Home At Last

I am still on active duty officially until 21 December, but until then I am on terminal leave. The Navy is still paying me, but I have accrued 28 vacation days that I get to use up before I separate from active duty again. the only thing that I have to do is report in to my Reserve Center on Monday so they know that I am back and endorse my orders to that effect. Beyond that, I don't know what I will be doing for the next month. I am going to relax for a day or two and then begin working on getting my life restarted.

Almost Home

I have finished everything that needed to be done. All that is left is getting to the airport tomorrow. If I don't miss my flight, I will be in Utah tomorrow afternoon at 1:45 and home maybe by 4:00.

For my sister in San Diego, I am sorry that I won't be here for Thanksgiving, but thank you for the invitation. I hope to see you again soon anyway.

Back in The USA

It took almost 30 hours, but I am back in the USA again. My group mustered at 1830 local time in Kuwait to ride to the Kuwait Airport. The only place that there wasn't a line to get through was boarding the plane itself. There were at least four other lines that we had to get through first. It was a good thing we started so early, because there was just barely enough time to get on board for a 0040 departure. Naturally i had the middle seat of the 2-5-2 configuration on the Boeing 777 for the 14 hour flight to Washington Dulles Airport. oddly, for such a long flight, it seemed to go quite fast, partly because I slept for about seven hours off and on and partly because I watched two movies that I had missed - Wall-E and Get Smart.

After sitting for 14 hours it was a pleasure to stand for the hour or so that it took to get through customs and security again at Dulles. On the flight to LA, I talked to a gentleman in my row for almost three hours, something that I hardly ever do. If you know me, you know that I can't even talk to friends for three hours straight, much less strangers. After LA, I had another short hop to Oxnard and finally to Port Hueneme Naval Station where I will demob. I spent about an hour checking and then found my room at the BOQ and went to sleep. I think I slept for about 10 hours, which for me is a record.

I almost didn't get a room, because my credit card company helpfully closed my account while I was in Iraq, because I wasn't using my card. It is remarkable how difficult it is to get along in the workd today without a credit card. I am going to have a lot of work to do getting all of that retarted when I get back home.

As for getting back home, the NMPS staff is trying to get me through their process and cleared by Friday so they can send me home on Saturday. They have a large group coming through then and don't want me to get stuck here because of the volume. So, it looks like I will be back in Utah sometime on Saturday. I don't have a flight plan yet, but I will let you know. See you soon.

Kuwait Update

All of the business of getting out of theater is done now, except for the actual departure. Life is pretty laid back right now. They encourage casual dress, either civilian attire or PT gear, and nearly every minute is free time. It is called the Warrior Transition Program. For most of us it is a chance to decompress and start practicing being a civilian again. It is also a chance to not be responsible for anything at all for a couple of days before life intrudes again.

I will be leaving tomorrow night very late and will probably be traveling for close to 24 hours before I finally get to my next stop. The first leg alone is 14 hours long, non-stop. Hopefully I will spend a lot of that asleep, but certainly not all of it. I will have about a week in California outprocessing there before returning to Utah, which means I should have less than ten days to go. I am looking forward to seeing everyone.

Back In Kuwait

Yesterday was a long day. I was up at 0330 to get ready and finish packing for a 0540 show time at the airport. We didn't take off until just after 1000. After arriving in Ali Al Salem, we flight joined another for the trip to Camp Arifjan. First we had to load our gear into a truck, then partially unload it, because we had accidentally started loading gear that wasn't ours, then finish loading it. A two hour convoy finally brought us to Camp Arifjan where we had to unload the truck and sort ourselves into our assigned tents.

Today is a day off and most people are using it to sleep. Tomorrow, we start outprocessing. Mine will be fast. I turned in most of my gear and my weapons in Baghdad, so I have very little of that to do. All I have left is my armor. It is fortunate that I left my weapons behind. I gave them a good cleaning, but an armorer would probably have made me do it again before taking them back. Anyone who has weapons here will have to satisfy an armorer before thay are done.

I am not sure what I will be doing today, but looking forward to home. I might in fact be home for Thanksgiving. I think that whoever made my travel arrangements sent me out four days earlier than I was supposed to go.

Coming To A Close

Technically, I am not yet ready to depart, but what is missing is only a little bit of paperwork. All of my gear has been turned in, except what I am required to take to Kuwait and turn in there. I no longer have a weapon. That feels a little weird. My bags are packed, except for what I need to shower and change one more time. All I am waiting for now, is for 1700 to roll around so I can get my show time at the airport. I hope that it won't be in the middle of the night, but most flights south are. What I really hope is that show time will be tomorrow afternoon or later. Someone will have to drive me out to the airport and I don't want to spring this on them with no notice. Also, I have let one item of business slide that I really want to finish up before I leave.

I have noticed a bit of something that could be nostalgia seeping into everything I do. I am starting to do things for the last time. This happens with every chapter of my life that comes to a close, even the ones that were not especially pleasant. Everything I do or experience shapes my life and at the end of each episode, I start asking "what if" and "what next" questions of myself. I am not an adventurous personality, so I don't look forward to change. Even when it is necessary or good, I usually find myself preferring the status quo to the challenge of the new. Someday, maybe I will make a present that doesn't need to change so much.

The End of War

Today at 1100, ninety years have passed since the armistice that ended World War I and 63 years have passed since the armistice that ended World War II. Incredibly, there are still a very small handful of veterans of WWI still living. Actuaries say that the veterans of WWII are dying at a rate of more than 1000 each day. If you know one of them, there is very little time left to hear their story before they follow their buddies.

