HOMEBOUND

As I sat in the crowded terminal on Incirlik AB, Turkey... I had a lot going through my mind. I had just finished a 2 year tour...2 years, in which I experienced a failed marriage, 2 years in which I sent a beautiful 1 year old little girl back to the states with her mother...never to live under my roof again.....2 years in which I went through the Gulf War, and experienced everything from a chemical attack, to capturing a deserting enemy soldier. Working such long hours I honestly don't remember when I slept.

I sat in the ramshackle wooden terminal building, filled with others whose tours had come to an end, and now it was our turn to board the "Freedom Bird", that we all saw land each and every Friday to pick up homebound service men and women. The room was filled not only with those going home, but those who had served with them. There were hugs, laughter...and tears. I sat alone...no one was there to see me off. This Friday night, my flight (co-workers) was on duty. Our job was to provide security for the aircraft on the tarmac, and the fighter jets parked in hardened shelters...and yes to provide security for the nuclear weapons kept on a remote part of the base. It was an important and vital job, no one was expected to come see me off.....

Finally the moment had come...It was time to leave and walk out to the tarmac, climb the stairs and go home...oh yes go home. As we filed out into the night...I stopped....My eyes couldnt believe what I saw there waiting for me. Lining the few hundred feet between the terminal and the 747 were humvees....standing in front of them were the men and women I had come to call the best friends I have ever had in this world...the friends I worked endless hours with...the men and women I got drunk with on more occasions then I am able to remember. The men and women I sat with during times of personal tragedy. They were all there...for me...to see me off. I shook hands and hugged each and every one as I walked to the plane. I boarded the plane..and came home, never to see any of them again.

Tomorrow, I leave another "tour of duty" of sorts....I leave a place I have spent the last 4 years working in, and caring about. I will pack my personal belongings...I will walk out the door...walk to my truck..and I will drive home.