Camp all set, but GIs beset by flight delays

For returnees, change is the only constant

CAMP SHELBY, Miss. - The first planeload of Arkansas soldiers returning from Iraq with the 39th Infantry Brigade is arriving later than first planned.

Change is the only certainty in military travel.

Initially the 160 soldiers with Alpha Troop, 151 Cavalry were to arrive in Mississippi near midnight Tuesday. By 5 p.m. Monday, that arrival time had already changed three times.

Now Alpha Troop is expected sometime this evening.

"The word of the day is flexible," said Col. Keith Klemmer, officer in charge of Arkansas Joint Headquarters-Forward, which oversees the troop demobilization process for the Arkansas National Guard.

The 3,000 soldiers in Arkansas' 39th, which included more than 1,000 troops from other Guard units across the state, deployed in March to Iraq for its second tour of duty. For its return, the brigade's troops will fly in to the Mississippi Army post in waves over the next four weeks, where they will undergo a five-day demobilization process before heading home to Arkansas.

The latest delay actually benefits returning soldiers and their families, Klemmer said. The troops will be reunited with family members within a couple of hours of arrival and then be able to have Thanksgiving Day off before beginning the demobilization process Friday. The many flights of soldiers to follow won't have the benefit of a holiday to give them additional time with their families. But the faster the process starts, the faster it's over.

The Arkansas soldiers working at Camp Shelby to help demobilize the 39th have been preparing almost two weeks for the first wave of soldiers. There has been plenty of work to do leading up to the troops' return - boxes of records have been organized, computers and printers linked up, databases built and daily drills executed.

Hand-drawn signs hang on the walls of Arkansas headquarters at Camp Shelby, welcoming the 39th home. Printer paper is stacked 3 feet high, ready to use. Computers buzz and phones ring.

The support soldiers who deployed to Mississippi to help bring the brigade home will remain there until the last Arkansas soldier is home, sometime around Christmas.

On Tuesday they just waited.

"It's like being in the huddle in a football game," Klemmersaid. "And you're thinking, 'Is it time to go? Now? How about now?' And the 30-second clock just keeps going and going."

The wait is nothing unusual for military logistics.

Things change, planes break or flights move ahead of schedule. Most of the flights that move troops to and from Iraq are commercial charters. Units track those planes starting 10 days before the day they are to fly home.

So the estimated arrival timefor each unit shifts as each flight ahead of it arrives early or late.

"You know a plane's coming when it says, 'Departed,' on the tracking system," said Chief Warrant Office Bert Myers, Arkansas' personnel chief. "Until then, you don't really know anything for sure."

Myers has ushered the brigade to war and back twice now. And each time, it is the same - hurry up and wait.

"I don't think I've ever beenin a position where a flight was on time," said Lt. Col. Ronnie Anderson, readiness and mobilization officer for the Arkansas National Guard.

This time is a little different for Anderson, personally. This time he's waiting for his son, Staff Sgt. Adam Anderson.

The Andersons deployed together with the brigade in 2004. This time the younger Anderson deployed alone as his father was moved to a staff position at Arkansas National Guard headquarters.

"Being a dad with a son over there," Anderson said, "you think about how you would want someone to treat your son. You start thinking about everything as, 'What's best for the soldier?'Because they are all someone's son or daughter."

Anderson hides the anticipation of his son's return very well, just as he hid his worry in 2004 as he worked in the brigade's plans office at Camp Taji north of Baghdad while his son patrolled in southern Baghdad.

"I'm excited about seeing him," he said. "But I'm really glad everybody's coming back."

A telephone number - (501) 212-8000 - has been set up for families to call to get updates about returning flights. The information is updated daily.

Front Section, Pages 1, 11 on 11/26/2008

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