Brief Stop for Paperwork

All,
  I've been in San Diego for 10 hours.  I complete my ECRC checkout paperwork in 4 hours (GETTING THE TIS DONE, ESPECIALLY GETTING A PHYSICIANS SIGNATURE ON THE MEDICAL TRANSFER SHEET IS THE KEY TO SPEEDY CHECKOUT).  I am now waiting for a plane to B'Ham to see my family (red eye heading east).  Don't trust the damn insurance stuff on plane tickets.  I had to buy a WHOLE NEW TICKET from Delta since the xfer cost ($150) was greater then the original ticket fare ($109). The new ticket cost me $370.  -- I don't understand how that works at all.

  LCDR Jamie Gateau's wife, Kim, is now officially a saint for driving my dumb ass around San Diego so I could go see KL and the boys.  Canonization hearings will commence in a couple of weeks.

CHEERS!
Jody

--
"...wrap your arms around your body armor, give it a big embrace, and LEARN TO LOVE THE SUCK!"
  -- Sergeant First Class Jenkins, 13 JUL 08

In Cincinatti

All,

  I am in Cincinatti awaiting my flight to San Diego.  It leaves in a little less than a hour.  I'll take a taxi to Escondido and start cranking on getting a phone, getting in the car, and readying for my trip to Big Bear.

 

We got cheered at BWI last night getting off the plane.  I gotta admit, that'll choke you up, especially when one of the VFW guys running the show has a Vietnam ribbon and a Purple Heart on his VFW hat -- makes you humble.

 

Cheers,

jody

--
"...wrap your arms around your body armor, give it a big embrace, and LEARN TO LOVE THE SUCK!"
  -- Sergeant First Class Jenkins, 13 JUL 08

Back in the Western World, though not CONUS

All,

  I'm in Ramstein.  They're refueling and recatering the plane.  We're staying overnight in Baltimore unless a miracle occurs.  We arrive in time for our original flights, but now those flights are booked.  We're all crashing at the Hilton (2-4 people per room, but we're crashing) that poor Hilton reservations operator must have been loving that one phone call with like 30 people swapping the phone to make room reservations.

 

Cheers,

Jody

--
"...wrap your arms around your body armor, give it a big embrace, and LEARN TO LOVE THE SUCK!"
  -- Sergeant First Class Jenkins, 13 JUL 08

Deeeeeeee-nie-duh

All,

  Big delay of game.  I'm not getting into San Diego at 2306 on 22 JAN.  Looks like a hotel stay in Baltimore is in my future.  Good times.  Now, I have to figure out how to cancel my Cloud9 shuttle.  From a 30 min only internet and a long line for DSN as everyone tries to call their significant others so they're not disappointed at the airports.

 

Lovely, but not unusual,

Cheers!

Jody

--
"...wrap your arms around your body armor, give it a big embrace, and LEARN TO LOVE THE SUCK!"
  -- Sergeant First Class Jenkins, 13 JUL 08

Sitting, waiting, anticipating

Hey All,

  We're in Kuwait still.  The return and reunion classes are done; the Health Assessments are done; Our classes on PTSD are done.  Our bags are packed; Our tents are swept;  the hajjis are hanging around outside our tents waiting to get anything we decide to throw away (can't blame them, I just gave away my running shoes).

 

  Our customs ordeal isn't going to be as bad as we thought: they'll go through our checked bags, let us go to chow, go through our carry-on and our pockets, then put us in lockdown.  A few hours later we'll go to the airport, stay in lockdown until the flight is loaded.  I'm still not going to say exactly when the flight is -- OPSEC -- but the hajjis sure seem to know.

 

  I've bought a lift ticket and an intermediate lesson at Big Bear, as well as a room at Motel 6 for 24-25 JAN.  I'm going to get my noggin together before heading to Birmingham to see KL and the boys.  The chaplain really stressed getting some time by yourself.  He pointed out that on deployment you can't even go to the bathroom without 2 or 3 other people being there.  After two deployments on NIMITZ followed almost immediately by this IA, I kinda forgot to notice, but he's right.

 

  We got the big caution about driving.  I AM worried about that.  Past deployments were about re-learning how to drive after not being in a car.  This time, I've been driving constantly, I've just been driving aggressively.  I swear to god if I see a Jangle Truck in San Diego I'm going to run him off the road :) (just kidding).

 

  I'd love to say I have to be somewhere soon, but I don't, but this email has been entirely too long.  Thanks for sticking with me over this whole deployment.  This should be the last one I send before stepping foot in CONUS -- okay, maybe ONE from Germany.

