Trip Notes

At 1615 on 26 May 09 the STB made a formation, faced right and moved out to the buses. As I marched away at the front of the file I looked over to my left to give a final smile to Tricia, Jeffrey and Peggy who had come to see me off. Our time to say our final goodbyes was short, but there is no sense it taking a long time and dragging it out. I did grab Jeffrey by the hands and give him one last swing in a circle and then got a hug and kiss from him.

The buses took us to the field house where we dropped out bags temporarily, and received some instructions about our movement. I was over at a table with refreshments enjoying a few Girl Scout cookies when I noticed SSG Ellison whom I knew well from church in Germany. We had moved to Fort Carson at the same time and had run into each other while at the Tower Inn waiting to leave Germany. We talked together for a while until it was time to leave. During the rest of our travel time we saw each other periodically. It is nice to see a familiar face.

The buses took us to Peterson AFB where we waited for our plane to be prepared while waiting in a facility that looks to have been built just for the occasion of sending out a large number of soldiers. Dinner chow was served at this time and I made sure to eat while I could. Almost all soldiers had some type of device to help them pass the time; PSP, game boy, iPod, laptop, portable DVD and cell phone calls and games.

The night before I left Tricia had us read from John 14 as our nightly scripture reading together. While I waited at the AFB I thought about verse 26 which says,” Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let your heart not be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” While I am fully aware that I am just beginning a very long journey that will take me far away, I felt, and still feel at peace; that kind of peace that the Savior can provide.

At 2130 our air plane took off and headed for the state of Maine. I was very fortunate to have found myself in line in just the right place to get a seat in a section of the plane that happened to have a few unoccupied seats. I had the isle next to me and plenty of leg room for the entire flight. I slept comfortable for most of the flight, but not until I had read a few talks from the Ensign I had picked up during our trip to the temple and the letter that Tricia had written to me which I was to save for after our parting.

At 1000 on 27 May 09 (Colorado time) we landed in Leipzig Germany. As the plane’s wings dipped during the final turn to line us up with the air strip I was able to look out of the window and see a very familiar sight; green farm land, fields of yellow flowers in bloom, and red roofed hamlets. I had instructions to pick up a souvenir for Tricia, but the prices were so high that it would have taken everything out of my wallet just to get a simple key chain. Sorry, Tricia.

A short while later we were off again, this time our destination was Kurdistan. When we landed at the air base I put my watch back exactly 12 hour, making it 0630 at my location. We dropped our bags one more time and were given a brief in a tent which included swiping our ID cards which starts all of the extra pays for being deployed. Just in time too; being in country for one day gives you the benefits for the entire month.

The cartoonish writing on my duffle bags helped me to locate them quickly among all of those that had been shipped during our trip. The STB had us pack 72 hrs worth of stuff in our carryon bags, so we did not have to dig into our bags to get stuff out as others did after locating all bags.

During our time here we are staying in a large semi permanent tent filled with bunks and soldiers. In all, everything has been quite orderly and timely. I ended up sleeping more time that I had planned on, so putting off the jet lag will take one more day, but at least I know that I do have a place to rest my head.