Homeward Bound

The past week has been a blur. As I am sure you've probably guessed I did catch my third rescheduled flight out of Mosul. I woke up at 0345 on Friday morning to make it to the airport by 0500. I flew in a C-130 to Ali Al Salem Air Base (Kuwait), not Al Udeid (Qatar). From there I waited until 1730 (5:30 pm) to check in to my next flight. I killed most of my time in the MWR watching TV and taking pictures of some of the base.

Checking out of Kuwait (pictured below) was a project. My actual flight didn't leave until 0330 on Saturday (the next morning) but you have to go through customs. I had to empty all three of my packed bags completely so U.S. custom officials could make sure I was trying to take back war souvenirs, such as weapon parts.

I had a three hour layover in Germany. It was so nice to breath in the crisp, cool air. I knew I was on my way home. Doesn't the picture even look crisper?

First stop in the states was Baltimore. I arrived at 2:25 pm, but my flight back home was not until 11:00 am the next day. Of course I asked to see if there was anything earlier. I didn't feel like spending the night at the airport for another night. They did have a flight leaving at 4:45 pm, but it had a three hour layover in Charlotte, NC. It was a small layover in comparison to spending another night in an airport. I made it back to Dayton, OH at 11:00 pm.

Then I was home. I still can't believe it!

Black Hole

According to Merriam-Websters:

Main Entry: black hole
Function: noun
Date: 1968
1: a celestial object that has a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape it and that is believed to be created especially in the collapse of a very massive star
2: something resembling a black hole: as a: something that consumes a resource continually (a financial black hole) b: an empty space : void

I'm still stuck in Mosul, or as I like to call it, the black hole. My rescheduled flight, for this morning, was cancelled late last night. No flights support my destination today, so I am working on a flight for Friday (tomorrow).

I am still optimistic I'll be able to get out of here tomorrow, but cross your fingers. If I don't leave Mosul tomorrow, I won't be home Sunday.

Cancelled

After waiting at the passenger terminal for two hours they announced my flight was cancelled. And I was just starting to believe I was actually leaving Mosul. The cancellation doesn't affect my return date because I have built in time for things like this that come up.

Before I left the JDEC folks had a meeting that really was a going away presentation for me. I received a rug embroidered with the time I spent in Mosul. It was a great parting gift. I would post a picture, but my camera cable is packed away. I also received a couple cards with many nice parting words. As cool/important as this job was, I will miss the people the most. I almost feel bad leaving, but then I think of the life (Casie) I have waiting for me at home.

Tomorrow I will try again to leave the black hole that is called Mosul.

It’s in the Hole

My deployment is good as over. Many times I felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. I have not had a day off, or slept-in past 0630, since 26 September. The 13-15 hours days, "the walk" to the showers, 21-day chow hall menu, tripping over everything in my path, and falling asleep with generators buzzing in the background are all coming to an end.

Each day is new again. One day may be training, the next packing, the next cleaning, and tomorrow the traveling begins. When I am at work, I pretty much sit around waiting for "the new guy" to ask questions. I play more of an advisor role. I am packed up for the most part. I dropped off my last load of laundry this morning.

Tomorrow I leave Mosul (Iraq) to my next stop in Al Udeid (Qatar). I'll be in Qatar for about two days before I take the 18 hour flight back to the United States of America. So I will probably drop off the radar for a few days. But I will make sure to take plenty of pictures to show you next week.

Dare I say, "See you soon."

Waiting is the Hardest Part

Yesterday I received my commercial/stateside travel plans! I also updated my deployment countdown for the final time! It looks like I'll be back in good ole Ohio next Sunday. It seems like a dream.

I am still in shock from my replacement, Shawn, arriving Thursday night. I have been enthusiastically training him the past two days. I'm still in disbelief that this deployment is actually (finally) coming to an end. Now I am consistently thinking of how each day of the week is my last in Mosul. It's hard not to smile (just a little). I may even be smiling in my sleep.

Next, I wait for my travel itinerary out of Mosul, Iraq, and AOR.

I think Tom Petty said it best, "waiting is the hardest part". (video)

I Gotta Wear Shades

It's extremely bright outside today. It is so bright, if you close your eyes, you can see the shadows of objects through your eye lids. Well, maybe it's not that bright, but very close.

