Wednesday, October 20, 2004
There and Back Again, Prologue and Chapter 1
I promised a write up of my recent trip. I just finished with all the editing that I can do short of putting it on here. I thought about posting it all at once, but it comes to over 6,000 words. Thought that was bit much for one post. Each part of the story of my trip will be entitled "There and Back Again", for all of you Tolkien fans, and will start with a quote from "Karn Evil 9 (Third Impression)" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We're glad you could attend.Come inside! Come inside!
Friday, 8 October, 2004
It's almost midnight. I meant to write this earlier. Things kept on coming up. I should, finally, be done with work for the day in about an hour, or so.
I'm starting this early. I wanted a chance to explain what is going on.
There is a soldier in my unit. (Actually, there are several, but this story only involves one, besides me.) I'll call him "Chewie". That's his nickname. If you know who I am talking about, then, by the time I post this, you will know what is going on. If you don't know who I am talking about then, it doesn't matter does it?
Anyway, Chewie has developed "problems". Okay, Chewie claims he is hearing "voices'". There has been considerable speculation as to whether this is actually the case. There's been other speculation as well based on the person in question. Or as one person in the unit put it, "Those aren't 'voices', Chewie. They are called 'thoughts'. They can be scary at first, if you have never had them before."
So anyway, Chewie was sent to our nearest psych people. After a couple of days of evaluation, they determined that this was a job for a facility other than theirs. The closest one of that type is in Germany. Because of the nature of things, Chewie is not allowed to travel alone. He must have an escort. That escort must be a Staff Sergeant (my rank) or higher. Originally, we thought that the medical unit that he was dealing with would provide the escort. Well, that fell through. The band is pretty heavily tasked at the moment, and the only SSG or above that is not absolutely necessary to the musical mission is me. The First Sergeant (the highest ranking enlisted person in my unit) and the Commander both came to me where I work and talked to me yesterday about the possibility of this happening. Then, last night the Commander came back. It wasn't a possibility. It was reality. I was leaving to go link up with Chewie and head to Germany Saturday morning. This was late Thursday night. Too late to really find a way to cover my "long day" on Friday with someone else. So, I got off work about midnight last night. Got on the internet to talk my wife about this. Got to bed about 2:30 (that is AM), and was back at it today at 7:45 (once again, AM). I had time on a couple of breaks today to empty out what I will use as luggage, But, other than that, I have not been able to prepare for this trip at all.
I have to be at a brief for the convoy that I will take to the base that Chewie is on at 7:30 (once again, AM). It's almost 12:30 now. I hope to be done with work by 1:30, considering that I will have to pack in the morning. What am I saying? It is morning. I will have to pack after I get whatever sleep I am going to get tonight.
I'm kind of concerned about this trip. Other than Chewie and I are scheduled to leave the camp he is at around 10:00 AM tomorrow. I know next to nothing of the details of this trip. I have yet to be fully informed what my duties are. I have no idea if we are flying out of that camp or convoying to where we will fly from. If we convoy, then we will probably fly out of Baghdad or Balad. If you've been following the news lately, then you know Baghdad is not a great place to be right now. It gets even better. If we convoy, it involves going through Samarra. That's not as bad a thing as it was a week or so ago, but, it's still not something I was in a hurry to experience.
I have no idea if we are going to Kuwait on the way out of here or not. If we are, then this is going to be an involved trip. (Read: pain in the ... neck)
Well, it's after two, and I haven't left the building I work in yet. I need to get out of here, and get some sleep. I will keep you posted.
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We're glad you could attend.Come inside! Come inside!
Friday, 8 October, 2004
It's almost midnight. I meant to write this earlier. Things kept on coming up. I should, finally, be done with work for the day in about an hour, or so.
I'm starting this early. I wanted a chance to explain what is going on.
There is a soldier in my unit. (Actually, there are several, but this story only involves one, besides me.) I'll call him "Chewie". That's his nickname. If you know who I am talking about, then, by the time I post this, you will know what is going on. If you don't know who I am talking about then, it doesn't matter does it?
Anyway, Chewie has developed "problems". Okay, Chewie claims he is hearing "voices'". There has been considerable speculation as to whether this is actually the case. There's been other speculation as well based on the person in question. Or as one person in the unit put it, "Those aren't 'voices', Chewie. They are called 'thoughts'. They can be scary at first, if you have never had them before."
So anyway, Chewie was sent to our nearest psych people. After a couple of days of evaluation, they determined that this was a job for a facility other than theirs. The closest one of that type is in Germany. Because of the nature of things, Chewie is not allowed to travel alone. He must have an escort. That escort must be a Staff Sergeant (my rank) or higher. Originally, we thought that the medical unit that he was dealing with would provide the escort. Well, that fell through. The band is pretty heavily tasked at the moment, and the only SSG or above that is not absolutely necessary to the musical mission is me. The First Sergeant (the highest ranking enlisted person in my unit) and the Commander both came to me where I work and talked to me yesterday about the possibility of this happening. Then, last night the Commander came back. It wasn't a possibility. It was reality. I was leaving to go link up with Chewie and head to Germany Saturday morning. This was late Thursday night. Too late to really find a way to cover my "long day" on Friday with someone else. So, I got off work about midnight last night. Got on the internet to talk my wife about this. Got to bed about 2:30 (that is AM), and was back at it today at 7:45 (once again, AM). I had time on a couple of breaks today to empty out what I will use as luggage, But, other than that, I have not been able to prepare for this trip at all.
I have to be at a brief for the convoy that I will take to the base that Chewie is on at 7:30 (once again, AM). It's almost 12:30 now. I hope to be done with work by 1:30, considering that I will have to pack in the morning. What am I saying? It is morning. I will have to pack after I get whatever sleep I am going to get tonight.
I'm kind of concerned about this trip. Other than Chewie and I are scheduled to leave the camp he is at around 10:00 AM tomorrow. I know next to nothing of the details of this trip. I have yet to be fully informed what my duties are. I have no idea if we are flying out of that camp or convoying to where we will fly from. If we convoy, then we will probably fly out of Baghdad or Balad. If you've been following the news lately, then you know Baghdad is not a great place to be right now. It gets even better. If we convoy, it involves going through Samarra. That's not as bad a thing as it was a week or so ago, but, it's still not something I was in a hurry to experience.
I have no idea if we are going to Kuwait on the way out of here or not. If we are, then this is going to be an involved trip. (Read: pain in the ... neck)
Well, it's after two, and I haven't left the building I work in yet. I need to get out of here, and get some sleep. I will keep you posted.
