Middle East Tour - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Feb. 2007

Getting to Al Dhafra, UAE was an all day affair. Arrived at the flight line @ 12:30am in Djibouti, wait for 5 hrs, leave on a C-130 at 5:30am for a 5 hour flight to Qatar, then wait around all day for a 5pm flight to UAE. Thankfully, Sgt. McBride was able to get us some rooms to crash in for a few hours at Al Udeid. We were feeling a little unloved! But then we got to UAE and our POCs greeted us on the tarmak with photographer in tow and made us feel special again...then came the bad news. Our 2nd and 3rd shows at other bases in Dubai were cancelled and there would be no going into Dubai due to an Arms Convention (it's not like we were gonna buy anything). Throughout the trip, we'd heard so many glorious things about Dubai (ehm...the nightlife). So, we would stay at the Air Force base at Al Dhafra for our entire stay in UAE. We were also, issued our 2 drink/day Alcohol Ration cards.

UAE is an hour ahead, so on top of the 2 hrs sleep we got the day before, we only got 3 before having to meet at 6:30am for an entire day of touring the base, then play the show. Everybody was a little delirious. Having said that, our hosts at Al Dhafra were so nice and had gone great lengths to give us the most comprehensive base tour we'd ever had. Every department on base was given the opportunity to show us what they do. They were all proud and psyched to show us. They made us all feel like VIP's.

Naturally, the best part of the base tour at Al Dhafra was visiting the flight line. We were given tours of the KC-10 and the KC-135, both cargo planes that refuel other aircraft over the various combat regions in this area of the world. They also showed us the U-2 plane which is a surveillance plane that flies at 70,000 feet (it requires a space suit by the pilot). Last they showed us the unmanned surveillance aircraft, the Global Hawk, which is flown remotely.

Having been treated to such hospitality, we really had to deliver at the show...and we did. We also scheduled another performance for the next night and the turnout was even greater. At the end of the 2nd show, they presented us with a framed certificate of appreciation with various pictures of us on base with the troops. Once again we met so many great people on base and quickly established friendships...the last night we hung out with everyone and celebrated.

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