Hitchiking Your Way Around the World

Well, I have finally arrived at my final destination! After a week and a half of literally hitchiking my way around the world I have made it. During this time I have learned the lesson that no one cares more about me than me. It I am not looking out for myself, no one else will. Let me explain...

While at CRC in Ft Benning, their main goal was to get us out of the US. They were fast and efficient. There was some "hurry up and wait" but it was really a minimum. On Friday afternoon we were bused from Ft Benning to Atlanta GA where we boarded a "Freedom Flight". This was an old DC 10 contracted to a private company. I was able to get a seat with lots of leg room, but it was a very narrow seat and the arms didn't fold up. From GA we flew to Shannon, Ireland where we stopped over for 6 hours. I was able to get a nap and renewed the age old debate, "If you just stop over in the airport, can you really count it as having visited that country?"

From Ireland we flew to Kuwait International Airport. We were unloaded in a secure part of the airport and hearded onto hot smelly buses. Side note: Kuwait at night has 100% humidity and is about 95 degrees. We waited around for about 2 hours and were escorted by the Kuwaiti military to the base Ali Al Salem. It is now about 2 AM and we are hot, tired and hungry.

At Kuwait there are liasons who are supposed to help us get to our final destination. The Afghanistan liasons, I found less than helpful. In Kuwait we were put in a tent with about 12 other officers where we would wait for a space available flight to Bagram. Space "A" flights to Bagram were few and far between. Guys comming back to theatre from R&R have top priority and following them it is just a scramble for seats. I befriended a LT Colonel who was able to finagle his way onto a cargo flight to Bagram and he gave me his reserved seat on the evening flight. Understand that I have been in Kuwait now for nearly 3 days. (Kuwait during the daytime is like living in a convection oven. It is absoluely the hottest place I have ever been. At night it is like living in a sauna.) Back to the story... So I show up for the flight that evening and my friend is still there. Apparently, his flight broke down on the runway and he needed his reserved seat back. My fall back plan was to fly out to Kandahar and then to Bagram. As I am on the phone with the terminal in Kandahar getting an idea of the flight schedule to Bagram, my friend grabs me and tells me that due to my pathetic begging and pestering, they are putting us on a flight leaving in 15 minutes! I grabbed my bags, and off I went.

We leave Kuwait and get about 1.5 hours into the flight and are informed that we are diverting to Qatar due to plane problems. We arrive in Qatar where we are taking to a tent and sit for about 4 hours while they fix the plane. Once back on the plane, we are informed that the flight has been re-routed to Manus (Manus is a US installation in Kajikstan, you have to fly over Bagram to get there!) We arrive in Manus and sit around for another couple of hours and finally make it to Bagram.

In Bagram, I am bunked up in a janitorial closet converted to transient quarters. I am not complaining because I could have been put in the boiler room or the electrical closet. Really, I am not joking! I sit around Bagram for a couple of days and catch a dustoff to FOB Shank!

FOB Shank is the equivalent of a spralling mining community. Nothing but tents, wood decks, main street stores and gyms. Except here all of the residents are carry machine guns and riding around in huge armoured vehicles. The climate here is very dry, dusty but actually crisp and cool in the morning.

Well, the adventure has really begun.