Almost Paradise

We land in Kuwait. Camp LSA, the final stop in the Middle East for most Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines when redeploying out of theater in Southwest Asia. The Air Force, well they stop in Qatar. Yes, their final stop is my leave destination...fuckers. Sometimes the military will call a location a camp just to be cute when in fact is a well built up area. This my friends, is a camp. It is desert. Kuwaiti desert. The real deal where all you see if fine sand and brownness. The heat here is scathing. 128 degrees when we stepped off the plane. It is full of old airplanes hangers that have all been bombed to shit (I assume when Sadam marched in here prior to Desert Storm). We eat, sleep, workout and hangout in tents. This is a camp. I get the privilege to bed down here for the night. I actually sleep really well as my tent is quiet and cool and I unscrewed the florescent lights over my head so I would be woken up by others flicking the lights on and off. The next morning is early is an early one but things go smoothly and we are on our last flight via C-130 to Qatar by 1030.
I’m not sure what I was expecting but it sure as hell wasn’t this. It wasn’t supposed to be even hotter, browner, and windier than Kuwait…but it is. It wasn’t supposed to be huge, double-the-size of Costco warehouses in which we sleep, hangout, eat, etc. It wasn’t supposed to be a 45 minute brief about all the rules I will have to follow while I’m here. It sure as hell wasn’t supposed to require me to buy my 3 fucking beers at $6 per at a fake bar inside another warehouse, buy long pants to leave the post for any activities, buy the food in our little R&R village if we don’t go to the DFAC. I sure as hell expected internet access in our rooms (which were CHU’s stacked on top of each other inside one of the warehouses) because I have that at Warrior, but we didn’t. I thought maybe I could drink my 3 beers at the pool at a time I wanted to but I couldn’t. Upon learning all this in the first hour I was hear my blood was once again boiling. I thought the Army would send my down here and treat me as an adult, but of course they didn’t.
Fast forward
It’s now 4 days since returning from Qatar. My trip was not what I expected but I have to admit my attitude has improved and I do feel somewhat more motivated. I guess I just think of it as one more milestone that has passed and that means I’m one more step closer to coming home. My trip was basically relaxing. I decided I would not buy long pants so that I could leave the compound to be escorted around and sweat my ass off in the 130 degree weather. I decided that sleeping in, lounging at the pool, watching movies and doing some light workouts was how I would roll day to day. This basically took all stress out of the trip. I paid the $6 a pop for my 3 beers each evening, served to me in plastic cup, and smiled at the rude waitresses while they scanned my ID to ensure I don’t get a 4th. Hey, they have no competition and I have no other choice but to drink there so what should I expect, friendly attitude? C’mon. I ate at Chile’s a few times. It was located right next to the pool and for a few minutes it sort of felt like the states. I ate at the DFAC a few times and it was really nice. Same food as here but everyone was really friendly. The gym there was amazing. Had a spa, smoothie bar, home theater with DVD rental next to it and a computer lab plus free Wi-Fi. So, all in all a good trip if I look at it as a 4 day passed earned for hard work. And that’s how I have to look at it because if I think of it as a substitute for the 2 weeks of leave with my wife that I was counting on…well then my blood just starts to boil. But shit, let’s just not go there again.