Free At Last, Free At Last!

The long awaited phone call finally came. Went down to breakfast this morning as usual, and the aircraft commander was sitting there drinking his tea. Said he had just got off the phone with our DO (Director of flight Ops) and the much anticipated meeting between our general and their general was due to start any time, so if both parties decided to show up, we should know something soon. One hour later the call came. All was forgiven, the constellations had finally aligned, and our sins were finally expunged. Best of all, our "blacklisting" was lifted and we were allowed to return at the earliest opportunity. 

What a huge sense of relief! Not that I really longed to go back and live in a tiny little cell for three more months, dealing with sand, wind, heat, inane uniform rules and the active duty's backstabbing mentality, but I, and my comrades, had made the mental commitment to come over here and do our duty, and to be sent back home like some criminals was just unacceptable to any of us. Conveniently, one of our planes was scheduled through the international airport around 5:30 this evening, so they said, "get your gear, get your butts to the airport, and get yourselves home." No need to say it twice. By 3 pm we were packed, checked out, 50,000 Radisson points richer, and on the van to Kuwait International. Damn sure didn't let the revolving door hit us on the way out. 

 We sat around the terminal for a couple hours and then practically sprinted for the rear cargo door when the plane pulled into parking. It was one of our squadron's crew and there was much back slapping and handshaking going around as we were accepted back into the fold again. The flight back had just the barest flavor of what it must have felt to be on one of those repatriation flights of the POWs after the Vietnam war: big sense of relief, and some euphoria about being back with your own kind... Obviously we in no way suffered, but there was concern over what the future impact of this whole thing would be, so the relief that the whole episode was finally over was pretty pronounced. We made our way through Immigration and customs with more than just a little trepidation. There was a momentary glitch over what set of documents we had vs. what the Qatari's required, but since we had all of them, we just figured out which one they wanted and everyone was finally happy. Our IDs were returned, our stamp firmly planted on the crew orders, and we were IN! After dropping our gear off and cranking up the AC in our VERY stale rooms, we moseyed over to the BRA, the big tent where everyone hangs out and socializes, for a much needed drink and cigar. 

The Squadron Commander bought the first round, and it was one of the most welcomed drinks I've ever had. Looking back just a few hours, it's hard to believe it's over, but now our odyssey is nothing more than another really great crew story! Just as it should be!