2-6 July

2 July
I’m sitting in the USO at BWI airport waiting to board my flight in 2.5 hours. As always the Air Force has “a hurry up and wait” mentality. I had to be at the airport at 6:30pm to board a flight at 11:30pm to take off at 12:30 am. Although it has been a very smooth process it is sad that I had to be here last night when I could have had one last night with Jenn and Emma.
One saving grace I had was a good friend of mine, Jon, and his wife, Ali, let me stay with them while I was in Baltimore. I wasn’t looking forward to spending my last night in America sitting by myself in a hotel room. They have a little boy named Avery that is 7-months old. We were rooting for him to crawl for the first time, but he just teased me the whole time I was there. It made me think about some of the stuff I’ll miss with Emma, but chatting with Jon and Ali about all the things to look forward to in the next few years helped put my 6 months away in perspective.
When I get back Emma will be 10 months old. Between my deployment and training prior, I will have missed 70% of her life. But when she is 2 years old it will only be 29%. Why is that a nice thought? As long as I do my job and keep my head down, this whole experience won’t even register in her life. Next up is a flight to Germany and a lot more “hurrying and waiting”.

3 July
There hasn’t been much to 3 July. Flying east about 9 time zones has absorbed this day with no events. I’m about an hour away from landing in Kuwait. It will be around midnight when we touch ground. I have to imagine that when I land it will finally hit me that I’m in the Middle East. Since I got word of my deployment all I have thought about is Jenn and Emma and very little about where I was going. Maybe seeing the people and places of Kuwait will knock my brain into reality.

It’s a strange thought that I’ll be in Kuwait on 4th of July. This is the most patriotic holiday and it will be inspiring to really start this journey on that day. I wish I had some amazing words about doing this for the love of country, to spread freedom, or to release a foreign people from their reign of terror. But sadly I don’t. The military to me has always been a job and career choice. There are so many military members that do this for the “right” reasons. I’m proud of what I do and that I’m a member of the world’s greatest Air Force but I have never felt “the calling” that many others have. My decisions about joining, staying in, and retiring have been dollar and cents driven.

Of course don’t get me wrong. In no way do I mean that I take my responsibility lightly or that I would ever make decisions that benefit me at the cost of the Air Force or America. I’m very proud of my country and even when I think our leadership and people try to reduce its greatness it is the best country on Earth.

Throughout my career I have been surrounded by great patriots. When I was in basic training answers to “Why are you here?” were love of country, patriotism, and following a family tradition. I on the other hand answered “to get a degree.” It was not a popular answer with the drill instructors. When I decided to get commissioned as an officer many people did it for those same patriotic reasons. I did it to help develop people and to make a better paycheck. I think my eyes to how many people treat being in the Air Force as a calling was when I taught Air Force ROTC. I had so many cadets that just wanted to serve with many wanting to do that from the time they were kids. When I was in school I never considered joining the military. I didn’t join until I was 20 and after I realized I didn’t have a successful path ahead of me. Sometimes when I had to dismiss someone from the program they were crushed because a lifelong dream was taken away. I still to this day think my greatest impact on the Air Force will never be things I do, but will be because of what my former cadets will accomplish. This may be my first deployment, but I feel like I have been here before. I can’t list all the cadets that have made the same journey I am doing now. Although I know a few off the top of my head because they pointed out that they got to the warzone way before I did.

So what are my thoughts right before my boots touch Kuwait. I’m excited to feel like a real military person for the first time since I was enlisted. I’m scared, not because of the dangers, but because I want to do a great job for my fellow Airmen, Soldiers, Marines, and Sailors. I’m terrified that some freak incident is going to happen and I won’t hold my little girl again, but I know I will need to push that feeling deep inside because I need to think clearly and not concentrate on the stuff I can’t control. And last, I’m proud that the next time someone says “thank you for your service” I will have earned that gratitude.

