0345. Yep, that's right. Our day began by dragging our bags from our respective tents to the customs inspection area. We had to have them there at 0345. Remember that time. You'll see why it was so important that we get our bags to customs by 0345.
Tent etiquette: If there is one thing I've mastered in the past year it's the rules of the transient tent. You have to be very respectful of others. People come and go at varying times. My tent at Ali Al Salem was one of the VIP billets. When I first dragged my bags in there was only me and one other Lieutenant Colonel (also from my unit). One of the first things I did was set out my flashlight. Given our early morning, it was important to be mindful of the others who would be asleep. Well the other LTC wasn't so kind. Others joined us in the tent throughout the night. They were all very respectful and kept the "noise and light discipline" to a high standard. When it was time for me to wake up I reached for my flashlight. The other LTC from my unit beat me to the punch. Just as I was grabbing my flashlight I heard a "click" and the blinding tent lights came on. The other LTC simply turned all the lights on without care. Almost immediately the grumbling began. The call of "what the fuck?" sounded among the others in the tent. Their sleep had been disturbed. I hurried out of the tent - not wishing to be blamed for someone else's buffoonery. When I returned from the latrine I had my flashlight at the ready. I didn't need it. The other LTC still had the lights blaring. It was a dismal example of transient tent etiquette.
Once we all had our bags lined up outside the customs tent we proceeded inside for a series of briefings. The briefings finished up around 0445. We waited. There was no breakfast available. Much to my chagrin, there was no coffee either. We waited. Our unit was flying with one other - a Navy SeaBee Battalion. We were outnumbered by the squids. However, our flight would be relatively empty. At about 0730 we were finally called back outside to start bringing our bags in for customs searches. This process involves completely unpacking every bag to be searched. Then you repack and drag the bags out the back door to be loaded onto waiting trucks. After the bags are dropped off you proceed into a holding area. Once cleared by customs, no personnel can leave the holding area until time for the flight. I walked into the holding area at 0930. It's the same holding area I came through for R&R. There are numbered tents where the different flights are assigned to wait. There is a Green Beans Coffee and a Pizza Hut kiosk. I proceeded to GBC for a cup of joe. The wait began. Over the next few hours the area became quite crowded. In addition to our flight, there was an R&R flight and the "Freedom Bird" (a flight dedicated to redeployment of individual soldiers who did not deploy with a unit).
At 1915 we had our first formation. Are you still tracking what time we dragged our bags over earlier? This was just an accountability check. Over the next three hours we watched the R&R and Freedom Bird soldiers depart for their flight. What was up with ours?
Never tell soldiers false information to placate them. We lined up again at 2030. The Navy was in charge of the flight because they had the most personnel flying. A Cheif Petty Officer got up and told us that they were waiting on a driver for the baggage truck. "He's on his way. It should only be another five or ten minutes." Then he said, "the good news is we're all going home." An hour later the driver wasn't present and we were still waiting. We had another formation. The CPO said it would only be about ten minutes, the driver was on his way. Then he shared the "good news" again. A full hour later we formed up again. We were told to proceed back into our tent. What happened to the driver? We were all getting very nervous about our flight. Fortunately, we weren't in the tent long. Soon we were filing out to the waiting buses and were on our way to Kuwait City International Airport to meet our flight. There it was - a beautiful ATA DC10. We would be flying for certain. By 2315 we were all loaded on the aircraft. The day ended with the airplane taxiing for takeoff.
I'm so glad we got such an early start. "Hurry up and wait" is still a recurring event. All the waiting time did give me a chance to catch another interesting fact about Chuck Norris. It was written inside the male latrine in the customs holding area. It reads as follows:
"There used to be a street named after Chuck Norris. The name had to be changed. Nobody crosses Chuck Norris"
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