Return to Al Udeid and Truth in Labeling Disclosure

On Sunday, August 15, we played our last gig in the AOR, at Al Dhafra. This was in the same location we played the early in the morning on the 15th, but we had a great crowd due to the start time of 7:30pm. The performance whent well, and we had great audience participation for our last show- of course having the Wing Commander, General Minahan, sitting in the front row with his staff also helped. I don't have any photos since I used my camera to video as much of the show as I could. Posting it would take up too much space since it was in HD. I think I've put up enough pictures, so you get the idea. We finished the show and loaded our pallet for the last time. Our peformance had prompted the General to up the drink limit to three, so we went to the rec center to partake. Unbeknownst to some of us, the beer clock on the computer was a bit slow- so we got our first, but then were denied the rest. You see if you drink between the times of 9pm and midnight, your beer clock does not reset until 4am. Myself and Kevin K., had thought we started after midnight, but the timer on the computer clocked us in at 11:57pm. That's what we get for being in such a rush. Having to get up early the next day, and reasoning there was nothing we could do about it, we didn't complain. I mean, what could you do- well there did happen to be a Captain there that was all out of sorts about the situation- complaining loudly and wrote some sort of complaint, which will probably only serve to have no one ever to have a three beer day again. I guess all I can say is, what a douche bag. It takes all kinds.

Monday, August 16, we flew from Al Dhafra to Al Udeid in a c17, which we had to ourselves. Lots and lots of room. It was a short flight and we arrived in Al Udeid actually before we took off, due to the time change. After breaking down our pallet and eating lunch we were released for the day. As of now, all we have left this week is some outprocessing, and a morale trip to Doha, which I will try to get some good pics to post. Our tentative departure is maybe this weekend sometime, but also maybe next week. We are all hoping for the earlier version, since there is not much left to do here, and its still hot as, well you fill it in.
Coming to the end of this deployment, I just wanted to clarify or at least address the fact that we never did go to Iraq. I could say that it was clever Op Sec, to imply that we were going there, but the real truth is that we never knew where we might go, and with the draw-down going it appears that it was not a priority to get us in there. The band wanted to go, but like everything else in the military, it wasn't our call. I still feel our mission was a good one, and in fact, even when we played for as few as 5 people, it had impact. I mean who else does this shit? At this level anyway. There are many ways it could be improved, but I hope the mission is never abandoned. If you have to come out here for extended time, its the least they can do to provide some kind of entertainment or distraction from the day to day. So, anyway, no Iraq. I'm still keeping the name of the blog.
This should be one of the last few posts. Maybe one later in the week about Doha, and then maybe something about our travels home. Thanks for following along so far.
James