A Dream about Barksdale kind of

Nothing I like dreaming about more than being on active duty.

I was in a *CAOC-like building with my Barksdale AFB comrades including one of the best leaders and Commanders I worked for. Weirdly, his name escapes me, but what I can remember is that me and a buddy would argue years later about whether the commander’s beat up SUV was a Pathfinder or a Passport.

I’d win that debate by declaring it was definitely a Passport because I remember the big “H” – for Honda –on the vehicles grill.

You’ve been in the military long enough to remember chairs without wheels on them

Right, so the dream. I don’t recall a mission outside of being at work, but I did get a laugh out of the office with a well-delivered roast of the commander. I told him he had been in the military long enough to have chairs without wheels on them.

I was pretty happy with the crowd’s reaction. The commander came back at me, and the roasting continued in an entertaining volley.

The whole vibe matched the better times of my assignment at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. My job was miserable. I had a chip on my shoulder for having forced to be stationed stateside again after a Ramstein Air Base, Germany assignment. Barksdale was the first time in career that my alarm clock sounded, and I felt complete dread at preparing for the day. It was my brothers and sisters that made the difference.

It was the people in the office that helped me feel less like shit about showing up every day.

*CAOC = Coalition Air Operation Center. While on active duty, 2 of my 5 deployments were to the CAOC at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. The Coalition part means that the building and mission hosted military forces from allied countries – like Canada, France, UK to name a few.