Major Brown and the Case of the Missing Luggage

It was a dark and stormy night...

As you read in my last entry I left on Leave without my bag. I returned to Kuwait to look for my one Army green duffle bag and the luggage of 51 other soldiers.

Upon my return to Camp Doha, Kuwait, I found the representative for KBR who said that he would find our belongings. As soon as I saw the look on his face it was clear to me that since the last time he saw me was the last time anyone bothered to look for the luggage.

How hard is to loose a military pallet of luggage? Who is responsible? Where is our stuff? These questions were asked all day long upon our return to Camp Doha. We received answers - the Army didn't know there was a missing pallet of luggage so then the United States Air Force must have lost the pallet but then KBR was responsible to track the pallet and move it so your stuff is in Baghdad or maybe your stuff is in one of two Kuwaiti airports or your stuff was opened and returned to your home of record.

Had anyone actually seen the luggage? No.

Because no one took ownership of the problem, no one worked very hard to help us.

We made a fateful decision - we're decided we were not going anywhere, especially not back to our units, until someone looked into the problem. Evidently that triggered something. Suddenly the wheels started to move.

A flurry of phone calls were made. Someone called the missing luggage facility at Kuwait City International Airport (KCI). Finally someone there said that they had some individual pieces of luggage. It matched the names of some of the soldiers. The person at KCI read the names of the pieces of luggage that he did have. My name was not on the list. Still - there were so many other pieces of luggage there that mine HAD to be there. Right?

To get out to KCI we had to take a shuttle bus. No one at Camp Doha did anything special to assist us other than showing us where to catch the bus. The bus ride is a 40 minute trip out to KCI. Once there we met the civilian (not KBR) who had already laid the stuff out. Sure enough, there it was, 21 days later. Most of it was there - except mine.

Maybe mine was in the unidentified luggage building. I was led to a connex that once opened held over one hundred duffle bags. In a dark connex full of dozens and dozens of similar looking bags I finally found my duffle bag. I wave of relief swept over me.

What was in the bag? Presents for my family including a very special one for my dad - a United States flag that I bought and flew in the city of Baghdad.

When we returned to Camp Doha we left very specific instructions with everyone associated with the luggage on where to find it for any of the other soldiers who come back after us.

Case closed.

Lessons learned:
1. Clearly mark your luggage in three or four different places - including inside of it
2. Do not put anything of monetary of personal value in luggage you are not willing to see ever again
3. When No-One is responsible for fixing a problem then No-One will take care of it
4. Creating a stink works - had we left Kuwait we would have never seen our belongings again
5. The only help you get is the help you give yourself


I am back on the FOB - with all my luggage. I arrived safely this morning. It is three days before the elections. I will keep you posted as a witness to this historic event.