The great adventure resumes
I enjoyed a wonderful visit home last weekend and returned to Fort Benning rejuvenated and ready to tackle getting on with my journey. Yet another group of deploying people had arrived over the weekend and when my first sergeant noticed I was still there, he got involved in getting me on my way. I was on a plane by by 4:30 that evening, headed to Tampa, FL, and MacDill Air Force Base, home of United States Central Command.
I want to describe what was entailed in making this short trip, lest you miss the significance of going anywhere now that I'm saddled with my deployment gear, which includes a sleeping bag, bag carrier, bag cover, various types of boots, flack vest, helmut, mosquito netting, long underwear, four sets of uniforms, wet weather gear, chemcial mask and suit, cold weather gear, and various and sundry other equipment. Then there's my personal cloths and comfort items -- enough for 6-12 months. For those of you who know me, you know I'm not a large person, but I was faced with handling four full duffel bags which, according to the scale at the airport, tipped the scales are around 250 pounds.
With the help of a fellow CRC-er, I loaded the bags from my room at the CRC into a rental car and headed to the Columbua airport. (Normally folks are taken there by van, but I had a rental and was allowed to drive myself.) Upon arrival at the airport, there was no Skycap or luggage cart to be found (the Columbus Airport is very small). So one by one I lugged the four duffel bags to the airline counter, followed by two carry-ons that were also a bit weighty.
After checking in I then had to move all four bags about 10 feet over to the TSA counter. Again, one by one I began lugging them to security. A sympathetic man in line stepped up to help me. By then I was already drenched with sweat.
Upon arrival at Tampa's airport I grabbed an unwitting Skycap to pull the bags off the baggage claim conveyor, move them to the taxi stand and load them into a taxi. It was well worth the tip! I was joined by a sergeant whom also had a number of duffles and a military ruck sack, or large back pack.
Unfortunately, cabs are not allowed onto MacDill and we were deposited at the visitor center outside the gate. That meant unloading my bags again. The sergeant and I attacked the task with gusto, with no help from the taxi driver took one look at our mountain of bags and would not lift a finger to help. He also didn't seem to appreciate the small tip he got as a result.!
One phone call to base operations produced a van to shuttle us to the MacDill Inn -- a very nice hotel-style temporary lodging facility on post. That meant loading the duffel bags into another van and unloading them at the MacDill Inn.
By then it was around 9 p.m. and I must admit that exhaustion was beginning to set in. The sergeant with me was surprisingly chipper and his enthusiasm for going to the middle east to do his job was a shot in the arm. But that didn't last long when I found that my room was in a separate building, across the street, on the second floor, and there was no elevator! So guess what? Yup! I had to carry four duffel bags and two rather heavy carry-ons up a flight of steps to my room. This time I was on my own as the sergeant was still checking in at the front desk and had his own stuff to schlep.
I literally fell onto my bed hoping not to suffer a coronary. The room, however, was wonderful and I quickly became very comfortable as I settled in for the evening. I am not looking forward to retracing these steps in a couple of days when I leave here!
This morning I was scooped up by a sharp Navy public affairs specialist and taken to CENTCOM's headquarters to meet the public affairs staff with whom I'll work closely over the coming year. The headquarters building is a fortress-looking place, surrounded by a sea of temporary office trailers and layers of security. Inside it is a maze of hallways and resembles an ant farm where hundreds of people from not only the US military, but also our coalition friends, work 24 hours a day running operations in CENTCOM's areas overseas. These include the middle east, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and a few other places.
A small ditch or canal runs through the groups of buildings and I noticed sea turtles slowly swimming through the grasses along the edges, looking for food. The big, slow turtles were such a contrast to all the work going on around them. I'm sure it's sometimes difficult to stop and admire the beauty in and around MacDill when you are in the midst of such serious work.
I don't know the history of how the operations have grown, but the close-in parking lots have become extended office space with hundreds of trailers in neat rows, baking in the Florida sun. According to the young airman accompanying me, the parking lots have moved further and further away from the building as operations have expanded. As hundreds of people come to work and the close-in spots fill up, the unlucky find themselves parking in far away lots affectionately known at "Parkistan." (I had to chuckle at the geographic reference to the far away parking lots, especially considering CENTCOM's areas of operations. I hope you also find it funny, but perhaps you have to be here.)
The urgency with which the people here work was immediately obvious to me, and all I met today were very professional. Inprocessing to CENTCOM went quickly, with only a few things to follow up on tomorrow. The largest part of my immediate job will be learning who's who, what the priorities are, and how things work.
I had an office call early on with the director of public affairs and his media relations officer. It was a frank discussion of the responsibilities I will face in Afghanistan. It didn't take long for reality to hit me. I'm going to be there for six months to a year, several significant events are coming up including the country's first presidential election, and I will be working closely with the interim government, the new government when it is installed by the people, US State Department people, several task forces and a host of others. Combine that with dealing with hundreds of national and international media, and scads of dignitaries, and you should begin to see a picture of what I'm facing. I will oversee a large staff of officers and specialists who will work with and/or for me to keep communications flowing. Needless to say, I will be busy.