Currently, 2:10 pm local, it is 77 degrees and rising. My knees are sweating as I type. People told me it would get hot fast, "like someone flipped a switch," and it's true! Just last week it was 67 degrees, now we are in the low 80s!

I was hoping to be out of here by the time things started to heat up, but it looks like I'll be sweating my butt off while I drag my 200 lbs of gear next week. Still I won't complain, I am heading home!

"The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"

Tray Wars, Part 2

This is a continuing story from a week ago, about leaving your tray unattended in the chow hall.

This morning it was my unattended tray an Army soldier sat next to. Chris (the victim last time) was grabbing some juice, but saw where I sat. When Chris sat down, the Army guy looked surprised that Chris sat down next to him (and what he thought was his other Army buddy's tray). The Army soldier looked at Chris like, "what are you doing?"

Chris looked back with the same expression, but he knew he was sitting next to the right tray. A few moments later, the soldier realized his friend was sitting the table next to us and scurried away. Chris said the look on his face was priceless.

What would've been better is if I walked back to my tray before he realized. Then he would have been out numbered too. Just goes to show...

...a lot can happen when you walk away from your tray!

Run Around in Circles

Sorry I've been away from the blog for a few days. I haven't had anything significant to talk about. I ran around with my Air Force boss (a Lieutenant Colonel) and his assistant (a Chief Master Sergent). They arrived Friday night and left Saturday, late morning. I didn't have to play tour guide again, so it was short and sweet. Work is, well, work.

Other random things I did this week:
I worked out a few times this week (Su, M, F, Su). I played basketball for the first time since I sprained my ankle, four weeks ago. I wrapped it of course.

I watched TMNT which had a pretty descent plot. It was more believable than the movies from the early 90s.

Lastly, I finished packing my last footlocker for the post office.

Do Not Adjust Your Screen

That was the sun yesterday afternoon. When I went to lunch everything was normal, sunny with some clouds. At about four o'clock I took a break and everything was sepia. I thought I walked outside into a Clint Eastwood western.

The dust swept in like a thick fog. That is the only way I can think of describing it. My eyes didn't dry out, nor did I sneeze. You couldn't touch it or feel it, but you could see it.

I wasn't the "wall of dust" I wanted to see, but close enough.

Bless You Boys!

Detroit Tiger baseball has started back up and it couldn't have started soon enough. We came so close last year, winning the American League pennant. Keeping up on the Tigers has been one of the high points during my endless "Ground Hog" days. Finding videos like the one below helps too!

Have you caught Tiger Fever yet?

Chocolate Army

I'm an avid collector of Superman comics, action figures, posters, books, and statues. Being deployed for just under seven months I am beginning to go through some major action figure withdrawal.

Lately I've been looking for something to focus my collecting energies on. The answer, chocolate bunnies. The chow hall had them for Easter and the few days that followed. I took two bunnies at each meal (sometimes three). I have no desire to eat the bunnies, just collect them.

What's the fun in having a collection if you can't share it with others?

Without further ado, my "limited edition" chocolate army!

*Las Vegas sign sold separately.

Great Big Chow Hall

Funny story today as lunch started. Chris and I got our food and proceeded to our normal section. Usually one of us will set down our tray and leave to get a drink or dessert before we start to eat.

Today as I came to the section, someone else was already sitting in front of Chris' tray eating. I sat somewhere else and caught Chris walking back. I asked him who that was. He had no idea.

There is this great big chow hall and someone sits right across from a tray with food on it! I couldn't stop laughing at the look on Chris' face as he started to walked up to retrieve his tray.

You had to be there!

Lost in Translation

I've been shy to post about this incident. In fact, I didn't take the picture until two weeks after it happened.

My regular barber shop was closed for renovations. Being that there aren't too many options available, I bucked up the two extra dollars and went to the beauty shop. I don't have that hard of a haircut, #1 on the sides, #2 on the top, and taper the back. I also added that I would like her to, "even out my sideburns". I should have known something was up when I saw her pull out a shaving blade.

You can see from the picture above, that a quarter inch of my sideburns is shorter around my eyes. She did that to both of them, but it was skin close (liked I shaved around my eyes). In my personal opinion, I looked like a weirdo, thus I waited to take this photo until today.

I guess, some phrases are lost in translation.

