Middle East Tour - QATAR - Feb. 2007

The journey from Kuwait to Qatar was supposed to be a short one. Unfortunately, military flights don't have to follow the same tight schedules that civilian ones do and so we ended up sitting in the "airport" for several hours longer than we anticipated. The C-130 that we were to take to Qatar finally arrived to the airport in Kuwait on an "HR" flight (Human Remains) from Iraq. At each stop on it's way back to the US, there are impromtu ceremonies given to the fallen soldier. It was a heavy experience to witness and once again reminded us of where we are. Broady said that during days in December there were as many as 8 coffins being unloaded.

We were scheduled to be in Qatar for 2 shows, one at the Air Force base we would be staying at, Al Udeid and the next night at the nearby Army base, As Sayliaya. The accomdations were a little rough...the communal bathroom called "the cadillac" hardly lived up to it's name...but the hospitality we received from our POC's was on par. We also got our first "taste" of the "alcohol ration cards"...we'd see them again in UAE. We were allowed 3 drinks/day, the same as any soldier on base.

The first show went extremely well. We played for the largest crowd we ever have on a military tour, over 1,000 people. A "good show" on a military base is a lot different than a "good show" back home. When 80-90% of the crowd is male, crowded dancefloors are hard to come by. So when you do get people moving the music, you know you're doing good. The next night at the Army base also went very well...it sounds redundant, but we were doing a great job. Having soldiers tell you that it was "exactly what they needed" or how they "forgot they were in Kuwait" really felt good. We met a lot of soldiers on 4 day RnR from combat in Iraq. Their stories are horrific. Not that one ever becomes "mature enough" to handle the violence of war, but the guys we talked to were so young...hard to imagine having those experiences at that age.

~B. Gorman~~~~~~~~~~~~~