Tonight I sat on a bench overlooking Tampa's bay taking time to appreciate where I am and trying to capture a few more hours of relaxation before heading overseas. A small evening storm was passing over the bay and a lone fish jumped and splashed about. I chatted for a few minutes on my cell phone with a longtime mentor of mine, already beginning to look for advice on how to approach the challenges facing me. I wish I could stay here just a little longer than planned.
I want to describe what was entailed in making this short trip, lest you miss the significance of going anywhere now that I'm saddled with my deployment gear, which includes a sleeping bag, bag carrier, bag cover, various types of boots, flack vest, helmut, mosquito netting, long underwear, four sets of uniforms, wet weather gear, chemcial mask and suit, cold weather gear, and various and sundry other equipment. Then there's my personal cloths and comfort items -- enough for 6-12 months. For those of you who know me, you know I'm not a large person, but I was faced with handling four full duffel bags which, according to the scale at the airport, tipped the scales are around 250 pounds.
With the help of a fellow CRC-er, I loaded the bags from my room at the CRC into a rental car and headed to the Columbua airport. (Normally folks are taken there by van, but I had a rental and was allowed to drive myself.) Upon arrival at the airport, there was no Skycap or luggage cart to be found (the Columbus Airport is very small). So one by one I lugged the four duffel bags to the airline counter, followed by two carry-ons that were also a bit weighty.
After checking in I then had to move all four bags about 10 feet over to the TSA counter. Again, one by one I began lugging them to security. A sympathetic man in line stepped up to help me. By then I was already drenched with sweat.
Upon arrival at Tampa's airport I grabbed an unwitting Skycap to pull the bags off the baggage claim conveyor, move them to the taxi stand and load them into a taxi. It was well worth the tip! I was joined by a sergeant whom also had a number of duffles and a military ruck sack, or large back pack.
Unfortunately, cabs are not allowed onto MacDill and we were deposited at the visitor center outside the gate. That meant unloading my bags again. The sergeant and I attacked the task with gusto, with no help from the taxi driver took one look at our mountain of bags and would not lift a finger to help. He also didn't seem to appreciate the small tip he got as a result.!
One phone call to base operations produced a van to shuttle us to the MacDill Inn -- a very nice hotel-style temporary lodging facility on post. That meant loading the duffel bags into another van and unloading them at the MacDill Inn.
By then it was around 9 p.m. and I must admit that exhaustion was beginning to set in. The sergeant with me was surprisingly chipper and his enthusiasm for going to the middle east to do his job was a shot in the arm. But that didn't last long when I found that my room was in a separate building, across the street, on the second floor, and there was no elevator! So guess what? Yup! I had to carry four duffel bags and two rather heavy carry-ons up a flight of steps to my room. This time I was on my own as the sergeant was still checking in at the front desk and had his own stuff to schlep.
I literally fell onto my bed hoping not to suffer a coronary. The room, however, was wonderful and I quickly became very comfortable as I settled in for the evening. I am not looking forward to retracing these steps in a couple of days when I leave here!
This morning I was scooped up by a sharp Navy public affairs specialist and taken to CENTCOM's headquarters to meet the public affairs staff with whom I'll work closely over the coming year. The headquarters building is a fortress-looking place, surrounded by a sea of temporary office trailers and layers of security. Inside it is a maze of hallways and resembles an ant farm where hundreds of people from not only the US military, but also our coalition friends, work 24 hours a day running operations in CENTCOM's areas overseas. These include the middle east, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and a few other places.
A small ditch or canal runs through the groups of buildings and I noticed sea turtles slowly swimming through the grasses along the edges, looking for food. The big, slow turtles were such a contrast to all the work going on around them. I'm sure it's sometimes difficult to stop and admire the beauty in and around MacDill when you are in the midst of such serious work.
I don't know the history of how the operations have grown, but the close-in parking lots have become extended office space with hundreds of trailers in neat rows, baking in the Florida sun. According to the young airman accompanying me, the parking lots have moved further and further away from the building as operations have expanded. As hundreds of people come to work and the close-in spots fill up, the unlucky find themselves parking in far away lots affectionately known at "Parkistan." (I had to chuckle at the geographic reference to the far away parking lots, especially considering CENTCOM's areas of operations. I hope you also find it funny, but perhaps you have to be here.)
The urgency with which the people here work was immediately obvious to me, and all I met today were very professional. Inprocessing to CENTCOM went quickly, with only a few things to follow up on tomorrow. The largest part of my immediate job will be learning who's who, what the priorities are, and how things work.
I had an office call early on with the director of public affairs and his media relations officer. It was a frank discussion of the responsibilities I will face in Afghanistan. It didn't take long for reality to hit me. I'm going to be there for six months to a year, several significant events are coming up including the country's first presidential election, and I will be working closely with the interim government, the new government when it is installed by the people, US State Department people, several task forces and a host of others. Combine that with dealing with hundreds of national and international media, and scads of dignitaries, and you should begin to see a picture of what I'm facing. I will oversee a large staff of officers and specialists who will work with and/or for me to keep communications flowing. Needless to say, I will be busy.
Tonight I sat on a bench overlooking Tampa's bay taking time to appreciate where I am and trying to capture a few more hours of relaxation before heading overseas. A small evening storm was passing over the bay and a lone fish jumped and splashed about. I chatted for a few minutes on my cell phone with a longtime mentor of mine, already beginning to look for advice on how to approach the challenges facing me. I wish I could stay here just a little longer than planned.
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