Travel

50 hrs
Three countries
Three continents

I will say this, 747s are BIG.

They take about an hour or more to load or unload...

We left Ft. Lewis, WA on the evening of 24 Jan. We arrived at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Sunday morning. We deplaned and went into the Tax-free zone and waited for the cleaning and refueling. Sunday evening, we re-plane and wait...

And wait...

We move and stop...

Deplane, buses take us into Frankfurt proper where we stay at a very nice hotel...

Monday morning, flight canceled, rescheduled for Monday PM...rumours abound...'No flights til Thursday' etc.

Monday evening - late, we board buses and move back to the plane, reboard and take off...bound for Kyrgyzstan.

Arrive at Manas AFB Tuesday morning...inprocess into theater...and wait.

Flights to Bagram announced...and cancelled

Bagram closed due to a C-17 landing without landing gear (this tends to be bad for the runway).

Bagram and Manas closed due to weather...

9 days pass.

We are told to manifest (prepare for flight) at 0045 (1245AM)...we show and wait...
At 5 we are told that the plane we are supposed to be on never left Bagram and the flight is cancelled...

No sleep...

Next night (Day 10 of our Kyrgyz exile) we do it again...but lo and behold the plane shows and we fly...arrive in Bagram around 1 AM, find our tents about 3...have to be up and at briefings at 7....briefings last until around 2300 (11PM)...bed down.

Next morning, more briefings...afternoon off (whew...no nap though)...evening briefings...

3AM show time for flight to Gardez.

We take two CH-47 Chinook helicopters...we run through 4 of 6 stops when one of them springs a minor leak....cram everyone on the other bird and finally!!! make it to Gardez.

And that is where I am, and where it looks as though I shall stay for the foreseeable future. Hope to have more news (and pictures) soon.

God bless,

Mik

The story so far...

When I returned home from Afghanistan before my unit had changed. 5th Bn-112th Armor was gone. My old unit, Alpha Company in Huntsville, TX would now be Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) 72nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion (BSTB). Essentially what that meant, was that we would have command and control of all the special (read low-density) troops that would normally be attached to the Brigade from the old Division Support Command (DISCOM). I had a couple of choices as to what I could do, because remaining a tanker was not one of them.

I could return to my roots as an infantryman (not happening—too old for that), I could become a mechanic, become an MP or find a new home. None of those were particularly appetizing, but I knew most of the people in Huntsville and wanted to stay. So I chose MP (because they tempted me with a lil mini-tank called the Armored Security Vehicle (ASV).

Early last year we were down at the Brigade headquarters in Houston undergoing an SRC. An SRC is a way to verify that you have all the necessary paperwork to be mobilized. During this SRC, there was a small table with two personnel at it. They were asking everyone if they would be interested in a career in Military Intelligence. I thought, sure, why not, they might even send me to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA.

Time passes…no word from the MI people.

Early May, I get word, on a Monday, that I need to be in Austin on Tuesday for a Battalion inprocessing. I go…I find a couple of other guys from Huntsville there as well. I get offered a job that requires DLI…awesome…one catch, gotta deploy to Afghanistan first.

And, oh, by the way, we don’t know when your school will be to get you your new MOS…we are working on it.

I find out, two days before I have to be at the school…

School takes me from June to October…it is—interesting, and kinda fun…
After school, back to Austin, more paperwork, then we start PMT (pre-mobilization training). That takes us from end of October to the end of December. The Army graciously allows me to spend Thanksgiving with my family and then it is off to gloomy Ft. Lewis.

Training for mobilization is at once, excruciatingly boring and occasionally useful. We get 10 days at home over Christmas (called in the Army, Exodus).
January, back to Ft. Lewis, more training…including two weeks in the field that turn out to be extremely useful as well as fairly miserable (Ft. Lewis being rather chilly and damp).

Then, BIG NEWS, Cinnamon is going into labor (well, at least her water broke)…after dithering for 7 hours, they decide that I can go home…but I have to be back the next day. Whilst in the air, winging for home, Snookums is born, 9lbs 15oz…a big boy. (This is the second birth I have missed…coincidentally I was at Ft. Lewis when I missed Gus’ birth….heh. Have I mentioned that I don’t particularly like Ft. Lewis?)

The day after I get back to Lewis, it is time to leave…but that is for another story…maybe tomorrow?

God bless,

Mik

Travel and transient...

15 days in travel status, 4 countries, 3 continents...
19 days total transient status (continuing)...

I am finally at my destination (Gardez, Afghanistan) but no permanent quarters yet...

Will post a description of my travels and (hopefully) some pictures soon...

God bless,

Mik