Veterans Day is an easy day to forget. Usually it means a BBQ and a parade, but it is also usually just another day off work. I wasn't even thinking much about it until I got into the dining facility for lunch. As I was going through the line, I saw that the DFAC crew had set up a POW/MIA table and a KIA memorial. Most soldiers do come home alive and fewer come home dead now than before. Still, the dead and the missing leave a hole in the lives of their family and friends.

My time of service has been thankfully short on excitement. I am glad to be coming home soon.

Happy Birthday Marines

This day in history, 10 November 1775, the second Continental Congress authorized the raising of two battalions of naval infantry to serve as security aboard naval vessels, for boarding and repelling boarders and for assaulting enemy forces on shore from the sea. A lot has changed in the 233 years that have followed. Missions have expanded and changed as naval doctrine has adapted to history, but there are no better warriors or fighters in the world. All of the other services periodically forget and have to relearn that they exist to fight. The Marines never have and never will. If you know a Marine, whether he still wears the uniform or not, wish him a Happy Birthday today.

Why Am I Still Here

Some of my office mates are wondering what I am still doing here at my desk when I am going home in only one week. They all said that they would be anywhere else but here. Truthfully, I am not actually doing much at my desk. My one outstanding task is very nearly complete. Most of my day, even at my desk, is more vacation than work. Tomorrow morning, I will be putting a couple of big boxes in the mail, so I dont have to carry anything home that I wont be using until I get there. I hope that will get me down to just one duffle bag, but probably not. I do have my travel itinerary from Kuwait back to San Diego, but I wont post it just yet. OPSEC is still somewhat important. I just hope that I get my flight out of Baghdad. That is the hardest part of getting home. From Kuwait, it is easy. Iraq to Kuwait is the most uncertain.

On Going Home

It is harder, apparantly, to leave Iraq than it is to get here. Getting here was just one long day. Leaving requires many visits to many offices to collect signatures that say I do not owe anything to anyone, turning in issued gear so I am not charged for it, and finally getting a seat on a flight out. One of the guys I went through training at Fort Dix with is going home early too. He has been jumping through hoops trying to get clearance for the last two weeks. He was supposed to leave last night, but he didn't get a seat. I helped him get to the airport today, where he hopes to get a seat from a no show.

For myself, I am waiting to hear from the people that I am supposed to turn my gear into. They gave us enough grief just to get it in the first place, you would think that they would be eager to get it back, but it has been three days and still no word. I have most of the signatures that I need. I just want to know how much lighter my luggage is going to be before I start mailing stuff home. The more I have to carry to Kuwait, the more I will want to mail.

I should also say that I probably wont make it home for Thanksgiving after all. I might make it to San Diego where I will demobilize, but I wont get back to Utah until almost December, if there are no problems getting a seat on a flight out of Baghdad.

Citizenship

On the subject of citizenship, 186 non-citizen soldiers took the oath of citizenship at the palace. It was good to see so many young men and women who loved their adopted country enough to be here for their swearing in. Non-citizens can join the military, but they work under strict limitations, mostly because non-citizens can't have the security clearances needed for the more interesting jobs. This also limits their opportunities for promotion. A lot of them still enlist and more than a few have died. Death brings automatic posthumous citizenship by the way. I have never met a foreign national in the United States military who didn't love our country and hope to be a citizen some day. It is a sad thing that this privilege is wasted on so many who are born into it and grow up to despise it. Not these though. They know what it is worth, because they have paid for it.

The Most Important Day

Today is the most important day of the regular four year cycle that defines American Politics. The collective actions of American citizens (and some nontrivial number of non-citizens, dead folks and pets) will have an effect that will reach every part of the globe. Most other nations in the world change their governments without elliciting even a yawn, but when the United States sneezes, then world catches cold.

One way or another, everyone will be disappointed. Half of us will have supported the losing side. The other half, will have supported the side that isn't quite what they expected it to be. Whoever the next President is, because he is a human being and because he is a politician, he will not do all that we expect him to do. That is both good and bad. Good, because neither will be as evil as his opposition believes him to be, and bad, because neither will be able to do all that his supporters hope he will do.

On the whole, I believe that Senator McCain will do more good and less harm than Senator Obama. I truly hope that the voice of the people comes down in his favor, but our country is resilient enough to survive even a President Obama. After all, we survived the ecoomic idiocy of the Hoover and Roosevelt years, and the amateur military adventures of the Johnson years, and the general well rounded stupidity of the Carter years. Even the combined efforts of Obama, Reid and Pelosi cannot hurt us beyond what we are able to repair.

Not that I expect great things of a President McCain. At best, I expect his Presidency to be a holding action until something better comes along. At worst, the hole he digs us into will be relatively shallow.

In any case, if you have taken upon yourself the obligations of citizenship, then do your moral duty and vote. The time spent is not wasted, even if your favored candidate and party loses. To declare for one side or another is enough. I will respect even an Obama supporter, wrong as they are in my opinion, who has thoughtfully and deliberately concluded that he is the best candidate. Vote even if you are in a state, like Utah or California, that leans so heavily to one side or the other, that it seems to hardly matter if you vote or not.

It is a well proven human behavior that what costs nothing is valued at nothing. The little effort it takes to vote will give value to the rights and privileges and freedoms that you enjoy. And regardless of who wins, pray for him. Presidents do not have the advantage of being led by revelation like our prophets are, but they still have to do the right thing every time. That is a hard task, even for the wise.