Pass To Qatar

After 78 missions & 286 flight hours, the opportunity arose for a 4-day pass to Qatar. Always up for an adventure…and accompanied by our youngest flight engineer (21 years old)…we disregarded the warnings about a brutal commute and set off for a change of scenery. The highlight of the commute was the opportunity to fly in the “jump seat” of an Air Force C-17 from Baghdad to Kuwait City. The C-17 is massive and the newest cargo aircraft in the Air Force inventory. It was about 2 AM on a cloudless night, when I was provided with a set of night vision goggles and given a complete overview of aircraft systems…while cruising at 28,000 feet and over 300 knots. After getting bumped in Kuwait, my friends from Tennessee hooked us up on a “Space A” C-12 flight to Qatar—Thanks Andy & John! Turns out the travel warnings were true; it took us 30 hours to make it to Al Udeid Air Base and then another couple hours to in process at Camp As Sayliyeh.

Qatar is a predominately Muslim country located just east of Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf. Due to oil and natural gas reserves, Qatar has become one of the world’s fastest growing and highest per-capita income countries. Known as the "Pearl of the Gulf", Qatar mixes classic architecture with modern structures. The capital city is Doha, which will be host to the 2006 Asian Games starting in November.

Although Camp As Sayliyeh is the largest pre-positioning military base outside the United States, it is also used as a pass facility for soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. The base has a quality gym, pool and dining facility. In addition, there are two lounges and an O’Charleys restaurant on site…although limited to three drinks per day; this is the only authorized location for a soldier to consume beer or wine in the Middle East. In addition, this will be the only time we can wear civilian clothes during our deployment.