So it has been 3 weeks since I got back and I have been meaning to do a last post on this to close it out. As everyone knows, or at least I hope you do, I got home the week of Christmas.
On my second day at Leatherneck I received a phone call from my replacement and we started chatting about what to expect in Afghanistan and general stuff like that. During the conversation he told me that his boots on ground date was December 2. I told him that couldn’t be the case and it should be December 18 but sure enough his orders said December 2. I didn’t get too excited at this point because there was still plenty of time for DLA to catch their mistake and fix it. Lord knows I didn’t want to tell Jessica that I might be home for Christmas because failing to meet that deadline would have been horrible.
Fast forward to Black Friday. I got an e-mail from my replacement Rob and Rob told me that he was leaving on a plane to head over to Kuwait. At this point I started to get excited about the possibility. At this point I still did not know when I was going to be coming home. About a week later, Rob made it to Leatherneck. I trained Rob on everything that I did and then I talked with my bosses and asked what they wanted me to do. I had completed all my work but my orders still said I was not to leave Afghanistan until January 13 which was about a month away. My bosses told me to catch a plane to Kuwait and see if I could get on a plane. As a civilian, most anyone can bump me off of a plane so it was still up in the air.
Since Christmas was approaching, getting a flight was almost impossible. I couldn’t find one that went directly from Leatherneck to Kuwait so I had to make a quick stop over in Kandahar for a day or so. I was able to connect from Kandahar to Kuwait by a small miracle. We flew on a C-17 from Kandahar to Kuwait and they typically hold about 150 people but it depends entirely on how much weight they are carrying too. There was an Army unit that was heading home on R & R (think two week vacation). The unit gets priority over me so if there was room after they got on the plane then they would take individual travelers in the order that they made a reservation. I made the reservation about 12 hours before the flight so I was just a little nervous about my chances. I was literally the last one on the list to fly from Kandahar to Kuwait. At this point I had told Jess that I was traveling but I obviously couldn’t tell her where I was for security reasons and I still was not going to tell her that I might be coming home.
Once I got to Kuwait, I started my four days of torture. I stayed in what is called transient billeting. Think crappy tent life without anywhere to secure your belongings and you live with 12 people that you don’t know. Fun times in Kuwait. I turned in half of my gear while I was in Kuwait and I waited for three days to find out if I was going to be manifested on my flight. I was told to show up Saturday morning with all of my stuff and that I would find out at that point if I would be on the flight. Thankfully, I made it on the list. At that point, I knew I was going to make it home for Christmas. The problem was, they immediately ushered us into a lockdown area and I didn’t have access to a phone so I could actually let Jessica know that I was coming home early.
It is at this point that I made the conscious decision to not tell Jess and just show up. Little did I know but Jessica and my Grandfather were already thinking that I was on my way home. I figured that if I had gotten that far, why say anything? At least this way I could create a “moment”. You always see things like that on TV and it always evokes the “awww” reaction from everyone involved. I knew that Jessica (and the rest of my family and friends) was going to be thrilled that I was home in time for Christmas either way so why not make it a little special. Since I am not a woman, I have limited insight into what makes them tick. Actually lets be honest, I have no insight but I thought that it would be extra special if no one knew and that it would mean that much more to Jessica in the long run. That way everyone didn’t have to do anything to prepare for my arrival. I would just show up.
Anyway, back to the travels. After the longest day ever, I boarded the plane to leave Kuwaiti International. We made our way over to Shannon, Ireland again which was great. I was able to get some Christmas shopping done for my ladies while I was there. We flew directly over Iraq and I was impressed with the level of infrastructure they have. I didn’t expect that. You read all about how bombs are going off and in Afghanistan, it is a crumbling abyss but not in Iraq. Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer the good ole U S of A (now say that again with in a Toby Keith type manner). After Shannon we flew directly into Atlanta and were bused over to CRC at Ft. Benning.
Leaving Atlanta we were almost in a car accident with driver that was on their cell phone. I seriously can’t make that up. My bus almost directly collided with an idiot driver. The irony of going to an active warzone only to come home and get into an accident was not lost on us any many of the soldiers wanted to have a very polite conversation with the driver…or shoot him. After another day of hurry up and wait at Ft. Benning, I was finally cleared to go home. The problem was, I wanted to sleep…a lot. So I drove back to Atlanta and got a hotel room for the night and flew back to Columbus the next morning.
Once I landed in Columbus I took a cab to Jessica’s office and almost caused Darcy a stroke (she is the front desk lady in Jess’ office). There are not too many people in the metro-Columbus area that are wearing Desert Cami’s in the middle of winter so I sort of stuck out like a sore thumb and she recognized me instantly. I made it from the elevator to the front desk without attracting any more attention and I asked Darcy to call Jess and have her come to the front desk. The problem was that Jess wasn’t at her desk and Darcy didn’t know offhand where she was. Thankfully Darcy was able to locate Jess in her boss’s office. During this time word was spreading through Jess’ office that I had made it back but Jess still didn’t know. I started to see some familiar folks start to come out off their offices. Jess made it about 5 feet into the open space in her office before she saw me and started tearing up. The rest is history. We had our moment and then picked up Brooklyn and started making the rounds to see family and friends.
I am glad to be home and with my ladies. Thankfully I have only gained two pounds back out of the 45 pounds that I lost while I was over there. It is still weird to be back in civilization but I will take it. There has definitely been an adjustment period at work as I am now just another sheep in the herd rather than being at the tip of the spear (yes that was two clichéd metaphors in one sentence and I think I deserve an award for it). For about a week it was like I was an observer just watching everything around me. I was there but I wasn’t there. I am only now getting back into the swing of things and figuring out that being a parent is in fact hard work.
All in all, going to Afghanistan was the most unique experience that I have had. The fishing stories that have developed as a result are diverse and……different. I guess it is one of those things you just have to do to understand.
Thank you to everyone that helped Jessica and Brooklyn while I was gone. Those things are not lost on me and I only hope that I can repay you in some way. The love and support of our family and friends helped get us both through this experience. So thank you.