4 July
We arrived in Kuwait at about 1:00am and to say the very lease it was already hot, over 98 degrees in the middle of the night. Around 9:00am we saw a thermometer pegged at 120 degrees. We did a lot of sitting around waiting for our next step, so the hours have really dragged. We’re hoping to make it to Afghanistan today by flying Space-R which is similar to flying standby. We have two shots tonight, so our fingers are crossed. Looking forward to a shower and some sleep.

During our time waiting in the terminal I ended up having some wireless internet. It was only 5:30am back home, but I hoped to be lucky and see Jenn on Facebook. She wasn’t so I put a status saying something like “Is there someone that can call my wife and tell her to get on Facebook.” I actually got multiple responses from people to help, but she had already gotten on. So why did she decide to get on at 5:30am. Little Emma must have known I was trying, because she woke up crying and wanted to be nursed (keep in mind that she has been sleeping much later). I guess my little helper decided to pitch in to put a smile on her mommy and daddy’s faces.

There weren’t any 4th of July celebrations, except for some BBQ at the chow hall. I was very happy with the day, because we ended up making it on the first flight. My time in Kuwait was very short, but memorable. Now on to Afghanistan.

5 July
We made it to Afghanistan around midnight. Since I was groggy from sleeping I was so very happy to have to carry my body armor and heavy backpack about 100 yards down the flight line. Of course this statement is filled with sarcasm, but there is a little truth to it. The unfriendlies outside decided to welcome our arrival with some mortar attacks on the base, so I got to learn all the warning sirens first hand. The attacks were on the other side of the base, but it definitely put my head into the game. By the time we got a little settled in and some food in our bellies we headed to bed. It’s a weird feeling to head to your room and hear the alarms going off for people to start their day. We were told to sleep in, so I had a good sleep for about 7 hours. We woke up, ate, and started to explore the base. It’s a small Air Force because I ran into a guy I went to Officer Training School with about 9 years ago. He had only been on base for three days, but seemed like quite the expert. I guess I would normally think it was hot here at almost 100 degrees, but it seems like a cool Spring day compared to Kuwait. I’ll be here for about a week then I’m off to some Forward Operating Base (FOB) in northern Afghanistan.
I had my first real conversation with Jenn today. Her big news was taking Jojo, our Boston Terrier, to the vet to have his anal drainage tube removed. I guess Afghanistan isn’t too bad with that as the comparison. She said it still felt like I was on a normal TDY. Hopefully that will last until I’m half way done.
The best news I got today was that once I am settled into my new FOB home I should have a sweet set up with ability to call home, internet, and possibly cable in my room. I guess I won’t be roughing it too bad.
6 July
“Biggest Loser: Afghanistan Edition” officially kicked off today. I woke up early for a nice jog. It was a serene run with the mountains in the background and a cool morning. It almost makes you forget where you are. I’ll have to get use to running without headphones, because they are forbidden since you need to hear sirens during an attack. The food has been really good so far, so my biggest challenge may be staying away from the awesome dessert tables.
I have a couple days of training to basically relearn a bunch of stuff I learned during a week of training back home. It’ll be much more productive since we are in this environment (at least I hope).

Update: The training was not better. It was bad and long. Why would you say “We’ll cover that tomorrow” and then spend 20 minutes talking about it! Also, I did well on avoiding the dessert until dinner. I would like to point out that I was going to get a second helping of salad, but there were no plates. The only tables with plates had dessert on them. It wasn’t my fault.
I found out where I’m going and I’ll be replacing a buddy of mine from Hanscom. I’ll also be working with another guy I know, so it shouldn’t be too bad. My plan is to get up at 5:00am and hit the gym. Let’s cross our fingers that my alarm clock doesn’t fail me.

FINAL POINT TO PONDER: Isn’t it sad that our Navy Commander boss has to send out an email telling people not to pee outside of their housing unit. Really! The bathroom is only 20 yards away. This guy has other things to worry about…like the $2+ Billion he is responsible for.



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