12 September 2007: We make it back to Balad

I’m going to add to my job description “Pax Terminal Loiterer”. By the time I leave here there will be reports of my sightings in almost every terminal in Iraq. I’ve certainly spent enough time in them. Where am I going with this? You’ll see. I’ll get to it later.

This mission is complete. The only thing my team and I were doing was waiting for our flight back to Balad. Our return was a C130 flight out of BIAP. It wasn’t scheduled until the evening. With nothing to do I wasn’t inclined to make up something for the team. I told them just to meet up at 1830 and we’d ride over to the airfield. In the meantime, everyone was on their own to enjoy beautiful Camp Liberty for another day. It’s such a lovely place. I think it could double as a five-star resort.

Since I had wireless access, I spent most of the morning sending and returning e-mails. I took a little time to straighten up my CHU. I’m signed for the place through the end of January. That makes it my “home away from Balad” whenever we’re on missions to Baghdad. Having the day to myself meant I could also enjoy yet another meal at the Defleury Café. That’s the name of the closest DFAC. It’s not one of the better mess halls I’ve been to. It’s the only one in walking distance though. Adjacent to the DFAC is a mini-PX, a barber shop, a “Turkish” gift shop, and a KBR laundry facility. After lunch I stopped in the BS for a haircut. My curly locks had grown a little long during the course of the mission. I’m back in standard now.

Sometime during the afternoon there was a big boom. I found out later that a very large caliber rocket had impacted over near Victory Base. I don’t think anyone was hurt – at least nobody mentioned anything. Around 1830 the team started gathering, we loaded all our gear, and we were on our way to BIAP.

If we’d have been a few minutes later we’d have been forced to miss our show time. Shortly after we drove through the security gate the whole place was locked down. The AF guard at the gate said it was a “code 50”. Upon our inquiry he admitted he had no idea what that meant. However, AF security personnel started sealing off all the roads. Emergency response vehicles were posted everywhere. It stirred our curiosity. Eventually, we were able to find out what was going on. A VBIED had been discovered just outside the security gate. Fortunately, it was discovered before it could detonate. We had driven right past it on our way into BIAP. Quite frankly, it was a little too close for comfort.

Once the excitement waned we began the waiting game for our flight. We were supposed to board around 2330. Well…. this is flying in Iraq remember? Yeah, an announcement came around 2245 that our flight had been cancelled. I immediately felt the sinking sensation of another night in Camp Liberty or worse – waiting several more days for the next manifested flight. However, a miracle occurred. There was another flight to Balad that had plenty of space. The AF personnel did the common sense thing and simply rolled all of us over to that flight. We wouldn’t board this one until 0400. That was better than another night or two in Camp Liberty though. We walked to the DFAC for “midnight chow.” Afterward, I sprawled out on a wooden bench for a fitful couple hours of sleep. It’s a sad sight – seeing Joes sprawled all over concrete, wooden benches, and dirt to sleep while they wait for flights. I was just one of them. It’s a scene that gets repeated every time we fly. Fortunately, our back-up flight stayed on schedule. We made it back to Balad. Even though I didn’t climb into bed until 0630 it felt good to be back in my old hooch.

This was the closure I needed for the past three weeks spent on mission. I told everyone I didn’t want to see them again until Friday.