Afghanistan In My Rear-View Mirror

16 Aug 2010 (Monday)

I am currently sitting on a wooden deck outside a "sports bar" on a US Airbase base in what used to be southern Russia using their free Wi-Fi. Sounds pretty cool, huh? Who would have expected that a few years back? It has been a very relaxing day -- my first since leaving Afghanistan. Even though we arrived at 4 in the morning, it was still good to be here! My feet are now on Russian soil (sort of), and will soon be on American soil. I like the sound of that. But back to the sports bar issue: we are still under what's commonly refered to as "General Orders #1," which says that we cannot consume alcohol until we are released from this tour. Many of the soldiers are really bummed about this, although I'm not sure why. We were all told very clearly that no one can drink here long before we arrived, and yet some still hoped the rules would be bent for them. Personally, I could care less. A cold Coke is perfect for me!

Yesterday was another typical "hurry-up-and-wait" day in the Army. We were told to be ready by 1400 hrs (2 pm), but the bus and bag truck showed up at noon. So we all quickly got our gear loaded up and we boarded the busses to the Customs building/tent. They off-loaded all of our gear and duffel bags into this long, hot tent (see picture). It was a nightmare trying to find your bags, as you can see. (I have the advantage of previously painting crosses onto my bag to distinguish it from all others as the Chaplain's bag!). Anyway, then we went through customs -- where they make you unpack everything and show it to the Agent. They confiscated my lithium battery for my flashlight! So now I have no light while in the dark tent here. I don't get that?! But anyway, it was a very tedious process. They want to make sure Soldiers are not trying to sneak illegal items out of the country and into ours. I guess that makes sense, but it's still a drag to go through. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. Seven hours later we were rounded up and crammed aboard an Airforce C-17 cargo plane for the short flight here. We all cheered when the plane lifted off of Afghanistan soil for the last time! It was a neat experience. The pilot allowed me to go up to the flight deck level to take the above picture. I was sitting over on the left-hand side, about 3/4 of the way back. Notice our gear all piled up in the back of the plane under the cargo nets. The AirForce has this down to a science (although not a fast one)! Anyway, the first step in the process of getting home is over and Afghanistan is now behind me!