Day 203

I finally made it out of Qatar and back into Iraq. I'm safe and sound, or as safe as one can get in a combat zone, in my CHU, waiting for my laundry to dry so I can get to sleep. I tell you, it was an adventure getting out of Qatar. Sunday we tried to leave, only to have our flight cancelled. We should have known that our group was the 'rehearsal' group. Tuesday at 1100 we had our departure briefing and then departed, for the airport. We'd done this part on Monday so we only had to get there once today. We got to the terminal at 1200-ish. Our flight left at 4:30. At about 4:10 we were hearded out to the tarmac to get on the C-130 only to be told that it wasn't our C-130. Back into the holding area. Another rehearsal. Our plane finally arrived and we walked out to the plane, got on, and flew away. Not to Tallil. Oh no, first we had to rehearse some more. Our first stop was Kirkuk, Iraq. Check out it's location on a map some time. Not allowed off of the plane as 6 people got off the plane and about 35 got on. We took off and flew south to Kuwait. This time we got off while they refueled. So, we've had two landing rehearsals and one deplaning rehearsal, so now it must be time to do the show. Back on the plane from Kuwait and the next stop, Tallil. Yes! All of the rehearsals paid off. We've done it. It took me 1-1/2 hours to fly from Tallil to Qatar and it took me 7-1/2 hours to fly back. Too bad I can't get frequent flyer mileage for this. Now that I'm back, 10 days into my 4 day pass, I've been told that there is no way I'm ever leaving here for the rest of the deployment. I had 10 days in Germany and 10 days in Qatar, and I've not been charged a day of leave for any of it. I love that tax-free check. Make sure all of you pay your taxes on time so I keep getting my paycheck.