MEDEVAC III - Ft. Benning

Saturday 28 July
1430

Well, I’m back at Ft. Benning, Georgia. This was my mobilization site, so this is where they sent me back to get processed for further treatment. Getting here was quite an ordeal.

We started off on Thursday morning in Germany. We got up early (0400), cleared the MTD (Medical Transition Detachment), and got our itineraries for travel along with instructions on what to do when we got to our individual destinations. Then we got on a bus for Frankfurt airport, which was about a two hour drive away. They dropped us off at the airport and from there we were on our own.

Frankfurt Airport was bedlam. It was extremely crowded, and the security arrangements made it even more confusing. The airport is the most compartmentalized and restrictive one I have ever seen. They have multiple layers of security, so I was checked several times, and each time I could not return to the places I had been before. Even the individual loading gate waiting areas were fenced off and controlled, so you could not wait there until just before your flight began to load. Since I was there several hours before my flight was scheduled to leave, this made it difficult to find someplace to hang out until my flight. There was no such thing as a quiet corner – throngs of people were everywhere, and the noise level was amazing. Every available seat in every waiting area and restaurant was filled, and people lined most of the walls, sitting on the floor, waiting.

I finally found a place to sit and wait, and spent a couple of hours reading my book. Then I got on my flight. The first leg was to Dulles International in Washington, DC. I’m not sure how long the flight was because I set my watch to Eastern time as soon as I got on the plane, but it was several hours, anyway. The flight itself was fine. I watched a couple of movies, read my book, and slept a little. It was when we got on the ground at Dulles that the real fun began.

First we had to get through U.S. Customs. That involved standing in a long line for a long time, but was easy once we got there. Then we had to go and retrieve our checked bags so we could take *them* through customs and re-check them for the connecting flight. *That* process was a complete nightmare. It was in a long open room with four baggage conveyers (two on each side. At the far end of the room was the customs desk where you gave your bag over to the baggage handlers and went through airport security (TSA this time – I guess the German Bundesgrenzschutz isn’t thorough enough for them).

There were several problems with this setup. First of all there was the typical crowded milling around the conveyors as people searched for their bags, jockeyed for position with carts, and piled bags everywhere. For another, there was no holding area for people to line up to get through security – it was right at the end of the room. So as they got backed up, the line extended right through the middle of the baggage claim area. So as new people were pushing in trying to get to the conveyors where their flight’s bags were coming in, other people who had their bags already were pushing back the other way trying to get to the end of the line for security. And of course other people who either didn’t get it (or didn’t care) would try to cut into the line once they had their bags. The third problem was that several large flights came in all at once. One of the attendants there called it “rush hour” and says it happens at that time quite regularly. And finally, our own flight was *very* slow to get our bags on the conveyor, so we were there quite awhile before our bags started coming out at all.

It really was a complete (insert age-appropriate slang for “messed up situation” here). I thought it was a disgraceful display of poor planning and disorganization, especially for the main airport of our Nation's capitol.

So we struggled and coped and worked together to get our bags and get them on a cart and in line. (I say “we” because there were three of us who were all headed for Ft. Benning. Two of us worked together to help each other. The third guy was a kind of strange, standoffish Major who wouldn’t say more than about three words in a row and only seemed interested in taking care of himself. Sort of surprised me, but maybe he had “issues”. I don’t know, but we eventually just left him behind. Meanwhile the two of us stuck together and got our stuff into line.

We waited and waited as the line crawled up. While we were in line both the boarding time and the departure time of our connecting flight to Atlanta came and went. So we knew that we were in for an interesting evening. When we finally got through security and made it to the United desk (never, *ever* fly United!), it turned out that the only other flight that evening was at 10 PM, and was full. So we could go on standby or else fly out in the morning. It was about 5 PM by this time, and I had been up since 0400 (including setting my watch back six hours to account for the time change). There was no way that I was going to wait around until 2200 for a flight that I *might* get on, with a 2 hour ride to FT. Benning at the end of it.

The other soldier I was with had less experience with missed flights, baggage, hotels, and so forth than I did, so I sort of drove the train. I knew that we were on travel orders and that our overnight stay would be reimbursable when we filed our travel vouchers. So we went to the USO at the airport, had a snack, and checked on local hotels. It turned out they had a service member’s discount on several hotels. I chose the Hyatt as the most likely to be the best of the bunch, and we made reservations and took the shuttle there. We checked in and went to our rooms having arranged to meet in the morning.

My room turned out to be *very* nice. It was a king-sized mini-suite with a little sitting room area. I had a shower, ordered room service, and relaxed. It was wonderful finally to have some peace, quiet, and privacy. I fell asleep at about 9:30 PM and slept quite soundly until morning.

