As promised, all of us that did baggage detail flew in business class. We loaded on to the plane right after the officers that were on the flight. I sat in the 5th row from the front and a window seat. We flew on World Airlines and I don't know what kind of plane it was but it was big. There were 3 seats on each side and 5 across the middle. Part of the business class gig was that we got a empty seat between each of us so there was plenty of room. Our first stop was in Germany. It was a very painless flight. Somewhere around 8 hrs. long. We watched the A-Team and two other movies that I truly don't even remember what they were. It was kind of weird because night only lasted about 3 hrs from the time it got dark to the morning sky was turning red.
I'm not really sure when we arrived in Germany but it was the same time as the first news coverage about the shootings in Norway. We hung around the airport and visited a couple of shops. They had some great Bratwurst. We were there for about 2 hours while they refueled and cleaned up our plane. It was a good break.
Row of AC tents
One of many runs of tents
We loaded back onto plane and headed off to Kuwait. That was a 4 hr flight. I'm not really sure where all the time went but it went fast. Again, I'm not sure what time we landed but it was still daylight and hot around 120 so it was starting to cool off. We off loaded the plane and got onto several buses to start our movement to Ali Al Salem Base. We sat on the buses packed like sardines while some other lucky souls got to unload the baggage into 2 semi trucks. The convoy of trucks and buses were escorted by security quite a ways. We had been on the bus for a heck of a long time and everyone was eady to get off for one reason or another. We finally came to the first check point and so many people were in dire straits that they let us off to go to the bathroom. It was a mad, unscheduled rush. We were only half way to the base. We finally got to the base and unloaded in a holding area where we got iced down, truly cold water for the last time. We were there standing around for a long time as other groups joined ours. There were several hundred people there before we were loaded up once again and transported to tent city. By that time it was well past dark but it gets dark here at 6:30. We all gathered for a briefing which lasted an hour or so then everyone went out to unload the trucks and try to find their duffels. The military guys and DOD civilian each had 4 bags and the contractors each had 2 bags. It was kind of chaos. Those of us that were sticking together helped each other out. After we got our stuff located we had to go in and get our ID and LOA stamped for a flight out. We then went to get a tent assignment. John Lucas and myself were in Q6. We went and got the stuff we could carry and went to look for our tent. It was around 10 PM at this point. Each tent had 10 bunks and was air conditioned which meant it was a nice cool 95. We claimed our bunks, locked our stuff in lockers returned for the rest of our belongings hoping they were still there and went exploring.
Bunkers in case .......
These are everywhere.
We found a Pizza Hut, KFC,Subway, Mc Donalds and a doughnut shop. All open but the doughnut shop. I got some KFC. We then went to the tent and crashed. Even though it was 95 it felt pretty gosh darn good compared to the outside temp. There was a flight to Bagram at 2 AM and both John and I needed to get to Bagram but it was booked. We slept until we woke up, showered and went to see when the next flight left. Show time was 1515. That means you are there and if there is room you get on if not ...oh well there is always next time. Some folks are stuck for days here before they can get on a flight. That was the only flight to Bagram for the day. There was all kinds of free food there...the Honey Buns were the best. We hung there for a couple of hours because it was cool and we would be farther up in the line to get a chance at the flight. When showtime came ...we didn't make the cut. We were in Kuwait for another day. We hung out for a little longer in the cool and then went and found the entertainment hall and watched movies and got a pizza and hit the sack.
Added reinforcement
Communication dishes.
Tent City transportation services.
When we got back to the tent some bottom, cooler bunks had opened up and we moved into those. At about 4 am we got new tent mates who were rude as heck and we were basically up for the rest of the day. We went and showered and back to the terminal to see if there was a flight. At 4 am the sun is starting to come up and it is already heating up. It ended up that there was a flight to Bagram that afternoon (Monday) and showtime was at 1300 so we had a Honey Bun and went to get our stuff deciding that if we missed the flight we would just stay at the terminal until we did get a flight--no matter how long--because it was cool and no more noisy than our tent. We lined up at 1300 and were the 3rd and 4th in line and got on that flight which was scheduled for departure at 1600. We had a briefing, palletized our baggage got in line and loaded onto the buses and drove to the airport and waited on the buses until the plane was ready for us. That was a 2 hour process.
Were were flying from Kuwait to Bagram Afghanistan on a C17 A which is a huge cargo jet with 4 engines. There were at least 200 of us on this flight. When we pulled up in the buses the back ramp was open and we could see that there were no seats inside. A transport rig of some sort pulled up with a section of seats on it and they loaded them on the plane and secured them and the cargo plane instantly became a passenger plane. Once the seats were in place we exited the buses and loaded onto the plane. Once again I got lucky and got into the 4th row aisle seat. These seats were really tight.
The flight lasted for 4 hrs. No stewardess, no food, no movie so I read a book on my iPad for the 1st hour and a half and then got up and walked to the back of the plane where some of the guys were standing and just hanging out rather than sitting the whole flight. Some were laying on the floor sleeping. Stood for the rest of the flight until about 15 minutes before landing. We landed and they unloaded some of the cargo and we all marched off the end of the plane wearing our body armor and helmets and carrying our back packs. No bus at the Bagram Airfield....we walked about 1/4 of a mile to the terminal. The best thing about being on the ground was that it was cool and misting. Once we hit the terminal we had a briefing. It was 1 am, show time for my flight to Kabul wasn't until 3:30 am so some more waiting. The mantra for this whole experience has been "hurry up and wait". I had been up from around 4 the previous morning so it had been a long day. 3:30 came along and I made the flight which was to leave at 6:30 . Fifty-nine of us made it. When 6:30 came along 19 were bumped from he flight including me. Had to make a call and it was decided that GTW would drive and pick me up and transport me to Kabul. I was lucky..one of the guys in our travel group was going to be stuck there for 5 days miminum. Next.....My First Day In Afghanistan
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