and Root) civilian greets us and we drive around the airport to the military side. On the drive, it is clear that we’re in a third-world nation – garbage is strewn everywhere and vehicles are dumped along the roadside to rust. I’ve traveled a lot in my life, but I still was not prepared for this unsightly scene.

Shake Your Booty? No, Djibouti!

I can now mention the specific country that we’re deployed at – Djibouti (pronounced ji – BOO – ti with a silent “D”). As a former French colony, it was known as French Somaliland and then later as the Territory of the Afars and Issas for the two main ethnic groups that inhabit the area. This small nation is strategically located at the confluence of the Red Sea and the Arabian Ocean and is wedged between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia and just 12 miles across the smallest part of the Red Sea from Yemen. Just two days before my arrival, it celebrated its 30^th year as an independent nation on June 27^th.

Welcome BBQ

Upon arrival into the military camp, some familiar faces greet me and we’re all excited that I finally made it. The folks were quite concerned and given my predicament in Qatar there were serious considerations in sending me back home. But all is good now and I get some ribbing for it. I now just have a few days to bust my butt and get the cargo and people ready for our journey home. The next rotation already arrived and my team prepared a welcome barbeque for them. After getting an intense buzz on just a single beer, I head home in the dark and somehow miraculously make it to my tent and into my bunk.

DAY 7: A Day of Clarity

Clear skies

The morning reveals calm and clear blue skies and my mind determined that this is the day. Keep in mind that I have now been awaiting transportation in Qatar for four days now. I go through the routine of out-processing…blah, blah, blah…and head over to the pax terminal. Pull my bags out of storage and we head out to the tarmac with 3 other pax to board the plane. Things are looking good! Pilot then determines he doesn’t have enough fuel and decides to bump me, since I have a lot of baggage – can’t friggin’ believe it! This whole situation has turned into a nightmare that keeps going on and on and on...

Wrong number

Not only was my day of clarity wrong, but the number scheme was off kilter as well. I kept thinking it was going to “4’s” since I was in bunk #44, taking the shuttle bus at :44 past the hour, and this was the 4^th try on the 4^th day. “Lucky 3’s” didn’t work and “4’s” turned out not to be my magic number either.

DAY 6: Desert Storm

Blowing in the wind

In the early darkness of cover, a strong dust storm arrives and my tent shakes violently. At sunrise, the sun is so masked over I actually thought it was the full moon for a few seconds. The storm intensifies and soon the winds are gusting over 25 knots with visibility reduced to less than 2 miles. I find out that a mission has dropped and this one may be the one. After doing legwork with my team back home and at the destination, I’m booked on to this flight. I then scurry over to the library to return a book I was reading – “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. My dad recommended it to me last year, and I finally get some down time and a chance to read it. Well written and insightful book on the impact globalization has made across all societies – with the internet and modern technology, the world now appears “flat” since it is just as easy to conduct business with someone in Indiana as in India.

Third time the charm?

I’m booked on to the flight and with boarding pass in hand, the thought “third time is the charm” comes to mind. A Distinguished Visitor (DV) and his party then arrives into the terminal. Usually nothing noteworthy, except this individual than opts to not allow any other pax on the plane – which happens to be me – no way! So, now I have to process back thru Qatari customs and on to the base. I make a beeline for the library to set my mind on Sudoku puzzles, which are basically crossword puzzles with numbers. You have to utilize logic to eliminate and determine the one number that fits in each square. At first, each puzzle takes me about 45 minutes to complete. I went thru almost 30 of them and now can complete a puzzle in 10-15 minutes. Keeps my mind engaged while I wait and wait and wait…

DAY 5: Roller Coaster

Elation

I check in with the Passenger (Pax) Terminal and confirm that my flight is still on – I’m excited! I stay up and around midnight I shower and pack. Then it is off to the chow hall for a midnight meal at 2:30am.

I’m overloaded with my gear and waiting at the bus stop when a friendly Brit stops his truck and offers a ride. We have a nice chat and he’s quite happy to be here in Qatar. He was last deployed to Basra, Iraq – an area that once was fairly stable – that has unfortunately started to unravel with the civil war and chaos that has overtaken much of that country.

Deflation

I then check into the Expeditionary Theater Distribution Center (ETDC) to pick up my Individual Body Armor (IBA) at 3:30am, and I am ready for the 4:40am show time at the Passenger Terminal. Pax rep confirms the flight is still a go. But wait, this mission is designated only for cargo. “You’re kidding me?!?!” I express in utter dismay.

Alone

To make matters worse, the pax rep indicates there are no missions scheduled for the next 72 hours. So, now I may be stuck here in Qatar for three more days – ugh! Everyone else – except the mouse and cricket, of course – has departed for their destination. Traveling alone is usually not difficult for me, but with the convergence of the day’s events and the fact that I am now all alone in the tent, it all really hits home. At this point, I’m not sure if my deployment will turn out to be a success or not.