I got up early, packed, and met my partner downstairs. I picked up a Wall Street Journal, had a muffin and a cup of coffee, and we caught the airport shuttle. After a few missteps getting documents that TSA would recognize as boarding passes, we made it through security and waited for our flight. It was a small commuter jet, but the flight was not bad. Picking up our checked baggage from the night before in Atlanta was uneventful (thank goodness).

My traveling companion’s mother met us at the airport with his pickup truck and we drove to Ft. Benning. It was my good fortune that he is from the area and knew his way around, so we didn’t have to mess around with finding our way. We got to Martin Army Community Hospital about 1230 and checked in at the Emergency Room as directed. Then it was back to “hurry up and wait”

By the time people were back from lunch and they located the MOD (Medical Officer of the Day) to come see us, it was well after 1500. I had him deal with the other guy first because a) he was lower ranking and that’s what you do – take care of people and b) his mother was waiting to either take him home or drive his truck back, whichever. So by the time it was my turn it was nearly 1600.

You can imagine that we didn’t get much done at 1600 on a Friday. I have an appointment Tuesday morning to see a doctor. There is a whole process to go through, no shortcuts, and they don’t work weekends. The particular surgeon is busy all day Monday and Tuesday is the first opening. So there I was. Between now and then I would be on my own with nothing to do.

Well, not quite *nothing*. First I had to get processed in to the whatever-three- letter-acronym-they-have-for-this-place-now – it used to be MRC (Medical Retention Center) and that’s what’s on all the signs, but now I think they said it’s called the WTU (Warrior Transition Unit). If I get time I’ll have to check on that with the ACD (Acronym Control Detachment). :-)

Somebody picked me up and took me over there, and I got checked in, sort of. They did get me a room (actually a whole house) and they gave me some basic information, and then there I was. I commented that it seemed odd that they didn’t have some kind of orientation sheet or packet so I could at least have some information about Ft. Benning. They told me I’d get that on Monday when I processed in. I suggested that it might be appropriate to give me one now, since I was going to be on my own all weekend, and so they went over and got me one. Sad to say, most of them seemed pretty intent on getting out for the weekend. I guess they figured once they had me accounted for and under a roof with a set of linens, that was enough until Monday.

My quarters are interesting. Apparently the BOQ (Bachelor Officers Quarters) was condemned and the new ones aren’t ready yet. So I am being housed in a three-bedroom row house which I believe used to be family housing at one time. Normally they put three people in each of these (senior NCOs or junior officers), but their guidance is that FGOs (Field Grade Officers, i.e. me) do not share quarters with anyone, so I get a whole house to myself. RHIP, at least sometimes.

So I signed for this house. Table, chairs, couch, bed, dresser, nightstand, stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and phone. But that’s it. No rugs, decorations, pots, plans, utensils, or anything at all. It’s completely empty and bare. Very strange. It’s a good thing that I packed my own towels!

I went to the PX and bought some cereal and milk as well as some tea (Tazo Chai). Fortunately I thought to bring my immersion heater and thermal mug so I can heat water. I already had a plastic spoon, and I bought one of those individual servings of cereal so I could keep the container and use it as a bowl. Had a pizza for dinner (just didn’t feel like a bus ride to the mess hall), and then came back to my quarters to relax for the evening.

So that’s it. Here I am, awaiting my appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday to find out what happens next.

On Monday I plan to see if I can find a reserve unit here someplace and get my personnel file updated. One of the great contributors to my stress level while preparing to leave Kuwait was the fact that I have a promotion board coming up, and the deadline for document submission is 27 August. I thought I had time to deal with it, but suddenly I didn’t. I spent a couple of days trying pretty hard to get it updated there, but here just wasn’t sufficient time so I decided to wait and try to do it here if I had some down time during this process. Now that I do, that is my plan. Between now and Monday, I plan to spend a lot of time at the internet café. I’ll rent a movie or two, read my book, and just relax.

Right now it’s well past lunch time, but I can’t leave just yet. I am walking around the house in civilian clothes and a wet beret. I left my beret behind when I deployed (we don’t wear them in theater), so I had to draw a new one since that is the uniform in CONUS. You can’t wear them right out of the package – they take some preparation. First of all you have get a smaller size that *barely* fits. Then you put on the rank insignia, take out the little tie band they have in it, put it on and take a hot shower in it, getting it thoroughly soaked. Then you mold it to your head and walk around until it’s dry. After that you have to shave off the fuzz. Then you are ready to wear the Army’s latest totally useless headgear. I have no idea why they make us walk around with a sponge on our head, but my nephew once told me that it “looks cool” so maybe that’s justification enough. :-)

Music: Nena – Willst Du Mit Mir Gehn
Mood: Resigned to three days of stasis