Welcome to the Main Event!

So how do I get home? It's a long process, so sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Tonight at 2200 I ride 10 minutes to the helipad. There I wait until 2300 for a flight to Baghdad International Airport-- BIAP. At BIAP I check in and find someone who wants to spend another day or so there and put my name on the flight manifest in his place. If lucky, I fly out of BIAP on an AF C-17. (For more on the C-17, go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-17_Globemaster_III)

If I do not make it tonight, I wait one day at BIAP and fly out 24 hours later. Assuming, however, that I make it out tonight, I will arrive at Ali al-Saleem around 0400 (it's about an hour long flight). There we will be sorted by destination: America, Germany, other. We go through customs and are in a holding area. Total time is about 12 hours. I board a government chartered commercial airline and begin my flight to the Promised Land. There are no direct flights from Kuwait to America (you would need a 747 to do that). Instead, I fly to Shannon, Ireland, for a quick refueling layover. Then on to Atlanta. People will deboard for flights to eastern US areas. It is possible that I also deplane and wait for a flight, probably Delta, but there is no way to tell. If I stay on the plane I will continue to Dallas and catch my connection to Salt Lake City there.

I will know my exact travel arrangements when I reach Kuwait. There I should have access to phone and internet. I will send home my itinerary then. That being said, it is incredibly subject to change. Many soldiers have told me stories about airlines pulling strings to allow us to catch earlier, possibly already overbooked, flights for our final destinations. I will let you know if that happens.

That is my soon-to-be saga home. Places for possible delay: Helipad due to weather; BIAP due to weather and overfilled aircraft; Kuwait due to same. So far, the weather looks okay here. I am incredibly excited. See you soon!