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Well home today with a ear infection from the so called clean Coral Sea! Hummm....
My story from my last deployment, 2006-2007.
Since I live on an island and about an hour's drive north of Brisbane, I had a cab chit directly from my house to the airport which the Ord Rm Clk personally delivered a few days earlier.
It was a late Australian tropical winter's day. August, so it was a little crisp in the am (about 15C), and sunny.
So we got up extra early, had a few friends over, and had a 'Canadian' pancake and bacon breakfast. My goodbyes to fam/friends in Canada has been a few days earlier due to OPSEC, and only my sister knew the actual timings.
My now Ex and I said our goodbyes on the front lawn, as a friend shot the video on the digicam, so it could be sent by email to my sister in Regina. It was not easy leaving her, and better on the lawn than in a public forum IMHO anyways. I always hate good byes at the best of times, but this was different.
At the airport in Brissy, it was just the lot of us, in civvy clothes, looking as obvious as ever with our desert cam'd bags. From there to Sydney to pick up the Sydney 3RAR mob of the Combat Team, then on to Darwin, to pick up the 2 Cav Lads. One of the French widebodies, Portuguese airline contracts known here at Strategic Air.
I observed little or no family, as all the goodbyes would have been at home, or in the carpark of the airports.
Next stop was Diego Garcia, then Kuwait City, then on to Ali Al Salem for a few days of final briefs and climatisation, zeroing of weapons, and on to BAIP Baghdad via RAAF C130J, followed by US Army Chinooks to our outer location at some old run down filthy Republican Guard lines, near the former Baath Pty HQ in Karhk on the Tigris River. Home for the next 7 months.
If I only had a crystal ball knowing to what master dysfunctionalism I was coing home to.
As to coming back, it was night. We left from our outlying FOB to Camp Victory via US Army Chinooks Baghdad, then the next evening left BIAP in Baghdad- then a few days at Ali Al Salem north of Kuwait City to decompress, we were CB'd the whole time. Then the UAE, then the Maldives, then on to Darwin, dropped off the 2 Cav blokes, then Brissy. The plane now only had the 3RAR lads on board, and left us in Brissy. It was the end of March, almost 3 yrs ago. We came off the plane, at the gate the new CO and RSM were there, and that was it.
Like a bunch of blokes fresh from a cricket weekend, we staggered out. There was some family in the reception hall. A mate, a fellow SGT and good friend met me at the airport, mid arvo, and we headed home, arriving to my EX and her friend, with a huge sign in the backyard , blue paint on brown paper, welcoming me home.
It felt good. Ha, I still have that sign rolled up in my 'war' trunk, along with 'enemy' bayonets, hemets, gas masks, Iraqi rank etc etc, you know the drill. I thought I had it made. First meal back was bangers and mash, and I did not sleep, consumed a bottle of whisky and the rest was good for a few days until she said she was leaving. Then the real battle started.
Australia. Another country, another unpopular war, and another anti-climax coming home. Not much different between us and you.
OWDU
My story from my last deployment, 2006-2007.
Since I live on an island and about an hour's drive north of Brisbane, I had a cab chit directly from my house to the airport which the Ord Rm Clk personally delivered a few days earlier.
It was a late Australian tropical winter's day. August, so it was a little crisp in the am (about 15C), and sunny.
So we got up extra early, had a few friends over, and had a 'Canadian' pancake and bacon breakfast. My goodbyes to fam/friends in Canada has been a few days earlier due to OPSEC, and only my sister knew the actual timings.
My now Ex and I said our goodbyes on the front lawn, as a friend shot the video on the digicam, so it could be sent by email to my sister in Regina. It was not easy leaving her, and better on the lawn than in a public forum IMHO anyways. I always hate good byes at the best of times, but this was different.
At the airport in Brissy, it was just the lot of us, in civvy clothes, looking as obvious as ever with our desert cam'd bags. From there to Sydney to pick up the Sydney 3RAR mob of the Combat Team, then on to Darwin, to pick up the 2 Cav Lads. One of the French widebodies, Portuguese airline contracts known here at Strategic Air.
I observed little or no family, as all the goodbyes would have been at home, or in the carpark of the airports.
Next stop was Diego Garcia, then Kuwait City, then on to Ali Al Salem for a few days of final briefs and climatisation, zeroing of weapons, and on to BAIP Baghdad via RAAF C130J, followed by US Army Chinooks to our outer location at some old run down filthy Republican Guard lines, near the former Baath Pty HQ in Karhk on the Tigris River. Home for the next 7 months.
If I only had a crystal ball knowing to what master dysfunctionalism I was coing home to.
As to coming back, it was night. We left from our outlying FOB to Camp Victory via US Army Chinooks Baghdad, then the next evening left BIAP in Baghdad- then a few days at Ali Al Salem north of Kuwait City to decompress, we were CB'd the whole time. Then the UAE, then the Maldives, then on to Darwin, dropped off the 2 Cav blokes, then Brissy. The plane now only had the 3RAR lads on board, and left us in Brissy. It was the end of March, almost 3 yrs ago. We came off the plane, at the gate the new CO and RSM were there, and that was it.
Like a bunch of blokes fresh from a cricket weekend, we staggered out. There was some family in the reception hall. A mate, a fellow SGT and good friend met me at the airport, mid arvo, and we headed home, arriving to my EX and her friend, with a huge sign in the backyard , blue paint on brown paper, welcoming me home.
It felt good. Ha, I still have that sign rolled up in my 'war' trunk, along with 'enemy' bayonets, hemets, gas masks, Iraqi rank etc etc, you know the drill. I thought I had it made. First meal back was bangers and mash, and I did not sleep, consumed a bottle of whisky and the rest was good for a few days until she said she was leaving. Then the real battle started.
Australia. Another country, another unpopular war, and another anti-climax coming home. Not much different between us and you.
OWDU
