Arriving Kuwait

03 Oct Sat - Kuwait

After 18 hours of travel time from Ft Benning, GA with two stops, we finally arrived at the Kuwait city airport on Saturday. We could not leave the plane until all of us (nearly 400) were checked for flu symptoms to ensure no one enters the country with the H1N1 flu. We were also checked at Ft Benning before we could board the plane.

An hour later, I walked down the ramp and breathed in dry, hot, dusty air. The air quality in Kuwait is 7 times worse than California. This is definitely the desert. Fortunately it was not too hot - in the nineties.

I placed one boot then the other on Kuwaiti soil for the first time. We quickly boarded buses for a short trip to a break area with port-a-potties, bottled water, and picnic tables under a cloth screen for shade. We had a nice view of the desolate desert on the other side of the bunkers. We had to stay inside the bunkers and, of course, wait.

None of us knew why were waiting. Probably to process and clear our baggage through customs. We watched the sunset through the dusty sky. After an hour wait, we boarded buses and waited again.

I am here to serve the US Army and therefore serve my country. While I am here in theater, I am on Army time, not my time. When I have to wait, I wait.

We finally arrived at the base and met the company representatives. There are 30 of us. We sat through another briefing - a short one about the rules and General Order Number 1. Then another formation - three lines behind each of two trucks. I am not sure what the Army calls it but I would call it a bucket brigade; a very efficient way to unload the trucks with over 1,000 bags.

Then I saw it - Tent City. Every residential and many other buildings are tents. The living quarters are tents with 8 bunk beds for 16 people. They have electric lighting and air conditioning but no plumbing (no running water). There are separate building for the Latrine and Showers. Inside the tents. the lights must stay on all the time since people are moving in and out all day and all night. All contractors and military to and from Iraq and Afghanistan come to this base before they are transported in or out. Tent City is for transients only.

The living conditions in Tent City remind me of a modernized Camp Wood in Elmdale, KS only much bigger. In Baghdad I will have better accommodations. I hope?!?!

On Friday, Oct 2, the day we left Ft Benning. We had to turn in our bedding/linens before 6 am. Then at 7am we had to be in formation with our bags. Contractors are allowed only two duffel bags; one for our personal stuff and one for the body armor, helmet, and gas mask. Plus we could have a carry on that fit into a measuring box. If yours did not fit, you had to ship it back home. The Army is very specific to ensure the plane can take off safely with full passenger load and excessive baggage weight for all the soldiers and their gear - equipment and arms.

All four hundred of us waited on buses until all the bags (about 1,000 duffel bags) were checked and inspected by the dogs, then loaded into trucks for transport to the plane.

After 11 hours of flying and a stop over in Maine, we arrived at the airport in Germany. The differences between the Maine and Germany airports were stark and distinct. In Maine, we were welcomed by about 50 representatives from the Maine Troop Greeters. They were there to shake our hands and give us encouragement. An enclosed concourse walkway connected the plane to the terminal building. We waited in what appeared to be the general terminal area but on retrospect it may have been a separate part of the terminal building. This airport was very nice, comfortable, and convenient. It was as nice as any US airport with free wireless, shops, and a restaurant serving Maine lobster.

In contrast, the German airport was not comfortable starting with an outdoor walkway to the ground and a bus ride to a separate terminal area. The plane parked way out on the tarmac away from all other gates and planes. We seemed to be on the back side of the airport out of the way from other passengers. The floors were stone, not carpet and the chairs were not padded; the ceilings were uncovered; the walls bare except for a couple soccer (football) pictures and a art display of paintings about angels. No free wireless; the cost was .13 euro per minute.