This is a log of my journey to Qatar. I went with ten others for some Rest and Recovery. Little did we know what was actually going to take place. From engine trouble to off-season sandstorms, this trip was nothing short on uniqueness. Did any rest or recovery take place? Of course, but we had to take the good with the bad. Our persistence and determination to not let the army rob us of our leave kept the fire burning, despite the repeated attempts to make us miserable.

February 10th

• Heard showtime was at 0630 to leave be at terminal by 0700.

February 11th

• 0530: Heard showtime was 0600.
• 0600: Heard showtime was 0630.
• 0715: Leave for terminal.
• 0800: Manifest at terminal for our flight at 1100. They do an inspection, have us palletize our luggage, and shove us into a sterile tent.
• 0900-1100: A storm hits. The tent shakes, rattles, and shows signs of rolling. Water leaks in and the heaters didn't work
• 1115: They bring us expired sack lunches and leave without giving us a chance to ask anything
• 1200: They ask us if we've had lunch, tell us our flight will be at 1745.
• 1600: They bring us sack dinners...they are the exact same thing as a sack lunch, only served later. They tell us that our flight won't leave until 1830.
• 1845: They tell us our flight won't leave until 0100 the next day. They finally let us out of the tent and tell us to be back at 2200.
• 2200: Manifest, inspection, back into the sterile tent.

February 12th

• 0200: Board the plane. Someone asks where our luggage is and we're told it left on an earlier flight bound for qatar.
• 0330: The plane gets engine trouble, we land at Ali al-Salem air base in Kuwait. They put us into a sterile tent
• 0430: They move us into a different sterile tent
• 0530: They put us onto a bus.
• 0630: They drive the bus to the MWR lounge, issue us cots, and tell us that our flight leaves at 1745. Some people go to sleep, others go to breakfast
• 0700: I was now 4th in line for breakfast, others had just sat down, or were behind me in line. An announcement is made: we have a flight NOW. We disassemble the cots we had just put together, and turn them in. Then we get on a bus. After some accountability headaches, we start rolling toward the airfield in three buses. Bus number one zooms off way ahead of the other 2. The driver of the second bus pulls over at one point and asks us if we saw where the first bus went, because he didn't. We drive around a little and find them waiting for us...because they don't know where to go, either. The third bus takes the lead and we get to a plane that is leaving...but the crew laughs at us for not having our luggage with us. They soon begin to pity us.
• 1030: We land at al-Udeid in Qatar. The sergeant in charge of us in Qatar tells us to retrieve our bags, but we laugh because they're gone. The sergeant points to the Red Cross station, in case we need anything. We raid it for toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc. The buses that take us to al-Sayliyah won't arrive until 1300, so we go to lunch. On the bus trip most people sleep through it.
• 1500: After the welcome brief at al-Sayliyah, most people head to the PX to buy clothes. Though in the brief they said our luggage should be here at 2200, SFC Golden made the rule that we won't get our bags until everyone has bought replacement clothes. I head over to the PX to buy clothes.
• 1830: Orozco and I have dinner at Chili's.
• 2200: We look for our luggage...absent.

February 13th

• 0930: I head down to the PX area for a Subway breakfast. The stores don't open until 1100. So I buy a mocha frappuccino and a pastry, only they mess up my frappuccino and give it to me in layers, as oppposed to blended.
• 1100: I "eat fresh".
• 1230: They announce that, due to a car bombing, all mall trips are cancelled for today, and probably tomorrow. Our bags are supposed to arrive today at 1700.
• 1500: I get an Orange Julius and walk into the movie theatre to watch whatever they're playing. Ironically, it's "Anger Management". At 1630 I go to get my bags. Present!
• 1830: Orozco and I have dinner at Chili's.

February 14th

• 0930: I go to the coffee shop for a mocha cappuccino. It tastes HORRIBLE and they're out of pastries because the delivery truck didn't come by. My back-up plan for breakfast is Subway...but they don't have ANY bread for the same reason.
• 1130: I head to the building for the desert safari. Arabic style BBQ at the end...very tasty.

February 15th

• 0300: The fire alarm in my tent goes off. It deosn't stop until 0400.
• 0830: I go to the building for water sports. They announce that all the mall trips are still canceled. Most people who were there for mall trip go to water sports trip. The bus is half an hour late.
• 1430: We head back to the base; the bus driver runs a red light and swerves to avoid hitting a taxi.
• 1530: A sandstorm hits Qatar.
• 1600: Orozco and I have dinner at Chili's

February 16th

• 0400: We show up at the building to leave Qatar
• 0500: We arrive at al-Udeid.
• 0800: Manifest for flight
• 1115: We take a bus to the plane. We get to the plane, the driver announced the crew wasn't ready for us. We drive back to the terminal. We arrive at the terminal. Five minutes later they tell us the crew is ready for us. We drive back to the plane, the crew tells us that they're having mechanical difficulties and to return in one hour. An hour later our luggage and us board the plane, the plane does loops on the tarmac for about forty-five minutes to an hour, then parks back at the plane parking zone. One of the engines gave up and wouldn't start again. Our new flight time is 2300.

February 17th

• 0200: Our flight leaves Qatar bound for Balad, Iraq. Our luggage is still with us.
• 0500: We arrive at Balad. We see our luggage off-loaded by a forklift; however, that forklift dissapeared into the early morning darkness and wasn't seen for another forty-five minutes.