Traveling in the Belly of the Beast

Like most military evolutions, flying from California to Kuwait had its share of foibles and frustrations. Overall, however, it was not bad. It started at 2 AM Saturday, with a muster at the armory to draw weapons and load our bags. This was followed by a 2 hour bus ride to March AFB in Riverside, where we waited for our 11 AM flight. Once we checked in and were manifested on the flight, we were restricted to the hangar for the next four hours. It was crowded and loud, but there was lots of food and drink graciously provided by volunteers from the area.



While waiting here my feeling of being swept along in some larger current of events intensified, along with the sense of being swallowed by this monstrous beast on its way to war. There were numerous posters depicting 9/11 and our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and belittling any questioning or protest of these actions. The soda machines in particular were covered with these things. There were no posters expressing any other viewpoints (not surprising). It was a display of single-minded determination, and an unwavering, unquestioning boosterism for our actions. I found it a bit distressing.








I have to say that the 15 hours or so of flying that took us to Kuwait were very pleasant. We flew on a United Airlines 747, and I was fortunate enough to ride in business class. The comfortable seats reclined nearly all the way, there were actual usable pillows, and the food was plentiful and tasty. If only commercial air travel were always like that. We flew from Riverside to Frankfurt, Germany (a 10 hour flight), then after an hour or so on the ground we flew to Kuwait (5 hours).

The crews on both flights were very attentive, and made much of our mission and their pride and support of what we’re doing. When we got back on the plane in Frankfurt, the second crew had decorated the cabin in red, white, and blue crepe paper, a flag, and red and blue stars with “motivational” sayings on them such as “Freedom...Made in America” and “Be safe and Good Hunting.” Wow. This hyper-patriotic display made me think about the “military-industrial complex” Eisenhower warned about, which I would call the “military-corporate complex” these days. I wonder how much the taxpayers are spending on these charter flights? Does this count toward the total cost of the war? It certainly doesn’t hurt United Airlines.

Once we arrived in Kuwait, the fun ended and the tedium began. In our first six hours on the ground, all we had accomplished was a 1.5 hour bus ride, watching a 20-minute Welcome to the War video, and two bathroom breaks. The rest of the time was spent sitting on the bus, getting off the bus, getting back on the bus, and wondering what on earth we were doing. Finally we got the “word” – we would be spending the night here at “Camp Victory” in Kuwait, and proceeding to Iraq on Monday. After much stumbling around in the dark trying to find our luggage (imagine hundreds of identical green seabags lying in the dirt and hundreds of sailors and Marines trying to find their own luggage) we got settled in our (thankfully air-conditioned) tent and were done for the day. After a shower, I finally got to bed about 11 PM Sunday night, local time.

Next stop: Al Asad Air Base, Iraq.