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Showtime finaly. We left today for Iraq. It is a meloncolie feeling to finally go; we have trained so hard for this moment yet it is a little stressful knowing that we will be responsible for real lives. The decisions that the medical staff makes will determine life and death every day. I am weighed with the burden of taking care of the medical staff so the circle is of influence is quite large for me and my friends.
We began making preparations for our trip late Memorial Day. I packed and finished up last minute business. We got word of our departure early this morning. We loaded all of the baggage on trucks and headed to the airfield. All of the bags had to be loaded onto pallets and lashed down for flight. We spent some of the day waiting in tents but it was not too bad just hot. I believe that it was the hottest day yet and coupled with full battle rattle (Body Armor, Kevlar helmet, weapon, ammunition, rucksack, and long sleeves) it seemed much hotter. We finally got word that is was time to go, causing great relief for many of us - sooner on the plane, sooner to Iraq, and sooner to drop the armor. A C17 Cargo plane was our chariot - the biggest jet in the Air Force I believe. You could easily play 2 football games inside. We loaded up and I was quite fortunate to have the last seat in the back of the plane that on the side. The seats run along both sides of the plane and face inward for parachutists (I got one of these). The middle of the plane is designed for cargo but they can add seats be strapping them down to pallets (picture a normal commercial plane with seats facing forward but rickity). My seat was so great because I was not crammed between huge body armor laden, sweaty, smelly, cranky soldiers. Southwest would have made all of us buy two seats because of our girth. This seat was also nice because I could see out the back cargo door for the loading, unloading, and the decent into Iraq. The back door opened at landing.
Planes in Iraq perform combat takeoffs and landings. In order to minimize the time that we fly over unsecure territory the planes take off at a very steep angle to get high very quick. The takeoff was not too bad but the landing was scary. We basically nosedived to the runway. Picture a stuffy huge cargo plane with non-permanet seats and no windows diving at such a steep angle that you are holding on to your seat. You hear loud hissing and sirens then with no warning BAM you his the ground hard - again not knowing that it is coming because the plane lacks windows. Didn't loose my chow but thought about it for a while.
We got our welcome briefing and were ushered to our living quarters. I got a snack and turned in for the night. Finally able to sleep knowing that I was in the comfort of a warzone. Combat pay abounds.
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Ginnie Anthon y
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Space Mountain
It seems that you have doubly experienced the dreaded Space Mountain. Little did you know years ago that you would get to experience the "real deal!" Maybe I should wear the weight of the battle rattle, I have to make good on my promise, right!? You are always in my prayers and always in my thoughts. Love, Mama