(Cross-posted, etc.)

Hurry up and wait. It's a way of life in this business, and it's best to not let it bother you. It saves a lot of frustration.

That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

After days of feverish activity preparing to get into Iraq - gathering people and equipment, planning for food, water, transportation, ammo, and security, everything has come to a screeching halt. We are delayed; perhaps for several weeks. It would be easy to be frustrated and disappointed, but it wouldn't do any good.

So with a little luck and a lot of begging, I got myself reassigned to my old crew. My unit is beginning to send people home, and with me back on the jet, someone else is free to go. So something good comes from a little disappointment. It's a fair exchange.

Besides, there's a good chance that I'll be home soon myself - in a couple weeks maybe, and if they activate the team a few weeks after that I might still get to go. I'll just get a bit of a family vacation first. Who can complain about that?

And being back with the crew is nothing to complain about either. It's not exactly the same crew - some folks have already left on the flights reserved for people with sick family members, weddings, or graduations to attend. Still, there are more original members left on our crew than on most of the others. We've complained least about being here, so more of us remain. That's fine. I'm glad we're not what Sideshow calls a "Frankenstein Crew" - a mixed together bunch of leftovers from crews that have disbanded. There are still enough of us here to maintain the traditions that have bound us. For the most part, we'll go home together, finishing as a team.

Speaking of Sideshow, He and Doby shipped out just a few minutes ago. I'm sorry to see them go, but glad they'll be with their families in a day or two.

I can't imagine what it would have been like without them here. Doby, the Quiet Man, was as good a roommate as one can wish for. I hope I was half as easy to live with as he was but the odds are against it. He and Sideshow both took turns helping me keep things in perspective. I could have been overwhelmed by any number of things - loneliness, goofy decisions by higher-ups, the frustrations of living in close quarters - without them around. Together the three of us either got things fixed or decided we could laugh at them broken. God speed you guys. See you at home.

So now I'm one of just a handful left in my building. No one to yell at for not putting new toilet paper on the roller or for leaving their shaving in the sink. No one to wake me at all hours with hilarity in the day room. It's not possible that I miss it, but I'm coming close.

***

Today we flew our first day sortie since the war began. We stepped to the jet at about 0900, and in no time at all, the temperature in the cockpit was well over 100 degrees. It was so hot outside that our maintenance workers had to wear gloves to keep from burning their hands when they touched the jet. After engine start and taxiing to the runway, we waited about 12 minutes for clearance to take off. We sat at the end of the runway as the sun baked the pink sand. One of our air conditioning units overheated while we waited. By the time we took off everyone was a sweaty mess. Once airborne though, with the engines running hard, the AC worked all too well, and I went from heat prostration to pulling on my winter weight flight jacket. There's very little middle ground temperature-wise when we fly.

It had become the pattern over the last several weeks that we would fly at night, and see what we were flying over only in the hour or so of daylight on the way home. So it was strange to have hours of daylight in which to peer at the ground. We overflew several airfields that we had attacked. They each had a precise row of bomb craters straight down the center of their runways. They were spaced with perfect precision, as it someone had marked the impact points ahead of time with a tape ruler. It brought to mind all the old photos of airfields and factories targeted in previous wars - how for miles around the ground would be pock-marked with craters, and sometimes the target itself would go unscathed. A friend of mine used to fly B-17s in WWII, and he told me that when his bomb group flew it took 3 hours to get them all off the ground, and their formation was 100 miles long. They would leave several square miles of holes in the ground, come home with only half the number of planes and men they started with, and perhaps not touch their target. These airfields we saw today, which were in perfect condition except for the neat row of holes down their runways, were attacked by only a handful of aircraft, in some cases maybe only one. Amazing that we could have come so far in so short a time.

***

Some of the French are still here, although many of their jets are gone. All over our compound were posted flyers advertising a big swim meet at the pool - French teams versus American teams. Our boys shaved themselves and swam lots of laps in preparation. The day of the big race - the Frogs didn't show. Go figure.

***

We're leaving Saudi Arabia. American forces will all be based elsewhere by August and I couldn't be more pleased. I've chaffed at the concessions we make to this culture based on slavery, and been insulted by every restriction placed on us in the hopes of not offending our hosts - who despise us regardless. That may be just fine for folks in the State Department, who seem to enjoy apologizing for America, but it's just too much to take for those of us who defend her. Let us choose our friends more wisely in the future. Yes, yes, I hear you saying we needed the Saudis and had to placate them. They needed us far more than we needed them though, and we should have driven a harder bargain. They would have respected us more.

***

A couple days ago we stayed up late to watch the President land on the deck of the Lincoln. It did our hearts good to see him wearing a flight suit. It was a brilliant way of showing that he is truly our Commander in Chief; and that he does not take lightly the responsibility of sending us to war. We felt connected to him, respected by him. We have missed feeling this way for 8 long years.

And Secretary Rumsfeld visited. They had to limit the number of us who could be told where and when he would speak, because if we all knew the base would have shut down. Everyone wanted to see him. As it was those of us who couldn't attend saw it on TV. The Secretary of Defense embodies characteristics we admire. He does not waste words. He does not suffer fools gladly. He lets you know pretty much exactly how he feels about things. He spoke for just a minute or two (something always appreciated by troops who are standing for the duration) and for the rest of the time entertained questions from the troops. I've seen generals who wouldn't allow themselves to be interviewed without questions written in advance, but the SECDEF is too classy for that. Too sure of himself and of what he believes in. The only question he said he wouldn't answer was, "when are we going home?" We'll learn that soon enough

***

So that's the news. I'm thwarted, at least temporarily, in my attempt to get into Iraq. I'm back to flying with my crew, hand in glove. Some of my friends are headed home. The French remain beneath contempt. We are shaking the Saudi dust from our feet and we are proud of our leadership and confident in their orders. Shining through all this is the growing hope that we will be home very soon. Life is good.

Steven

Posted By Meryl Yourish at May 7, 2003 11:26 AM | TrackBack