Orders

Thursday 7 August 2008
1815

Finally! My orders arrived overnight and were waiting in my email when I woke up this morning. They could not have been any later and still been on time. I am now assigned to a different UIC (Unit Identification Code) within USARCENT. An interesting thing about this set of orders is that instead of being deployed in support of OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) I am deployed in support of OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom, i.e. Afghanistan). I am still far in the rear away from the actual combat, but I think it’s interesting that I’m now aligned under the effort in Afghanistan.

Today was a flurry of last-minute activity. I was pared down to the amount of stuff I can carry, plus a couple of last-minute boxes to mail. One of these contained a bunch of books for my younger daughter to read, plus a t-shirt I had forgotten I’d bought, but found when cleaning out my room. Since it happened to be her size, she got it! The other box was a bunch of cleaning stuff that I needed to use to clean my room. I added up the cost and it was cheaper to pay the $7.50 to mail it to Qatar than to toss it all and buy replacement stuff.

So I final-packed *everything*, then cleaned the room to prepare to clear. Once that was done I went and mailed the boxes. After lunch I cleared housing and put all my stuff in the truck, then cleared Battalion HQ, closed out my email accounts, turned in my FMO keys and access badge and signed out. I am officially “not here” – I am a transient in travel status.

Someone in NG/ARA advised me to go to Finance with a copy of my orders, and I am glad I took their advice. Because my orders were so late, and I was scheduled to demobilize, they had already stopped a lot of my pay. Under normal circumstances my new orders would have been routed to them in time to prevent this. By hand carrying my new orders to them today (the day my current mobilization orders ended), I was able to prevent the final cutoff and ensure that at least my base pay will continue. A lot of the allowances and special incentive pay will have to catch up with me later, because it was too late to reverse the processes that had stopped them. But at least I will get a paycheck of some kind on 15 August – my concern was that I would get nothing. Of course, this being the Army, that is still possible. But I’ve done what I could.

After that I went and signed into the transient barracks, got assigned a bunk in an open bay, and drew linen from supply (pillow, 1 each; pillowcase, 1 each; sheets, 2 each; blanket, wool, olive green, 1 each). The setup is very similar to the barracks we stayed in during Annual Training in Korea. In fact, it’s very similar to any Army barracks anyplace (funny how that works!). I’m now sitting on my bed since there are no chairs or tables in this bay. There are some out in the common areas, and I may go there later, but this is OK for now.

Tomorrow I’ll wake up, turn in linen, sign out, and catch the early bus to Ali Al Salem Air Base. From there I’ll go through the process to get on a plane to Qatar, where I hope someone from my new command will meet me and show me where to go. I wasn’t able to contact anyone there today – they waited until my orders came to assign anyone to contact me, but of course by then it was too late because I was so busy clearing. I did get a message from someone and I’ll try to call them tomorrow from Ali. There ought to be plenty of down time there for me to call and get in contact with someone.

There is no way to know when I will get a flight. I will be on standby with a low priority. R&R is first, then emergency leave, then TDY, and finally redeploying soldiers (which is what I am). So if the flights are crowded I could be at Ali for a week or more just waiting.

I plan to just kind of relax tonight and try to get some sleep, since it is likely to be an exhausting few days. Once I get to Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, I will want to turn around and leave as soon as possible, so I can get home. At least then I’ll be on leave and should have a higher priority for a flight. With some luck on catching flights I may yet make it home by early next week!

Mood: Ready to go
Music: Mozart: Le Nozze de Figaro

Life at Camp Arifjan III

Wednesday 6 August 2008
2200

When I first got here I took a picture of this palm plant outside the barracks and wrote a posting I called “Life at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait”. This plant was the only growing thing within about a quarter mile of the building. My mother said it looked like the scrawny little Charlie Brown Christmas tree:


Life at Camp Arifjan #1b
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

Later I did find a few dried-up little weeds here and there, but by and large this palm plant remained the only living thing anywhere nearby. It grew steadily, watered by a constant drip from the nearby fire sprinkler drain pipe.

