Right after my last posting I had the best assignment of my time here. I got to go home.
We had a short award ceremony on New Year's Eve, dampened by the absence of a few of our troops still being snowed in up in the mountain passes. My commander and our USAF Operations Officer stayed in Jalalabad until the last Soldier was brought out of his forward position. He had been there for nearly two months without a shower (thank God for Handiwipes) or any real amenities that most of us here see on a frequent basis. While he was up there he was promoted from Staff Sergeant to Sergeant First Class. His attitude was outstanding and he's ready to go again.
Anyway, my leave began on January 1st with a trip to Bagram Airfield about an hour north of Kabul. I had a good friend there, CSM Roger Haller, who met me at passenger in-processing. He had arranged for a place for me to sleep, knowing that I would not fly until the following day. We had dinner together and sat out in the cold smoking cigars and talking about home, families and other stuff. We had breakfast and he dropped me off at the passenger terminal so I could begin the trip home. We took a few pictures and I was off on the morning of the 2nd.
I'm not sure about the classification of the routing for troops headed home on leave so I'll be vague here. Suffice it to say that we hit a centralized, very sandy airfield where troops from Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait await a chartered flight home. The people that do the work there are exceptional. They have a great system and outbound personnel are moved quickly and efficiently home. I was on the east coast by 2 PM on the 4th of January and in my house in Maryland that evening. My 15 day leave clock didn't start until midnight that night. The system allows for us to have a full 15 days and nights to ourselves. Some people go to other countries but most go home.
Home was ...different. My wife had made some changes to the house that I knew about from our phone calls and e-mails but I had no idea that the place would look so nice. New paint, furniture and some electrical rewiring had made the house almost foreign. It took me a while but I figured out where most things were. I got to see all three of my daughters and my three grandsons. Several meetings with friends took place during the 15 days so I am sure that about 90% of who I wanted to see, I saw. Both of my parents are in North Carolina and neither can travel easily so I missed seeing them. I will be planning another road trip when I get home to visit them both.
The length of time was good. With everyone working the days got a little boring. Weekends were great but it was time to get back to work. I left from BWI on the morning of the 20th of January. My first leg took me to Atlanta. After in-processing there I was waiting for the military charter back when I noticed a news flash on CNN indicating that 12 Soldiers had been confirmed killed in a Blackhawk crash in Baghdad. Most of those watching were servicemembers and all of us paid attention to the brief but incomplete report. Those returning to Iraq outnumber those of us returning to Afghanistan so I am sure that the anxiety level of the Iraq-bound troops was increased much more than mine.
As efficient as was my trip home; my return to theater was not. Inbound personnel, when in competition with new personnel and equipment, seem to be the lost tribe. You almost have to live in the various airports in order to catch a flight. Weather had become an issue in Bagram so we waited forever. In all it took me 11 days to get back to my home FOB near Kabul. During a particularly long stretch of waiting in Qatar I learned that my friend, CSM Roger Haller, had been on the downed Blackhawk in Baghdad on the 20th. By the time I knew this, it was the 25th. I called my state Command Sergeant Major and confirmed the bad news. I also learned that the state had been trying to contact me through official channels for 5 days. Phones and internet are difficult to come by when in transit so there was no way to get the message through. The next 6 days were the most miserable of my life. Many of my travel companions knew my situation and they stuck with me or gave me the space I needed to grieve. One guy, SGT Allan Fisk, kept his eye on me the whole time. It was great to have him by my side and I will be forever grateful for his professional and personal assistance.
The picture above shows CSM Roger W. Haller (left) and me on January 1st at Bagram Airfield. The flag we are holding is a miniature version of the Regimental Colors of the 70th Regiment (LDR) a training regiment in the Maryland Army National Guard of which Roger was the Regimental Sergeant Major. He succeeded me in that position about a year ago. He sent this photo to all of our friends with the caption "The 70th Moves East". It is one of the last pictures taken of him.
In summary, my leave was great. Coming back sucked but not because I didn't want to come back. It's because Afghanistan has one less Soldier that I think was making a difference. Please remember to pray for our troops.
Sarmajor