 

Cheers,

Jody

--
"...wrap your arms around your body armor, give it a big embrace, and LEARN TO LOVE THE SUCK!"
  -- Sergeant First Class Jenkins, 13 JUL 08

I'm in Kuwait!!

All,

  I have made it to Kuwait.  Last night's travel issues were a cluster, but we're finally at Arifjan!  Arifjan ROCKS!  There is a freakin' Starbucks here and, get this, you can brush your teeth with the tap water here!  That's right, no "aw shits" b/c you forgot to get the bottle water as you trudge through the gravel in your shower shoes to brush your teeth out in the conex box.  SCHWEET!

 

  We went through a preliminary weapons check today.  Man, they are STRICT on the carbon stuff.  The Q-Tip has to come back white from a pretty thorough wipe down on both my M9 and my M16.  Two hours later (after passing the check), my weapons is giving up carbon on the Q-Tip again.  ugh.

 

  We turn in gear and weapons tomorrow -- NO MORE ALBATROSS AROUND MY NECK (literally, around my neck for the M16).  I can go to the bathroom (head/latrine) or the gym or ANYWHERE without worrying about carrying my weapons or double-locking them or having someone "watch" them for me.  Dude, I'm psyched.

 

  My time is almost up on this computer, so I better go.

 

Love,

Jody

--
"...wrap your arms around your body armor, give it a big embrace, and LEARN TO LOVE THE SUCK!"
  -- Sergeant First Class Jenkins, 13 JUL 08

What are they going to do -- send me home??

All,

  It's been the perennial question since I got to Afghanistan: "What are they going to do -- send you home?"

 

  When the tie-rod on our up-armoured land cruiser got bent all the way to the ground, we couldn't turn right anymore.  We were on top of a freakin' mountain.  The trail was too narrow to get a deuce and a half up to tow us down.  Some folks were advocating that we abandon the vehicle.  "What are They going to do -- send you home?" was ring out all over the place.

  I (along with one justifiably concerned spotter) drove that stupid land cruiser down the mountain after using a jack and a clever special forces sergeant to make the tie-rod bend less.  I thought that with all my body armor, weapons, and the armor on the vehicle, falling off a mountain would be a dumb way to die.  We made it down.  Nobody sent me home.

 

  We ran into some trouble on Route xxxxx on a Friday.  We didn't know you should never use Route xxxxx on a Friday.  The Kabul mosques overflow into the streets; citizens erect makeshift roadblocks for a impromptu bazaar; police erect real roadblocks as thousands of Afghans flock to the bazaar.  We aren't well versed in the streets that branch off Route xxxx.  Some folks with our convoy talked about pushing through the crowds or just giving up and going home.  "What are They going to do -- send you home?" 

  We vectored off the route; we vectored off our vector.  We kept telling each other, as long as xxxxxx Hill is on our right and that blue domed mosque is on our left we're good.  The Kabul smog came on that afternoon with a vengeance.  We could barely see the vehicles in the convoy, much less xxxxx Hill and the blue mosque.  We kept vectoring.  We didn't P.O. the locals.  We eventually made it back to Camp Eggers.  Nobody sent me home.

 

  We got caught up on the edge of a riot.  Police blockades were all over the place.  Multiple convoys were mixing it up all over the place.  It got kind of ugly.  As our convoy got split into parts by a bunch of Phoenix Humvees, a jangle truck blocked my vehicle in.  My shotgun rider suggested "pushing" the jangle out of the way.  "What are They going to do -- send you home?" 

  Okay, this time, I did it.  Our Land Cruiser pushed that jangle quite nicely.  We mangled the right rear door handle, but we got out of the traffic jam, rejoined our convoy, and 'got the hell out of Dodge.'  Nobody sent me home.

 

  In the last 24 hours, I watched my crew convoy out into some cruddy weather without me -- felt like I'd abandoned them, but I have been turned over to my relief for several days; I've been given an award; farewelled at the Thai place; jumped on the Rhino and left a good friend behind at Camp Eggers for another six months -- seemed like I was abandoning my shipmate; and made it to Bagram. 

  The reality has sunk in.  After a month of training and six months of being a Sailor in a landlocked country, "They" are really doing it.  "They" are sending me home.

 

Cheers,

Jody

--
"...wrap your arms around your body armor, give it a big embrace, and LEARN TO LOVE THE SUCK!"
  -- Sergeant First Class Jenkins, 13 JUL 08