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In April 2006 I was deployed to Al-Udeid in Qatar for a month. Normally for RAF Chaplains the deployment is longer, but I was just filling in for a little gap in the usual deployment schedule.

Now, all of what you will read here is available publicly, so I’m not contravening any security bits and pieces ! You can probably Google Al-Udeid and you will be able to see everything that’s there as well from space ! Al-Udeid is a huge US Air Force Base from where the Coalition Forces manage the air resources for both Iraq and Afghanistan. The British air contingent is led by an Air Commodore (in my time there it was the man who had been Station Commander when I was in Northern Ireland at Aldergrove).

Al-Udeid has a huge US Air Force presence, and it is really an American base with a British contingent, so life is by and large lived according to American rules and way of life. Even the 'no speedos only baggies' rule for the swimming pool. But as a place to be it is very benign and the living conditions and facilities that are available are good.

You can find out about other deployments in the Gulf in 2003 and Basrah in 2007 by going to Blogs. The Blogs pages are locked and you will need a username and password in order to access them. Access is restricted to trusted family, friends and colleagues. During my time there I had to come home because of the death of my sister, but returned for a while after the funeral.