I took another picture a year later and posted that, calling it “Life at Arifjan - One Year Later”:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/58512268@N00/1671790765/
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

Now that it’s time for me to leave, I thought I’d take one last photo. So here is “Life at Camp Arifjan III”:


080806 Life at Arifjan III
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

Maybe when I come back someday, it will actually be a palm tree with a trunk!

Speaking of life at Camp Arifjan, I had an interesting thing happen today. I got an official Department of the Army award for my service here. I was awarded an MSM (Meritorious Service Medal), which is a very nice award to receive.


MSM
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

Previously my highest DA award had been an ARCOM (Army Commendation Medal). So I appreciate this award. But the way that it reached me was kind of anticlimactic.

I was told to stand by on Saturday morning for the presentation by the DCG, but then it didn't happen. So they said to come back on Monday morning, but then it didn't happen again. They then said to come back Tuesday, but that was a no-go so I was told to stand by for today. But late yesterday I got an email saying to forget it. It seems that everyone was too busy to bother with a formal presentation, or it got lost in the shuffle, or something. So today the STB Executive Officer, who had tried like heck to get someone in the chain of command to make a formal presentation of this award in a suitable setting, just handed it to me across his desk rather apologetically, disgusted with the politics of the command group staff.

Now, this is an official DA award that goes in my permanent record and really means something for promotions, etc. I think it's kind of ironic that the various coins I've been receiving from people were all handed to me in person, eyeball to eyeball, with a handshake and warm expressions of appreciation. But the "real" award was treated as a mere afterthought, not important enough to take a few minutes to present.

Oh well, I don't really mind much - as I said in my earlier post, it's the little heartfelt tokens of appreciation from people who know me and my work that mean the most anyway. But the goat-rope the XO went through trying to get this award formally presented to me is one more example of "Life at Camp Arifjan".

I’m still waiting for orders, although now they say that “the packet has been approved, and we should have orders REAL soon”. Whatever that means.

Mood: Impatient to leave
Music: Soundtrack from “Henry V”

More Surprise Recognition

Monday 4 August 2008
2200

I saw a saying posted on someone’s workstation the other day that said “Doing a good job around here is like wetting your pants in a dark suit – you get a warm feeling but nobody notices.” There are certainly times when it has felt like that, but I guess some people have noticed after all.

Today was the DPW Installation Planning Board (IPB), a biweekly session where we go stand in front of a facilities engineering board and make presentations to get construction projects approved. This will be the last session I attend, and I took my NCOIC to introduce him because he’ll be going from now on. Before we started discussing our proposed project, the Navy Captain (equivalent to an Army Colonel) in charge of the board got up and congratulated me on a job well done and presented me with a Seabee coin.

The Seabees are the Navy’s equivalent of the Army Corps of Engineers. “Seabee” comes from the initials “CB”, from the WWII Construction Battalions. (Think John Wayne and “The Fighting Seabees”)


Seabee Coin Obverse
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

Seabee Coin Reverse
Originally uploaded by hkp7fan.

This coin is particularly meaningful for me, because this Captain is the senior officer in charge of all facilities engineering in ASG Kuwait (Area Support Group Kuwait), so he knows what is going on with all the facilities in the AOR. He understands what we’ve accomplished and what it took to get here. In fact, he’s been involved in several of our projects and has chaired the IPB for several months. It can be a “murder board” if you go in unprepared, and they usually manage to surprise me with some considerations I haven’t thought of. I’ve learned a lot since he got here, and we’ve made some good improvements.

It’s always nice to be recognized, but it’s especially meaningful to be recognized by professional peers who really understand what you did and how you did it. The Seabees are a great organization and it’s been interesting to see how they and the Army Corps of Engineers work together in this Joint Operations environment.

Mood: Proud
Music: BAP – Verdamp lang her