My journey began on 13 June when I left Larson and Jason in Las Vegas and headed to Atlanta. From there I had to drive almost 2 hours south to Robins AFB for out-processing. It was a relatively painless process since I managed to complete most of my training items before I left LA. I stayed in a hotel and just across the street was a Cracker Barrel. Mmmmm.....biscuits....
I was enroute to Atlanta on Friday when I found out my flight overseas was pushed from Sunday to Monday. So, instead of leaving for Norfolk on Saturday, I had to leave on Sunday. Once I arrived in Norfolk, I rented a car and drove to Arlington. From there we launched our plans to surprise our Grandmother in Baltimore. It worked! We had a mini reunion at the house that Monday.
Monday night, we went back to Arlington and I hung out in DC on Tuesday. I left my sister's place at 630pm on Tuesday for Norfolk Naval Station and I didn't get to my room until 1230am. Between construction, closed roads, closed gates and a wrong room, it was a loooong night. But I was there and prepared for my flight the next day.
The phone line for the terminal was busy all day Wednesday. I called over and over trying to get verification of my flight time for that evening. I finally got through and was told I would not be leaving until Saturday. So, I hung around the naval station until my flight early Saturday morning. Oh, and somewhere in between all of this, I promoted to Major.
Since our contracted flight was canceled, we flew on a C-17. It was not all that comfortable. My back still hurts from sitting in that seat for so long. I tried sprawling out on the floor, but it was metal and cold. The first leg of our trip was 8.5 hours to Germany.
Then we spent three hours on the ground refueling and fixing some issue in the back of the plane. These pallets consist of our luggage.
This is what Germany looked like from inside the plane. They wouldn't let us off...unless you needed a smoke break. I was too late getting to the front of the plane to get off with them, though. I needed some fresh air, so I just hung around the open doors.
I checked on Petey. He was holding up well.
Then it was another 8 hours to Qatar. I arrived in country on 26 July. After 3 hours for emigration we finally made it to our room to rest.
This is what my first dorm looked like from the outside. There are 14 rooms, I think, in each one of these buildings. Some rooms hold 2 people. These dorms are for the new arrivals and those who stay in country less than 6 months. I stayed here for 2.5 days until I moved to the permanent dorms. That is a record since most don't move for a few weeks. But I was occupying a room with 2 beds and they needed it for 2 enlisted females.
There are rows of these buildings.....and rocks and sand. These buildings are on what's called the CC side.
On the right in the distance is what we call the "Cadillacs" or bathrooms and showers. There is no indoor plumbing in the trailers.
On Wednesday, I moved to the BPC side of base with the permanent dorms.
Saturday night I went to downtown Doha with the outgoing crew.
See the building in white lights behind my head?
It's orange now.
These are the souks. You can buy spices, clothing, electronics, just about anything down here. Traffic is insane and we can only drive the manual truck off base, so I don't see me going downtown too often.
John, this is for you. Here's the OJ we get here.
Translation. Most pulp! Gah!
We eat at the DFACs or dining facilities. There are restaurants on base, too, like Subway, Pizza Hut, Arby's and Baskin Robbins.
As for my job, it's definitely been a learning experience. We've had 12 hour days providing support to the squadrons. I've been here two weeks today and this is my first day off. I have over 5 months to go and I've learned so much these first two weeks it's incredible. But, I'm happy to be in a position to see the results of our efforts.
I'll use the blog to provide updates. I miss everyone! Take care and I'll call when I can. By the way, if you get a call from a random area code during the evening, please pick up the phone. It might be me. ;-)
Later!
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