Tourist Season

I can add another successful guided tour to my resume. This time I escorted Air Force Chaplain David DePinho and SrA Rachel Lane, the chaplain's assistant. I picked them up from the passenger terminal Tuesday night at 2150 and got them into billeting.

This tour was different from ones in the past. It reminded me of a scavenger hunt. I helped the Chaplain track down airmen new in theater so he could do a meet and greet. Unfortunately I am the only "old" airmen left, so I heard the spiel once before and about five times again yesterday.

We did manage to hit the high points of my normal tour, including a full tour of the monastery. Even though it was my third tour of the monastery, I am still learning new things each time.

Can't tourist season hold off one more month? I'm tired.

For My Peeps

The above picture is a submission to a contest that was held by the Washington Post to create a diorama using Peeps. You can read the story here.

Cool eh? But why didn't someone make a Superman one?

Happy Easter!

Easter could not have come at a better time this deployment. When all hope was lost, I am reminded of Christ's resurrection. This morning I went to the Easter sunrise service at the monastery. We stood outside a monastery dating back to 595 A.D. and celebrated. It was a serene experience I will never forget.

Saint Elijah's Monastery was a Christian Monastery founded in 595 A.D. by a monk named Elijah. He is famed for studying at the Ezla Monastery in Turkey under the monk, Nisibin. He later became a student under Mar Orahim who assisted in establishing the bylaws for the site in 571 A.D. After many years of service by Elijah (Mar Elia), the responsibility of caring for the monastery was given to Mar Elia's nephew, Khnanisho. On the same location, a church was built sometime between the 14th and 15th century. During the 17th century, an Alqush native by the name of Hurmizd Alqushnaya renovated the monastery. It remained, to be a successful center of Christianity until it was destroyed in 1743.

Hope you all have an 'egg'-cellent Easter!

I'll be fine as long as the chow hall has strawberry ice cream tonight at dinner!
(I gave up ice cream for Lent.)

Edited for TV

I've edited some of the previous entries due to suggestions from my readers. I am sorry they expressed the harsh reality of what war is on an individual. You are my readers and the people who keep me going, the only thing that keeps me going, and I want you to come back to read future entries.

I will censor future thoughts to give you what you want to hear. Bottom line is I am safe 95% of the time. So don't worry about me. Please come back to read future "stories".

Hurt

I never did get to the doctor about my ankle, but I can walk. There is still some slight pain if I am not wearing my combat boots (the evenings, to and from the shower). I did regain my balance, finally, about seven days after it happened.

On the deployment front, another source says my replacement may not be here until the 3rd of May! Pushing my return date to about May 10th. The news keeps getting worse by the day.

What started as a great deployment is turning into a huge disappointment. This deployment is beginning to take a toll on me, both emotionally and mentally. Part of deploying is mentally preparing, I prepared to be away for 179 days. I have past my end date and not knowing when you are "officially" coming home has crushed my spirit.

To top it off, I have not seen Casie in 200 days (today!). Most people can't imagine being apart from their significant other for more than a week.

Extension to My Extension

I've been numb with frustration the past few days. Late last week, I called for an update on my deployment's end date. To my disbelief, my extension has been extended. My replacement isn't even suppose to be in country until 23 April! The new "date" is 28 April.

I have never felt so abandoned in my life. I am really disappointed I won’t make it home for my brother’s graduation, my sister’s visit to MI, or wedding planning with Casie. (That’s right, I actually wish I could plan a wedding.)

At this point, since I thought I would be home by now, each day is longer than the previous one. Please email or leave a comment to help me keep my sanity.

The Bens

Well, another troop of mine is safely on his way home. I always seem to wait until they are gone before you know who they are. I've slipped in his name a few times, but you may have thought it was a typo. His name is Ben Wagenhals. Great first name, right? At first it was strange saying your name all day long, but you surprisingly get use to is quickly.

Ben is actually his middle name, but he has used it most of his life. It was great working with Air Force again (sorry Tom -- USN). Ben isn't 100% Air Force though, his heart is with the Army. He hopes to become an Army officer in the near future.

I've always been lucky having troops who like guns. I can shoot, but I don't especially like to. It is reassuring that I have troops who like to "play war".

Two Bens! What are the odds?

Best of luck Ben. Tomorrow it will be weird not saying my name all day.