This is the third article in the series about my most recent deployment. If you would like to get caught up or refresh your memory, the first article is here and the second is here. Want to help support Norseman Creative? Tell your friends about the articles, and share them on social media. For more direct support, swing by the shop to pick up stickers and autographed books!
The flight that brought me from Qatar to my final location was a Ohio Air National Guard C-130. I hadn’t ridden in a military aircraft in years, so there was an element of novelty to this final flight. In contrast to the packed, contracted “rotator” flight that brought me from the the United States to Al Udeid, the Guard C-130 only had five passengers and a bunch of cargo. The other passengers were all travelling together, in civilian clothes rather than uniforms, and very uninterested in conversing with me or letting me know what they were up to in the slightest. Not that it mattered, as after the five of us settled into the mesh jump seats, the powerful propellers roared to life and drowned out any opportunity for chit-chat.
After five flights, the Air Force’s shortest layover at Al Udeid, and maybe three hours of sleep in forty-eight hours, I finally touched down at my final location. Of course, this isn’t Delta Airlines, so my four fellow travelers and I were offloaded with the rest of the cargo, right there on the tarmac. Luckily enough for me, the secretive passengers sharing the plane with me had a van dispatched, and they graciously allowed me to hitch a ride rather than find my own way to the base. Minutes later, I found myself dropped off by a tent next to the airfield. My traveling companions took off with a “Good luck,” leaving me standing there to fend for myself.
I had been sent to this particular piece of Southwest Asia to replace one of the other Captains, Connor, from my home station. We had been in contact with each other throughout my trip out to the Middle East, but I found myself standing all by my lonesome on an unfamiliar air base. Luckily there was Wi-Fi leaking out of the tent behind me, so I shot another message to Connor to let him know that I arrived.
Not that my unceremonious deposit on the side of the road was Connor’s fault. The C-130 pilots had managed to arrive and offload their passengers almost an hour earlier than projected. Connor, and the rest of the Expeditionary Contracting Squadron (ECONS), were in a meeting thinking they had more time to come retrieve me. I just found the scenario funny, especially juxtaposed with the tightly controlled, six hour process of gaining entry to Qatar for slightly more than a day. Even though I had never been here before, my introduction to the 332d was being dropped off on the side of the road and expected to figure it out on my own.
After being collected from the side of the road, I was brought on a very quick tour of the base by the Commander, Superintendent (excuse me, Senior Enlisted Leader), and Connor. They pointed out where the most important things were on the base. In descending order of importance they were: The shipping container where the ECONS stored their newly procured pellet smoker, the park where the smoker was used and where one could relax and buy beer, the Squadron’s main office building, “Detachment 1” where the ECONS Construction Flight dwelt, the Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) building where one could also relax and buy beer, the gym, the Dining Facility (DFAC), Wing Commander’s office, and finally my living quarters for the next six months.
After my abbreviated tour of the base, I met the rest of the ECONS. Three days worth of travel had drained my energy level, and while the personnel of the 332d ECONS introduced themselves, my exhausted brain fixated on one name tape in particular. The name felt so familiar. I was sure I knew this person, but I was so tired that the gears in my mind weren’t shifting properly and I didn’t have the energy to look up to find the face of the six and half feet worth of human tree in front of me.
“It’s good to see you again, man,” the Beanstalk said to me, and with great effort I finally inclined my weary head enough to get a good look at the guy. Looking at him with bleary eyes, I now knew that I had met this person before, but the gears still weren’t catching in my mind. Then, with an audible clunk, the gears caught and I remembered.
Dapper Dan! We were deployed together during my very first deployment to Al Udeid, and had hit it off very well for the short time we had known each other. Finally recognizing Dan gave me a little surge of excitement and energy for the rotation ahead.
With the initial introductions out of the way, I went to my room to unpack and set up my tiny metal box to my liking. I was assigned to a room in a “Re-Locatable Building” (RLB), basically a shipping container split into four small rooms. Each room had three beds, but I was assured that there would only ever be two of us in my eight foot by eight foot section of the RLB. At that point, I did not have a roommate, so I took a few liberties with spreading out my equipment and clothing to make the most of the small space. Satisfied that my room was set up the way I wanted it, I walked back to the office to fight off the exhaustion.
I stuck it out through that first day, and joined the ECONS in the park that evening for my first round of beers. As I spent time talking with the other members of the ECONS, I started to feel a lot better about my deployment. Here was a group of motivated, competent professionals with whom I would spend the next six months. It didn’t fully make up for extending my time apart from Jenny, but realizing I was in good company did take the sting out of it a little bit.
It was refreshing to be back in an operational environment. Spending the last two years in a large Program Office, in the COVID-19 telework environment, had sapped most of my energy and enthusiasm for the Air Force, and especially Air Force Contracting. Sitting around a picnic table, sipping a local beer, with an active mission to support reignited a small spark that had dwindled over the past few years.
Even with a rekindled motivation, I couldn’t hang very long as the exhaustion forced its way to the surface. I excused myself and walked back to my RLB to rest. Collapsing onto my deployment sheets on the old, lumpy mattress in my room, I called Jenny and we talked for a few minutes, filling her into the events of the day since we parted ways in the Al Udeid passenger terminal. We said our digital goodbyes and I finally succumbed to sleep.
PSYCH! What felt like moments later, I woke up to the RLB shaking, a load roar filling the air. Panic rose in my throat until I remembered where I was, and that my new neighbors were fighter jets.
So much for a restful night of sleep.
