CENTCOM C-40, The Persian Gulf – Finally after seven days traveling halfway around the world, myself and CNN cameraman Doug Schantz are on the way home, traveling military style with one of the country's most senior commanders, Admiral William Fallon, head of the U.S. Central Command.

The C-40 is a military VIP version of the Boeing 737. Packed with communications gear and high speed Internet at every seat - including mine - Fallon can stay in touch 24/7 and I can file for CNN.com.

Of course, staying in touch is vital for Fallon. As head of Central Command he has top responsibilities for Iraq, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, Pakistan - and yes, he keeps a very close eye on Iran.

Fallon invited CNN to travel exclusively with him on this trip that would take him to Iraq and several Persian Gulf nations. Like many CNN correspondents I have made several trips to Iraq and Afghanistan - its always half adventure and three-quarters trying to stay awake on the grueling 20-hour days. As I write, poor Doug is collapsed in the next seat. He's been shooting our pieces, editing them, feeding them into CNN via satellite and hauling about 250 pounds of gear everyday.

As for adventure, it started on our first day at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, Fallon's headquarters and also the headquarters for Special Operations Command, known as SOCOM. SOCOM agreed to let us have an up-close and personal look at a new assault rifle they are about to field with some of the nation's most secretive military commando units. Yup, even I test fired it - under the strict supervision of a couple of Army Rangers.

We took off and flew first to Shannon Airport, Ireland for an overnight refueling stop - where the war awaited us. These days, in the middle of the night Shannon airport is full of young American troops coming and going from the war zone. You don't have to ask them in which direction they are headed, you just look at those young faces and know.

Next stop Qatar, and our first conversation with local military leaders. We met with the Qatari chief of staff General Hamad bin Ali Al Attyah at his desert home where he raises beautiful hunting falcons. We got a unique look at these birds of prey and than sat down to lunch of boiled camel, lamb and heaps of rice and vegetables. But the talk turned to Iran, and our Qatari hosts made it clear Iran is a great concern to them.

We would hear the same worries in Oman, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. But all of these small Gulf nations maintain extensive commercial and economic ties with Iran; the Qataris, for example, share an offshore gas field. For them, Iran is a neighbor; worrisome, but nobody in the Gulf wants war and there is an effort to get along.

As always when you land in Iraq everyone on board goes quiet. We were on a C-17 transport plane and the pilot executed several swift manuvers just before touching down to avoid any prospect of a being hit by missiles, rockets or gunfire. What I didn't know is that a day later that is exactly what we would be worried about.

Our first stop was Balad, a giant airfield and U.S. base about 50 miles north of Baghdad. I was met by three guys who I can only say are "members of the coalition." They showed me the latest videos and documents captured from the insurgency. We spent the night in Baghdad at a secure military facility. I have spent many nights in this building since 2003. This time there was improved Internet access. It was nice for us visitors, but it's absolutely vital for the troops, allowing them to stay in touch with family and friends back home.

The next day we headed to Falluja. For months it was a dreaded place: Who can forget the horrifying pictures of U.S. contractors' bodies hanging from the bridge, the months and months of al Qaeda terror and the two massive battles the U.S. fought to retake the town?

I was truly amazed to be walking these streets with Fallon. The marketplace was crowded and the people were friendly. This IS a success story of the US troop surge. But Fallon is looking beyond the security: He wants to know why there is only power three hours a day, why there are few jobs and what is being done to really get the city back on its feet. With the security picture finally improving, the problem now is improving the daily lives of Iraqis so peace can be maintained.

Finally we got back on the V-22 tilt rotor aircraft we were riding around on. We were flying back to Baghdad with everyone is nodding off when suddenly we realized we were circling the capital. The pilot had been denied permission to land as the Green Zone was under rocket attack. Up to a dozen rounds had already hit, and everyone at the place where we stayed the night before was waiting it out.

We were now running low on fuel and it was getting dark, so we flew back to the Marine Corps base at Falluja and stopped at the chow hall for the first meal of the day. But Fallon wanted to get back to Baghdad. He had a key meeting that night with General David Petraeus, the top commander inside Iraq, to discuss strategy, including timetables for withdrawing more troops.

But dust storms closing in on Baghdad, all aircraft were now grounded, forcing us to make a critical decision. Our entire traveling party were suited up with helmets and armored vests for a drive through the night across areas that were once the heartland of the insurgency.

There's an expression everyone uses in moments like this: "Welcome to Iraq!" It roughly translates to "Well... what are you gonna do?" Little did I know that would be the watchword for the next couple of hours. About an hour into the convoy ride we came to a halt. Iraqi forces had suddenly established a checkpoint on the road and we could not pass. So our convoy carrying the four-star commander is now at a dead stop, at night, not certain how to proceed. This is what you call bad juju. Convoys in Iraq don't stop, they keep moving. Stopping means you are vulnerable to attack; stopping can mean deadly trouble.

The lead vehicle called for everyone to turn off their lights. We were trying not to be seen. Finally the interpreter traveling with us went up to the Iraqis to ask for directions to an alternate route so we could get moving again. Nobody said it, but everyone is thinking the same thing, remembering the tragedy of Jessica Lynch's convoy in the early days of the war. They took a wrong turn and disaster struck.

At this point, Admiral Fallon was making it clear he wass less than happy. Not because he feared for his safety: This man in his sixties is committed to taking the same risks as the young troops in the field. But he wanted to know how troops get on roads and don't have immediate plans for alternatives at hand when things like this happen. Stopping on the roads at night is the last option for a military convoy, not the first.

We eventually made it, safe but exhausted back to Baghdad.

Our incident seemed to underscore the irony of success in Iraq. The checkpoint had been put up by Iraqi security forces to keep insurgents off the main routes into Baghdad. The Marines driving us had been in the country for just a few weeks and, because of improved security conditions, hadn't seen combat yet, so were frankly a bit unsure as to what to do when confronted with the unexpected.

But that's Iraq these days - and there's another expression out there which is my favorite: "Semper gumby," which of course in military-ese means "always flexible." And these days that's what it takes to cover the war, even when it means filing from an Internet connection on an airplane 40,000 feet above... wait, lemme go ask the navigator where we are right now... okay I'm back... and we are now... flying back above northern Iraq on our way into Turkish airspace, on our way back to a refueling stop in Shannon where I know we again will see young troops coming and going from this war.

And Doug, utterly exhausted, is still sound asleep. I won't wake him up.