DAY 4: Desert Climate

Early Light & Hot Temperatures

Since Qatar doesn’t observe Daylight Savings Time and is on the eastern portion of its time zone, the day starts and ends much earlier than I am used to. By 5am, the sun zooms past the horizon and it is already bright enough that headlights are no longer needed. By 7am, the wind picks up and starts to stir the dust…it already feels like mid-day. By 9am, the temperatures skyrocket into the 100s. By 11am, the sun is directly overhead and scorches the skin and bakes the earth with 110F+ degrees. While many spots in the western U.S. periodically reach these high temperatures during a heat wave, the high temperatures here are consistently in the 110s with lows hovering around 90F. A memory from the past – on my tour in Kuwait during DESERT STORM, the summer temperatures reached up to 130F. I laugh when folks say “well, it’s dry heat!” Let me tell you, it doesn’t matter whether it’s dry or moist heat at that point – your skin is cooking!

Best Friends

With the intense conditions, I am constantly dealing with severe nose bleeds. My very best friend turns out to be a saline nasal spray that was provided to me by our flight doctor during my last tour in Afghanistan. Several squirts early in the morning and my nose is content for the rest of the day. My next best friend turns out to be moist towelettes. The Baltimore-Washington International Airport USO handed out free gift packets to all deploying members. Each packet contained a 20-towelette package that I’ve constantly used since then. The sand and dust does numbers to the face and skin and it is a nice refresher to clear the grime and sweat from even a simple walk around the base.

I find out that my expected flight is cancelled. Not much to do except to sleep and convert my body’s time clock over to Middle East time. Traveling east always proves difficult for me since my body clock loses time. It’s 10 hours ahead of the west coast and it takes me a couple of days to adjust. I find myself easily sleeping at all parts of the day just to recover and adjust.

DAY 3: Where in the world is Qatar?

Sheik your booty

Many folks pronounce the country “Cut – TER”, but I’ve confirmed that the correct pronunciation is “KAH – tar” with the emphasis on the first syllable. Or shall we say “Sy – LA – ble” if you prefer Austin Powers? However it is pronounced, Qatar is one of those little, rich Persian Gulf sheikdoms in the Middle East. We arrive at 5am, line up on the tarmac and it is already bright, warm and muggy. The base we arrived into is a military hub and after processing through the reception center we head for the transient tents. Most of the group will be moving on to Iraq. I’m a stray and need to make my own arrangements for my solo trip to the Horn of Africa to meet up with the rest of my team.

Neighbors

The transient tent is stuffed to the brim with 44 of us and I happen to get assigned to bunk #44. As we slowly crash out, I notice a quick movement by my neighbor’s bunk. Right under his bed, a little mouse darts in and out between the luggage while scavenging for food – yikes! Not wanting to create unnecessary commotion, I keep this moment to myself and the little critter provides a few minutes of entertainment. I then lay down and there is an active cricket close by. Nothing like a cricket serenade to put one to sleep…

DAY 2: Hopping on lily pads

Most military deployments usually entail a long and convoluted journey, and this one will be no different. I depart from San Francisco International and over the next 28 hours my trek takes me thru Baltimore-Washington International, Germany, Cyprus, and into Qatar. On this contracted civilian flight, I didn’t realize I had a first-class seat until I boarded – nice! A young airman named Kayla is seated next to me and from our discussions I learn that she works for a sister organization of my unit – another Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) outfit. While my destination will be the Horn of Africa (HOA), her unit is deploying into Iraq. Upon our arrival, I wish her the best of luck since she was heading right into the lion’s den and into harm’s way.

DAY 1: The Closer

Rats

Currently, my unit is already deployed in place and due to a shortfall I’ve been tasked to come in during the last two weeks as a Redeployment Assistance Team (RAT) member. Several other unit members also possess the skill set, but could not deploy for various reasons. Actually, I don’t work in this career field anymore, but it turns out that I am still a valuable resource with the background experience from the last inspection and deployment. Thus, my mission is to redeploy our personnel and cargo assets back from its overseas location and return it to home station.

Loggies

As a logistician – known as a “loggie” in our world – I’ll plan the cargo load, schedule the airlift, coordinate the customs inspection, submit the required paperwork and execute the redeployment operations to ensure that everybody and everything successfully returns. Though the job sounds fairly simple, I’ve witnessed a unit that did not send a loggie and the redeployment operation turned into one disaster after another. The loggie deals with all of the changes and headaches to ensure a smooth return. On my last tour in Afghanistan, several members of my unit went out of their way to thank me for my hard work – they informed me that it was the smoothest redeployment in many tours to the desert. Although I dealt with a lot of headaches and several roadblocks, I knew then that I did a job well done.

Countdown to Departure

Hi there – my pseudonym is Capt Al, and I'm back in the blogging world again after a long absence. The last time I deployed was in 2005 to Afghanistan (http://al-afghanistan.blogspot.com/) ... it was quite an intense experience then, and with a more active Taliban the situation has unfortunately turned for the worse.

However, this time around I am heading to another part of the world – the Horn of Africa.

So, where in the heck is the "Horn of Africa", you ask? Let's just say it is Africa Hot!

After describing this bizarre geographic area to family, friends and collegues, the next question I always seem to get is "What specfic country is it?" For Operational Security (OPSEC) purposes, I can't reveal the actual country for now. So, "Horn of Africa" or "HOA" it is until futher notice.

The countdown has begun. Today is the first day of spring and it is also T minus one...thus, I will be shipping out tomorrow. Just left work and will be packing a storm tonight!