I spose I’m becoming desensitized…

My R&R to Qatar was a good thing. The transit from here to there and then back again was not. You see mobility around here is not an easy thing and cannot be taken for granted. It’s not like a drive to your basic airport. It takes real work to come and go out of BIAP and the rest of theater for that matter. Convoys… Combat Landings… Constant changes to itineraries… all in the name of security. I can’t and won’t go into to much detail but the fact that it took roughly 40-48 hours to travel both ways with about 6 hours of heavily interrupted sleep on each side should give you some idea. At the end of the day it’s a real pain in the A**. The convoy down route Irish is an adventure all its own. I’m not sure I will never complain about the LA traffic to LAX again. At least I’m not being shot at (errr… at least most days).

On our trip back from Qatar we had a group of new Air Force types join our well rested group for transit. The AF folks have a very different rotation schedule than the other services. Usually half the time so they are always coming and going. Now we all wear uniforms… all have the same basic gear… wear the same battle rattle… basically we all look somewhat the same. So how could I tell they were “green?” They had that agitated nervous look of new troopers approaching the dark abyss of Iraq. I heard odd edgy comments, they made some stupid mistakes and they did everything (I mean everything) by the book no matter how frustrating and impractical it may be. Yeah… 10 seconds and I had this group sized up as fresh replacements. For some reason I a couple of them really caught my eye. Hmmm I wonder… Then I reflected back to 4 months ago when I was making the same trip and how our inbound group of replacements acted the same way; tense, anxious, and definitely impractical to the point of stupidity. Now I’m an old hand with this silly system. I don’t wear all the unnecessary gear, don’t bother with the much of the school trained non-sense that doesn’t apply to the reality of boots on the ground, and realize that if it’s my time then what the hell – It was a great ride.
Most telling was the convoy ride to the IZ. A few of these folks were in my ride and they were huddled up with a real nervous white knuckle grip on the chairs and a look of quiet terror in their eyes; hiding from the windows hoping not to see anything yet anxious for a first peak of anything. Yeah – I recognized that look too. Dave and I both had it on our first trip down Irish too. Desert training really terrorizes the hell out of you and then when you’re in the real moment you are so geared up for the worst. When nothing happens you’re almost let down. Now I’m riding 2nd chair… looking out the window acting spotter… and carrying on light conversation with the driver relaxed and ready to roll if needed. I’m aware but comfortable - This is just what it is. Even when we have an unscheduled delay and sit highly exposed for several minutes No biggie – It’s just the job. Sides I’m 46 hours into this journey and it’s really late or early. I don’t much care about the boogie man - I’m just eager for my bed.
12 hours later I return to the office… Odd as it seems I’m actually happy to be here. And look over there - The couple of replacements that caught my attention many hours before. Some how I just knew they were our replacements I don’t know how - I just knew it.

Yeah I’ve changed and in a few months these green folks will see and experience things that will change them too. It’s the nature of the beast.