Pre deployment thoughts... Day 1

I'm on my way overseas with the Air Force to an undisclosed location to work Public Affairs for Central Air Forces (CENTAF). Today was my first day embarking on this journey.

But first... some pre-go thoughts...

There are so many little things that us single poeple have to take care of that the Air Force doesn't care much about... like who takes care of my car/house etc. Thank God I'm stationed near my mom who offered to take my car for the summer... Married people get extra money -- separation pay -- when their spouse deploys. This isn't the "no-nookie" pay... this is supposed to be to help out for the extra things that are missing around the house while the spouse is gone... I guess me as a single person who had to hire a lawn man to take care of my yard for the summer... something I normally wouldn't have done... doesn't fall into that catagory. Ticks me off that we "recruit the individual but retain the family." bull. My family is broadly defined. If they want to retain me... they best figure out how to retain my version of a family.

My last day was spent with my mom, sister and step-dad who took off work to see me one more time and take my car for the summer. It was nice to to see my family before I left. For going so out of their way, I took them to a Nationals/Braves game. My dad and sister really like baseball... I can't understand why they don't make the outfielders who catch a fly ball throw it in to get the runners out. Seems like the game is just too easy. Imagine how much more cheering and excitement it would cause to get rid of that "yer out" rule when you catch a pop fly... who doesn't catch a pop fly? dumb game... and the Washington Nationals chicken strips at the statium are terrible.

Mom carried on the tradition of giving something from a loved one to take to war... in the old days, they gave a scarf... in the new days, my mom's friend gave her husband her kid's umbilical cord. GROSS... how absolutely nasty is that? Well... mom gave me a cherished gold heart necklass that was her grandmother's. I was very touched. and glad it wasn't my umbilical cord.

So with mom having dropped me at the airport a bit earlier than I probably needed to be there... I was ready to go. I wanted to be there early because I had 3 giant bags. One for Chem warfare, one personal bag, and one that is supposed to have my protective gear and sleeping bag in it... and 2 carry ons. I'm going to someplace that if I need protective stuff, they'll issue it to me there... which is nice because I don't have to carry 100 pounds more of crap... and I won't be in immanent danger. It is annoying that I have to lug 50 lbs of chem crap though. I mean... it's kind of like "in the event of a water landing, your seat cushion doubles as a floatation device." First off... if you ride a plane into the ocean, how many people are going to be able to find their seat amid the 10 degree water if they are even conscious from having been hurled downward at hundreds of miles an hour. Grabbing my seat cushion to float around the shark infested water is the last thing I'm going to think about... Same with chem gear... I can't get that crap on in 9 seconds and it is 120 degrees over there. I'll die of heat exhaustion and exposure in the first 9 seconds before I'll need the stuff in the unlikely event that those people will even do a chem attack... Why doesn't the government leave that crap over there instead of making us lug it all about...???

So I fly to Norfolk, where I'm supposed to get on a rotator headed for my location. I'm taveling by myself... most people travel in groups from the same squadron... I feel like an odd ball. There are 210 people on my airplane going over there... there are like 5 of us not in some group of at least 20 or so... Upon arriving in Norfolk, I found out our rotator is busted. Damn... had I known that, I wouldn't have left DC. I could have had 2 more nights home. instead, I'm stuck in this hotel in Norfolk for 2 days till they fix the airplane. what a bother... so I decide to shove 2 of my unnecessary bags in a locker at the terminal and carry just what I need... mind you I have 2 pair of civilian clothes with me, both of which are ugly and unworthy of going out... Thank god I have 2 great friends here... Brad and Jeff... and more importantly... that Brad and I wear the same size... he let me borrow 2 days of clothes. How nice. Anyway... back to the story. From the terminal, we board these busses. Our bus driver looks like the Rev. Al Sharpton or one of Eddie Murphy's characters from Coming to America. Everybody on the bus is chatting about and I'm thinking we are taking a mighty interesting route to go downtown where our hotel is. I am familiar with Norfolk having lived nearby not too long ago. Anyway... the Reverand pulls into this crap Sleep Inn miles from downtown with not even a Burger King around. You could see how big the desk lady's eyes got when she saw the bus pull up... all the way from the bus. We told the Rev he was at the wrong hotel... how bad at your job do you have to be to be a bus driver and bring your passengers to the wrong place?

So finally all checked into the hotel... dinner out with the boys... and wide awake at 3:30. maybe that's good... adjusting for my new time zone... not.

It was nice to not have to say I went to a baseball game for my last night in America for a while... although when the acapella choir from armpit Iowa sang the national anthem to open the game, it was a bit touching and I almost felt a tear.

Yes, Dave has a sentimental patriotic side... who'd have thought?

I'll leave day 1 at that... tomorrow I'm having lunch with my old buddy Dale who I worked the Airshow with... then out to dinner/the club with the boys again.

Cheers,
Dave