What Goes Up, Must Come Down

The level of happiness you experience when you come home on Leave is matched only by the level of depression you feel when you have to go back to the battlefield. The only cure for it is time. You cannot describe to others; it must be experienced to feel it. However, I'm sure family and friends that are left at home in the wake of your whirlwind vacation feels it almost as much.


I've said it before, and it's worth repeating; I would endure the whole thing for a 3-day weekend at home. It's worth every single second.


Me and the woman that holds it all together, all by herself, in my absence enjoying the last few minutes before I have to board that plane. I owe you Big Time, honey!


The "enemy".


Sunrise over Germany on the way back to Kuwait.


This is my first real look at Germany. Usually, we are flying in and out of Germany in darkness.


Sunset over the desert in Kuwait that same day.


The next day flying into Baghdad on a C-130.


Who knows?


Ahhh...good ol' Baghdad traffic.


At this point, I'm only 120 days from leaving. But who's counting?

The Shortest 15 Days Ever

HOME!!! It's so hard to believe at first. You feel like you've been gone forever; and then again, nothing much has changed and it feels like you been gone for the weekend. By this point, it hasn't begun to sink in that you really are home. No weapons, no body armor, no Iraqis. Just family, friends, and safety. And of course, jet-lag.

Time to load up the car and start my 15-day vacation. At the moment, 15 days feels like a lifetime. But before you know it, it's over.

My dogs were so happy! I was afraid they would have forgotten me, but I was wrong.

Sophie on the left, and Scout on the right. Good puppy dogs!

That's my boy!

The ladies of my life...my wife, and my daughter.

It's so nice to see GREEN!

Out to dinner with our best friends.

Outback Steakhouse...'nuff said.

Me and my boy.

And me and my daughter.

She's also my motorcycle buddy!

And she's a cheerleader, too!

Another shot of my big boy!

As I mentioned before, we have a program here where you can fly a flag over the installation in someone's honor and give it to them as a gift. I did that for my employer, and they had it framed with the certificate and a picture of me. Here it is at our office.

Here's part of the gang from work.

One last ride before I head back to Iraq.

Me and my better half...still my best friend after 22 years!

Me and the kids before school on the day I flew back. Happy moments before the tears.

It goes by so quickly. You have a mental list of all the things you want to do while you're home, but it just isn't enough time. I was able to get a physical, a dental exam, and get my eyes checked while I was home. I ate at every restaurant I wanted to eat at. I didn't get to see all the friends or family that I wanted to, but they understand. Oh well, only a little over 100 days before I'm home for good.

The Longest 3 Days Ever

Finally! Time to go home for R&R (rest and recuperation). This is the part of R&R that makes getting home worth it...the trip. Believe it or not, it will take me 3 days to travel from my base to my home. I have to be at BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) 24 hours in advance. Then it's a 24+ hour processing nightmare in Kuwait. The flight is actually shorter thant the waiting around. It took 6 hours to fly from Kuwait to Germany, then another 11 hours from Germany to DFW. The flight is full of service members of all branches. Kuwait is the gateway for this theater of operations. So everyone serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Quatar, etc. will have through Kuwait. The aircraft is a chartered, commercial airliner complete with the standard flight crew that you would find on a normal airliner. They are great to the service members. They realize that we are tired, cranky, and disoriented by the time we get on that aircraft and treat everyone with patience and respect.

The day I left was the day I had been waiting on for months. I'm in my 8th month by this point, and I'm very anxious to get home to my family. Therefore, it makes sense that I almost overslept, right? Here's a shot of my room (trailer) as I left it that morning. The other shot is our installation early in the morning as everyone starts to come out and start their day.

This is the USO at BIAP. These folks are here for one thing...the service members. They come over here, live in terrible conditions, withstand mortar attacks and 130 degree weather, and always have a smile on their face. They offer ice cold water, every imaginable toiletry item, computer and phone usage, paperback books, and a place to sit down and watch TV. The other shot is the back of the C17 (transport aircraft) that took us from BIAP to Kuwait.

After more than 24 hours on the ground in Kuwait, we are finally transported to Kuwait International Airport to board our Freedom Flight home. These planes fly to 2 locations for US travel: DFW and Atlanta. You will fly to one of these 2 locations based on your final destination. The military will get you to the nearest airport to your home, OR anything airport in the world that you want to travel to. There are many service members that elect to travel to other parts of the world. The military takes care of the travel expense, but it's up to the service member to pay for their own lodging and meals.

Sunrise over Texas. This is the view I woke up to as we started our descent into the Dallas Fort Worth airspace. When the aircraft lands and taxis to the jetway, the DFW Airport Fire Department shoots their water cannons into the air and above the plane from both sides of the airplane. It's their way of saying "Welcome Home".

These are the local Army personnel assigned to greet the incoming service members, get them through Customs, and make sure they know exactly what day to come back to the airport for the trip back to Kuwait. Finally, as you get through all the checkpoints, you pass through the doors where you see many greeters that come to the airport on their own time to show their support. And if you're lucky, like me, your family is there waiting for you.

And just like that, you're home. The realization that you are REALLY there, it's not a dream, and you really have been gone all those months, hits you like a load of bricks.

My wife, my daughter, me, my mom, and my son. Together again...for a short time.