A Touch Of Home

Every so often, an event takes place that reminds us of home and provides an opportunity to meet a celebrity. Typically, the USO is responsible for these morale-boosting programs. The USO is a congressionally chartered, non-profit organization that links the generosity of the American public to the military. The USO supports over 120 locations, providing services and also programs with volunteer celebrities.

When the celebrity tours pass through base, the entertainers maintain a hectic pace. The latest performer was Toby Keith, who arrived for his third concert of the day in Iraq aboard our C-23 Sherpa. We have also had performances by Montgomery Gentry, Lee Greenwood and the New England Patriot Cheerleaders--which proved to be inspirational for some of our Rhode Island troops.

Another celebrity encounter was made at the coffee shop, when Randy crossed paths with Jesse James, who was here filming an episode of Monster Garage for the Discovery Channel.

We appreciate the efforts of the performers and mission of the USO…to bring a touch of home to our men and women in uniform, until every one comes home.

Freedom Calls

Freedom Calls Foundation is a non-profit group that connects military personnel with their loved ones at no charge. They conduct more than 1,000 satellite conferences per month. In Iraq, Freedom Calls has transmission facilities at three military bases (Al-Asad, Taji and Fallujah). In my case…they were able to bridge a 6,600-mile separation from my girls.

It started with a family friend who heard that my daughter was upset when she realized her Daddy would not be in attendance for a lead role performance in the school play…an annual production of the Moses story. A request was submitted to Freedom Calls, which sparked an amazing chain of events to try and make my attendance at the play a reality.

Although the event coordinators realized the potential pitfalls were numerous, they inquired if I could be in Al Asad, over 100 miles away from my base, on the day of the play. The volunteers were never deterred…weather, threat, and maintenance were just issues to be overcome. Prior to the performance date, site surveys were conducted, hardware acquired, approvals obtained, media contacted and trial satellite link-ups performed. The attitude of the event coordinators mirrored the theme of the school play---God is in control.

As you can see, everything came together as planned and the kids put on a wonderful play. The opportunity to participate in a family event while stationed in Iraq, was truly an awesome experience. I am profoundly grateful to the numerous people for their contributions on behalf of my family…Thank You’s go out to Shannon H., for contacting the Freedom Calls Foundation and spearheading the effort; to Freedom Calls for sponsoring the videoconference; to DCA for hosting the event; to DCI for stateside technical support; to Specialist John for his hospitality and technical expertise in Iraq; to the Commander of D Company, 126th Aviation for granting me the time off; to the flight crew that ensured I arrived in Al Asad; and finally, to the 2nd Graders for their hard work and spirited performance…a truly memorable experience!

Night Crew

As the sun sets…personal gear is checked for night operations: helmets are configured with lip lights and NVG (Night Vision Goggle) battery packs; finger lights and personal flashlights are verified and extra batteries are stashed in flight suit pockets; uniforms are then "sterilized" by removing patches. When the sky is dark, NVG’s are adjusted for clarity and then mounted or stowed. An hour before departure, the crew conducts a mission brief and then aircraft engines are started and systems checks performed…the routine is the same, but the night missions are varied.

The night flight schedule is unpredictable and last-minute changes are routine. Unlike the day mission, every stop is normally a “hot-turn”—where the engines are kept running while the flight engineers adjust the load.

Six guys and one aircraft are dedicated to the night mission…the schedule is set as 2-days on followed by one-day off. The 3 pilots and 3 flight engineers typically perform a 90-day rotation, with two guys rotating out about every 30 days. The pace seems more laid-back on nights since the chain of command keeps “business hours” and the majority of unit business is conducted on day shift.

With the daytime temperatures starting to peak over 100 degrees, the night mission is turning out to be a nice change of pace.

Culture Tour

The Morale, Welfare & Recreation (MWR) staff conducts several different tours to get soldiers off Camp As Sayliyeh and into the capital city of Doha, Qatar. Soldiers sign up for trips based on seniority, which is derived from your arrival date. The activities range from water sports, golf, boat tour, shopping, restaurant outing and a cultural tour. On our final day, we signed up for the cultural tour, which is really an all-day shopping spree in Doha. Greater Doha accounts for 80% of the population of Qatar, which is roughly the size of Connecticut.

The tour started in the morning at an Arabic mall, where I went into a shop for Turkish coffee while the Arab’s around me smoked hookah water pipes and read the newspaper. Next stop was a camel farm where animals are breed primarily for racing. The Bedouins live right alongside their prize camels. We also made stops at a fruit & vegetable market and then spent a few hours wandering through small shops in a 1,000-acre market, called the Old Souk. The Old Souk offers traditional clothing worn by Gulf Arabs, spices, fabrics, swords, crafts, rugs, jewelry, perfumes, woodwork—it is basically a Middle Eastern Flea Market. The Qatari currency is the Riyal, which equates to 3.6 Riyals for every $1 US dollar.

Lunch was served at a restaurant near Dhow Harbour, located on the Persian Gulf. The restaurant offered a beautiful view of the water and the expanding urban skyline. We counted 7 high-rise buildings currently under construction. Our final stop for the day was the City Centre Mall, which is the largest shopping mall in the Middle East. It is a four-level building with 2 million square feet of indoor space. The centerpiece of the mall is a huge circular ice rink viewable from any level.

After a full day of site seeing, it was time to return to the war…our flight left at 1 AM and we finally arrived back at our base in Iraq at 3 PM. After being up for a day and a half, the trip allowed me to “reverse-cycle” for night shift. I’ll likely fly nights until I go on leave in August.