As I mentioned last time, the entire goal of CRC is to get everyone on an airplane at the end of the week. To that end, I suppose that they did an adequate job. Unlike my last experience, however, I can’t say that it was with quite the same style. While I did end up on the plane, it wasn’t exactly without incident….
The first few days went off without a hitch. However, come Tuesday, the wheels came off of the bus. This whole incident can actually be traced back to an error which probably occurred last fall. When the initial “tasker” for this deployment came out, it seemed that the final location was, perhaps, in question. By the time my orders were cut, the final destination had been chosen - Afghanistan. The tasker, however, left this open-ended with a destination of Kuwait, and this ambiguity carried forward to my orders. When I inquired, I was assured that all would be well. Everyone goes through Kuwait anyway. Fair enough.
Not so fair for the good folks at CRC. Because my orders did not mention Afghanistan, I was told that they could not issue me the appropriate equipment for that location. I would, instead, be drawing from the Kuwait “menu.” In an effort to head off this little debacle, I had previously mentioned to the supply sergeant that my orders did not reflect my actual final destination. I was reassured that this would be no problem. My name and CRC # were noted on a list, and I was told that I would be able to receive the appropriate equipment come Tuesday. Easy enough.
Then came Tuesday. Despite my conversation earlier in the week, they were still set to issue me gear for Kuwait. This meant that I would be receiving the wrong uniform among other issues (ACUs instead of the Multi-Cam pattern used in Afghanistan and Iraq now). I again explained my predicament and the fact that I would not be staying in Kuwait. My ultimate duty station would be in Afghanistan. Too easy. They worked a little magic and I was told that I could get the Kuwait Multi-Cam draw. This was a pared down version with no boots and no holster among a few other things. I tried to explain my predicament, and they did not seem to be interested. Unless my orders said Afghanistan, I wasn’t going to get the gear to go there. Why this information was not relayed to me when I first brought it up, I can not even guess.
It was now incumbent upon me to remedy this situation. My first task was to reactivate my FaceBook account. Why? Because in the year 2015, the most convenient method of communication that the Army has devised is social networking. So, I contacted the unit I would be joining and asked what to do. The 11.5hr time difference was not exactly helpful in trying to accomplish this task. I then contacted Womack to see if they could amend my orders since they are the ones who actually cut them. No worries. I had a new set which reflected Afghanistan within a few hours. I returned to my supply sergeant and explained that I had new orders and was told that I could make up for the non-issued gear on Thursday. Thursday was range day, but, being the Expert marksman that I am, that should not be a long day.
As expected, I had qualified with the 9mm by 0830 on Thursday. We had previously been assured that once we were qualified at the range, a bus would return us to the CRC site immediately. That would have been nice. Instead, we waited for two more groups to qualify, and didn’t leave the range until well after 0900. Since it’s about an hour ride back to CRC, that put us back on site at about 1015. After weapons cleaning and check-in, it was pushing 1035 by the time I was ready to return to equipment issue. At that point, I discovered that my “apppointment” was actually for 1000. Needless to say, I didn’t make it. I would have to wait until 1300. Minor setback, major annoyance.
Thursday was a tangled mess of inconvenience, but ultimately, I think I came out of it relatively unscathed. But, the final insult did not come until late that afternoon. We all gathered for the last time for the pre-flight brief. This was also the time that all of our final small items would be issued. For me, all that meant was nametapes for my [Multi-Cam] uniform. Much to my dismay - but not at all shocking - I received four brand-spanking new ACU nametapes. This meant that the only uniforms which remained in my possession (I had sent my only set of ACUs home already) could not be worn since they would not be complete sans nametape. The real beauty of the situation is that the Multi-Cam uniform is only worn in theater. Therefore, no clothing sales store in the US can or will sell accessories for this pattern. There are shops set up in town who can do it, but I had no way of getting there. My only potential salvation was a small kiosk set up by the PX which, I had been told, had the capability to make them. I arrived 20min before closing and was able to have two made (he only had material for two). Salvation!
The remaining 12hrs of CRC went off as expected. We rallied at 0230 Friday morning with all of our bags. We then commenced the interminable waiting process. We were then boarded onto a 747-400 operated by Delta (it was chartered with full Delta crew). We finally began moving at 1607Z* (local time was 0907MST). Fifteen minutes later, I was wondering if we were going to taxi all the way to our next destination. Finally, we were lined up on runway 21at Biggs Airfield. The turbines spooled up, and we headed down the runway; wheels up at 1625Z. There were a couple of intermediate stops, and we finally touched down in Kuwait at 1153Z on Saturday, 14Feb. Happy Valentine’s Day.
Interestingly, I had discovered upon my arrival to CRC that their motto was “Whatever’s Next.” That didn’t instill a whole lot of confidence in me, honestly. I suppose that I get the point - they’ll ‘prepare’ you for whatever’s next. Unfortunately, as things got more and more tangled for me, I simply found myself wondering, “What next?” And, as I sit here in Kuwait, awaiting my next round of travel, I find myself wondering the same thing…..
*In the interest of keeping things straight in my head, I converted all travel times to UTC, or GMT, or Zulu (whatever you want to call it). For those in the Eastern Time Zone, you would be UTC - 5. Until Daylight Savings Time starts - then you’ll be UTC - 4. Try not to get too confused. The point is, it was a long day.
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