Hello How long does normaly take for a soldier to come home to the states from Iraq by plane?
Hello my husband ( US MARINE) will be coming home from Al Qaim Iraq and I was wondering if anyone knew on average how long that usually takes by plane. We live in NC. Thanks so much.
SEMPER FI

~amber

14hrs
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16-18 hours by commercial airliners, 30-48 by C-130, and about 18-22 hours on a C-141. And about 4.5 hours in a F-18 full speed ahead.

He may have to hitch a ride on 2 of the 4 of these planes. So I would guestimate 24 hours, allow 6 more for layovers and whatnots. Just a little bit faster than Lindburg.

Hope you see him home soon.
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Army 11 years and counting…..Made the trip on all the above (except the F18). (yeah the C130 sucked for those of you who haven't had the priviledge of flying across the pond in one.)

about 21 hours or so…
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What a great flight this is. He'll go to Bahrain from Iraq. From there he'll stop in Sicily. He may stop in Naples. Then he'll stop in Spain. He may stop in the Azores. He will then stop in Virginia (this is where I got off). It will seem like the longest day of his life. Probably about 20 hrs depending on the stops and delays.
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It depends if he has any lay-overs in theatre. Sometimes, they stay at a staging base for a little bit. We have had other services stay here for up to 2 weeks. If he does go to a staging base, it should take 24 hours or so once he leaves that. He should find out more the closer he gets.
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Technical Sergeant, USAF

It's in the range of 14-20 hours but it just depends on the exact itinerary.
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From the time he leaves his duty station, it'll be 3 or four days. He'll fly into Atlanta. When he checks in there, the clock on his leave will start (I'm assuming this is his mid-tour leave).
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Is he flying in to Raleigh or Fayetteville? It took some of my guys about 12-48 hours because he is going to stop breifly in Kuwait. Is this his R&R or just returning home from duty? ( I was just curious). And also if it is R&R he may just fly commerical instead of military. I hope all goes well for you and him. I can't wait to make that flight back to NC myself.
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US Army paratrooper currently serving in Iraq with 82nd Airborne Division from Ft. Bragg, NC!

I would say roughly 2 to 3 days. When my boyfriend left for Iraq in August, it took him roughly 2 1/2 days to get there. He had some stops and layovers that made the flights take forever. And I think when they head back home it may take a few hours longer because of all the equipment that comes back with them. At least in my boyfriend's case it's probably going to take him about 3 days to get home.
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Girlfriend of the USAF….Baltimore, MD

Depends on whether he has a layover in Germany or not; flys from Baghdad or Kuwait.

Anywhere from 48-14 hours. (It's a 6hour flight to Germany and then a 10 hr flight from there to the east coast).
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Hubby's been twice — once from Germany and once from CA.

my guess is any where from 4 days to a week it took my husband about 4 days however we are stationed in germany it is a tough adventure for soldiers to come home planes can only fly during certain times for safety reasons and to get a seat is on a space avaible basis and many soliders are coming and going all the time my poor husband had to wait through many delays and canceled flights to come home

the good thing is that normally they do not take away from leave because of plane issues he will get his two weeks no matter what
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