You won't believe how hard it is to get soldiers there.
But don't wory. "We are not overextended".
Arnold and a half-dozen other soldiers in his squadron, which is supporting the Army’s 101st Airborne Division around Mosul, were selected for a temporary-duty trip to Germany for a conference July 8-9 conducted by the 4th Air Support Group at Ramstein Air Base.
Two days in safe, pretty Germany. Clean, soft beds. Hot meals. Cold beer.
Predictably, the days flew by. When the conference was over, Arnold and his colleagues went shopping for essential equipment and spare parts, as well as treats for their less-fortunate mates back in Iraq.
The group then dashed to Ramstein terminal Friday to make a 4 p.m. show time to catch a C-141 to Baghdad.
Three days later, Arnold was still there, in the terminal, waiting to get to Baghdad. He is 48th on a list of 80 people, all flying on “space required” status, and all waiting anywhere from 24 hours to five days.
And forget about flying to Kirkuk. The passenger list is even longer.
For the 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq who can’t wait to go home, difficulty getting into Baghdad sounds like a bad joke.
Read it all here.
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