After spending an entire year in Afghanistan, the time has come to an end and I have finally made it home to my family. It was one of the best feelings in the world to walk off the plane in El Paso, Texas and be able to hug my loved ones and say hello to my friends that also came to greet me. It is good to know that I was missed and cheered on by my own little crowd.
Prior to leaving Afghanistan, it was a very busy couple of weeks of preparing.
At the last moment, I finally found out that I was getting a replacement. That was really exciting because the reality actually hit me that I was about to leave Kabul. It was kind of a day that everyone dreams of from the very first day of getting there. Once my replacement arrived, I only had a couple of days that I could spend with him in order to provide him a good turnover. I created a lot of projects over the past year, so I kind of overwhelmed him with everything I had going on. But I did organize everything as much as possible, so hopefully he will be okay.
The last couple of days in Afghanistan, I also had to out-process myself from my unit. It was lots of running around to the different agencies signing myself out and turning in equipment such as ammunition and a government cell phone. The most important thing that I had to do was go spend one last meeting with my Afghans that I advised over the past year. We had one last cup of Chai together and thanked each other for the memories and friendship that we now have. It was kind of a bitter sweet to say goodbye to them. Although I am fond of what we have accomplished together over the past year, it was a damn good feeling to be able to say goodbye.
My final day I spent in Kabul was nothing more than packing up a few bags and hanging out with my roommate who was sick in bed with the flu. I felt bad for him, but I was more concerned for myself and worried that I would catch his flu bug and have it kick in during my travels back to the U.S. Thankfully, I did not get the flu! It was sad to leave my roommate behind. He has been a guy that I have lived and worked with very closely for the past ten months. As kind of an office joke, I told everyone that I was filing divorce papers and leaving him.
It took a few days to get back to the U.S., but everything went as scheduled for the most part. I started out by flying out of Kabul on Sunday, January 16th at 2100 hours. I flew on a C-130 from Kabul to Bagram, which is only about 65 miles north of Kabul. Once I landed, I confirmed I had a seat on a C-17 that was leaving the next morning to Manas, Kyrgystan. I was hoping that I would be able to find a bunk in a tent so I could get a few hours sleep, but unfortunately all the bunks were taken so that meant I had to spend the night in the terminal. I have a major problem of sleeping in strange places, so I ended up pulling an all-nighter in Baghram.
On Monday morning at 0400, I had to meet with our group so we could receive a travel briefing and prepare to go through customs. After six pain-in-the-butt hours of processing through customs I was finally ready to board the C-17 that was going to take me to some freedom. It was about a three-hour flight to Manas, Kyrgystan, which is in the southern part of Russia. Manas is kind of a central processing point for military forces to get us into and out of Afghanistan. For the next two days, I did nothing but turn in all of my Chem defense equipment, body armor, get some briefings and go through three more different parts of customs. It was ridiculous!
My last night in Manas, I was more than ready to leave that place. I was not able to get much sleep there, so I was totally looking forward to getting onto the next flight.
On Wednesday morning I boarded the freedom bird, a DC-11 along with 250 other soldiers to take us back to the U.S. Our first stop was Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Incirlik and the surrounding area is absolutely beautiful. It rests on the northern edge of the Mediterranean Sea and just south of a large mountain range. Once we left Incirlik we made one more stop at Ramstein, Germany where we conducted a crew change, got fuel, and stocked the plane with alcoholic beverages!
The last leg of the flight was from Ramstein to Baltimore, Maryland. It was about a nine-hour flight but it was good because we were able to have a couple of choice beverages and it was the last flight to freedom.
Once we landed in Baltimore we were greeted and cheered on by a small crowd, which was nice. Due to the time of landing in Baltimore, I had to spend the night there before I could leave for home the next morning. Being on an airplane for over 24 hours with 250 soldiers, I was a bit stinky. It was time for a good shower and a change of clothes.
Thursday was my final leg of travel to make it back home. I flew out of Baltimore in the morning and flew to Atlanta, Georgia and then onto El Paso, Texas. Travel time from Kabul, Afghanistan to home took almost five days. I figured I was only able to get 15 hours of sleep in the five days. I was absolutely beat by the time I made it, but I was back to my family and friends.
The last year in Afghanistan has been an experience that I will never forget. There have been some good and some bad times that I have had to endure. As I reflect back over the past year, I would like to think that I made a difference to some Afghans and their Air Force. Most of the Afghans are very nice people and I really hope that Afghanistan will become a stable place like it used to be. After seeing all the crazy stuff over the past year and being away from my family, I have learned to appreciate all the little things in life. My advice to everyone out there is to put family first, continue to work hard and of course appreciate every single day and treat it as if it is going to be your last.
This is my last article that I will be submitting to the FM Extra, so I want to thank all of you for your support. God Bless.
Clifford.oberg@gmail.com
*New Century Press and the Extra newspaper would like to add a sincere “thank you” to MSgt Clifford Oberg for his weekly columns from Kabul, Afghanistan this past year.
Derek Farwell will be replacing Oberg with his Purple Heart articles starting next week.