Captain Kristen Augé's Sandbox Trip: Taking a Trip!

Last Tuesday, I was finally able to take my trip to Kuwait. This time, I called the terminal instead of operations to find out if the flight was a go. It was, but it had been moved up and they wanted us at the terminal immediately. Great, now we’re rushing to get there to make the flight. Once again, we dragged all of our stuff and waited to load the aircraft.

I’ve flown on a C130 numerous times over my career but I have never experienced loading the aircraft in a desert climate. As we waited on the flight line, the pilots rolled the aircraft to a stop, pallets were unloaded, Soldiers disembarked and we got on. We were loading the aircraft from the back and since the engines were still running, all the hot air was being directed at us as we got closer to the aircraft. OMG! I thought I was going to be cooked alive just trying to get to the damn plane. I wanted to run to get out of the convection oven heat but the guy in front of me was walking and we were to approach the aircraft in a single file. Once I got on the plane, I could hardly catch my breath. Is this what burning at the stake feels like?! Thank God I still have my eyebrows!

I have never been fond of flying in C130s since there is a heavy fuel smell while you wait to take off so I’m already nauseated before we even begin. Also, sitting sideways doesn’t help with matters. I want to drink some water but I’m nervous about losing my breakfast and I don’t want to be “That Guy”. Luckily for me, the flight wasn’t too bad and I made it to Kuwait without incident.

We landed in Ali Al Salem and we were bused to the terminal (tent). We were informed our bags would arrive in approximately ½ an hour. Two and ½ hours later, our bags finally were unloaded. I kept thinking that if this had been Brian waiting, he would have had an absolute fit. Chief Mankowski and I went to grab some lunch at McDonald’s; a place I haven't been since Minnesota. It was awesome until about half way through and I realized it didn’t quite taste the same. Maybe they snuck in camel meat!

The reason we were taking this trip is to visit our Soldiers who are stationed at Arifjan. Arifjan is a garrison type post and would be like any other post back home if not for being in the desert. We don’t have to carry our weapon with us but the rules are still abundant on the dos and don’ts of the post. I was absolutely ecstatic to have real milk, bananas, a Starbuck’s coffee shop and PX to visit. Another plus: I was able to wear my IPod on their outdoor track so running wasn’t as boring as it has been in the last few months. It’s also nice not to feel like the mouse in the maze. There are no T-walls here to block your view so you can see what seems like, forever.

Spending time with the Soldiers here has been a nice diversion away from my typical day and the time has flown by. Our return flight was scheduled for today but when we called last night, we were told we needed to be at the terminal by 0500. So much for getting a good night’s sleep, since we needed to depart by 0300 to make it to Ali Al Salem.

Whenever you leave post, there is a requirement to have a memorandum signed by a Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) or above. Lieutenant Meeusen had the memo ready to go and when we got to the gate to depart, the guard stated the memo was wrong. Funny, it’s the same memo that Meeusen has been using for over two months just different names and dates. There was no swaying the guard to let us depart so we had to go back, change the memo, wake up the LTC so he could sign the new memo. Finally, we’re off. We arrived at 0520 and then more bad news; roll call was taken at 0400 and the manifest was already finalized. Honestly! I’m stuck in a land of bad information!

It gets better; we’re told we need to go over to the other counter to secure a Space-R spot. There are other flights to COB Basrah but now we will have to take the long way. Meaning two to three stops prior to our destination and we had to wait with lots of other people that were trying to go to their destinations. We had two flights to pick from to get to Basrah; one at 1155 and one at 1800 (6pm). Where’s my travel agent when I need one? Luckily, Chief and I got a couple of seats and then we played the waiting game. At least one of us had to sit there at any given time since we had all of our stuff.

During the wait, I went to the other tent to make a call and as I’m walking, this Soldier going the same way, turns toward me and starts asking me how long I had been here. I couldn’t believe my bad luck! It was that guy from Starbucks back at Camp Beurhing that wouldn’t leave me alone. Thousands of service members pass through Ali Al Salem and I have to run into him! This time I kept walking and didn’t look back.

After waiting until roll call at 1800 and not getting picked, we took a bus back to Arifjan and we’ll be starting the process all over again. Funny thing, I was actually looking forward to getting back to my trailer; my home away from home in Iraq.