When I first received orders to Iraq, I was more than ready to hop on a plane to the desolate, violent landscape of MESSopotamia. But my excitement quickly turned to frustration as I’ve been stuck in Germany for three days and counting. Currently, I’m surrounded by other stranded Iraq-bound troops inside Ramstein Air Base’s passenger terminal waiting for flights.
C-17 cargo aircraft litter the runway but only for destinations that are far safer than where I’m heading. On the other hand, U.S. officials have been touting how much better Iraq is nowadays. And the place where I’ll be going (Diyala Province, just east of Baghdad) a massive U.S.-Iraqi offensive is clearing out the insurgents. Hopefully, they’ll be a few left when I finally hit the ground. Those guys are always fun to chase around and detain.
It’s been about three and a half years since I’ve last been to Iraq. It was an adrenaline rush to be in a combat zone, dodging rockets and roadside bombs. Do you remember driving home drunk late at night and coming across a police trap; but instead they wave in the car in front of you while letting you slide by? It sort of feels like that – scary but gratifying that you didn’t have to lose your license for a year.
Plus, the tax-free pay on top of our hazard pay is always a bonus. Why should I pay Nebraska state taxes to repair the I-80 interstate while trucking along dusty, IED-infested roads? It seems the politicians have finally gotten something right.
This time around I’m only spending 6 weeks down there but I plan to make the most of it. Also, my load is much lighter than the first time. I don’t even have to carry a weapon or wear a uniform. I wonder if the units I embed with mind if I wear shorts and wife beater T-shirts. Why not? It’s averaging 115 degrees every day.
I’ll try to keep you posted on what’s going on. Forgive me if there’s a lapse in my entries, I have to do some work out there such as buying a Persian rug, hookah pipe and finding three Sunni women to marry.
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