Deployment and everything after: getting to iraq, part iv

Well, this is the final leg of our journey to Iraq. This is what we have been waiting for. I know that sounds a little weird but when you are just sitting in limbo, waiting, you really want this show to get started. Think of it as if you are at the movies and you have hours and hours of previews before the show starts. Once the previews are finally over you could careless what the show is you just want it to get started.
Well, our time in Kuwait ended with the proverbial they broke us into three different groups to leave Kuwait and fly to Iraq on a military plane (c-130 for all you military plane buffs). So my group was first up. That meant we were to be up and ready to board the buses by 0230 (yes that's in the AM). So, like robots, I mean like good little soldiers, we got up and with school children eagerness got to the buses at 0230. We boarded the buses, only our mommies were not there to kiss us goodbye, and we were off to the airport. Once again the bus ride took forever. Could some one please get me a detailed map of Kuwait and its roadways because Kuwait looks very small on the map and it's not like we are driving from one boarder to the next yet it took us several hours to get to the airport. My theory is they just drive us around in a big circle, kind of like what planes do when they are waiting to land, circling until they get clearance to come in. And let me tell you those buses, although they were Mercedes Benzes, they do NOT have much legroom.
So we arrived at the airport only to find out that our flight had been delayed. They teased us by actually having us board another bus (once you get off the 1st bus at the airport you check in, wait and when it's your turn you load another bus which takes you to the plane) and took us out to the airstrip only to see our plane but be denied from boarding. Yes they took us out to the plane but drove past it ("look kids Big Ben"). So we headed BACK to the terminal. Why we even got on the bus in the first place who knows because they had not even loaded our luggage onto the plane yet.
Anyway, so we are back at the airport waiting, waiting, waiting and still waiting. We waited at the airport terminal for about 18-20 hours till we finally got a flight out. Remember I said they broke us into three different groups and our group was supposed to be the first group out? Well, yea, we were the first ones there but the LAST ones to get to Iraq! It really sucked!

Here are a few pics of your four PAs on our C-130, sorry no other photos allowed by law, really.
Now if you are a fan of "The Unit" you will notice in the opening credits that Mac is on a plane with the same red nylon seats that you see behind each of us. So we felt like Special Forces. I kept asking where our parachutes were but I guess they didn't have them available for us. I was expecting the high altitude jump into the combat zone. Jumping with all our gear on from 20K feet up and having O2, at nighttime. That sounds Kool huh? Well, that didn't happen. Anyway, here are the only pics I could get for you from our flight.