Day Two - FT Riley

I woke up this morning around 06:00. Not bad considering I had been getting up around 04:30 most other mornings due to the time difference of CA vice VA. I slept very well. Now, I do not know if that was due to the bed being comfortable or my fatigue because I had been traveling since 02:30 the previous morning.

When I woke up, I was fairly hungry. However, our information package, which we received yesterday said that the Galley opens at 09:30 on weekends. OK, I figured I could wait. 09:30 came....and went. Apparently, the Galley sometimes opens, sometimes does not on Sunday mornings. This was not one of those times. Another note about the Galley, the Army calls it a D-FAC. (pronounced like D Fack). This stands for Dining Facility. No worries, the Navy has it's own idiosyncrasies and the Navy is much more crazy with the acronyms.

So, I headed over to the local mini-mart. I realized that there were some items that I needed. I needed a lock for our foot-lockers, a pair of shower shoes, mouthwash, laundry detergent and a towel. I also bought some Nutri-Grain bars and some individual sized chicken-salad snacks. I had to eat something.

You've seen those Far-Side cartoons with the couple staring at a sign that said "NOWHERE" and showed them in the middle of it? Well, I think that we are on the far back side of there. There doesn't seem to be much of anything around here. I found out that the exchange is about 10 miles away from where we are staying. There is a shuttle bus, but it doesn't run on Sunday mornings to the exchange. The buses only take you to church on Sunday mornings. I wonder if that's a Kansas thing or an Army thing? Probably both.

*Funny note about the D-FAC.* There is a sign on the D-FAC that states the following:
"This is a hardened facility. In case of in-direct fire, remain inside." There were two concerns I had with this sign. 1: This building is definitely NOT a hardened building. 2: WHY do they feel the need to post such a sign? Have they had this issue in the past?

We do not anything planned for today. I imagine that I'll just sit here any read. Maybe I'll watch a TV show on my laptop.

Arrived at FT Riley, KS

Well, we finally arrived at FT Riley, KS. The day started out for me at 02:30. After a quick shower and a search around the room to make sure that I had everything, I made my way out to the buses.

We had made reservations for about 30 of us for transportation to LAX and the bill was $920. Problem was that about 11 people decided not to show up, so there was a balance difference in what everyone was told to pay and what we ended up with. Myself, a Chief and a Commander chipped in to make up the difference. Came out to be about $115 each. Good thing that I can claim that on my travel expenses and get reimbursed for it! I'm going to be pushing hard to make sure I get that back as soon as possible.

Once at the airport, it wasn't so bad. I got through the check-in line fairly quickly and then I had to go through security. That was pretty funny, because they wanted to look through my backpack. The first thing they came across was my 400+ Malaria medication pills. Then they pulled out my gas mask. Not too much of stir, but it raised some eyebrows.

I stopped for a quick run through Starbucks for some much needed breakfast. The flight to Denver was fairly uneventful. Once in Denver, I had to board a twin turbo prop to Manhattan, KS. I am not a fan of those small planes. They bounce around too much and they never seem to be able to fly straight. Luckily, the flight was only about 1 1/2 hours.

Now we are here and we are in open-bay barracks. Interesting, since I haven't lived in that type of berthing since I was an E-3 (about 16 years ago). Not sure how it will work out. They have enlisted and Officers living together. Don't want to sound like I've got my nose in the air, but it can be difficult with the younger sailors. They aren't always able to switch between personal and professional mode. I know, I had the same problem when I was junior enlisted.

I quickly discovered that those of us who did our processing at Port Hueneme, CA were the only ones who did not get issued our uniforms. We were told that we would be issued them when we arrived at FT Riley. Well, everyone else who has shown up today already has all of there gear. SEMPER GUMBY!!! Always flexible.

Apparently, we have nothing to do tonight nor all day tomorrow. I'm determined to get a run in tomorrow! I've been way too slack lately.

Anywho, I've included some pictures that I took today. Just to give you a small glimpse of what I'm experiencing. I'm sure that I'll have more to input tomorrow.

P.S: I welcome all input. Please feel free to leave a comment, question or suggestion. Just click on 'comment' below any post that you wish to say something about.

Last Day in CA - Day Trip

Today was spent as a leisurely day. Just doing some laundry, packing and the afternoon in Malibu. A few of the other Officers and I, took a trip down to Malibu for lunch and a little sight-seeing.

I've included some pictures of our trip. The first picture is the drive down along highway 101. You can see the cliffs and ocean. I was a pretty scenic drive. There were a lot of surfers out. We weren't the only ones who decided to take advantage of the beautiful day.
















We stopped along the highway in Malibu to have lunch at a place called Geoffrey's. Supposedly, a lot of celebrities like to go there. We didn't see any while we were there, but it was a wonderful place nonetheless. The food was great, but the view was even better.
























After quite a long lunch, we traveled further south through Malibu and onto Santa Monica. We didn't stop though. It was getting later in the afternoon and we still had to get back to prepare for our trip early in the morning.

That's all for now. The next update should come
sometime after I report into FT Riley, KS.

Take care.

Last Day of Processing

If any of you have been following along, you'll have noticed that I keep adding new content each time I post. With all of the 'white space' that we've had, I've tried to take the opportunity to improve the look and feel of this site. Hope you like it.... Please let me know if I'm over doing it at any time.

Anywho, I've figured out how to add images. I think that I know how to add video, but that might come later. The image you see in this post is the building where I've been staying this past week. I'm on the third floor. I was too slow to get the picture, but when I first arrived, there was a sign on the door (the red door you can see in the picture) which said "1st Floor secured for HAZMAT ABATEMENT". I found this a little disconcerting ;) It turned out to be nothing, they were just being cautious while removing carpeting on that floor.

Well, this is our last day here in Port Hueneme, CA. Interestingly enough, we have absolutely nothing to do. I understand that this is the day where they finish up any stragglers who aren't quite finished with processing. The other 99% of us are left with a free day. A couple of us are thinking about going to L.A. for the day. We'll see. We all have laundry and packing to do first.

We are flying out tomorrow morning to our various training locations throughout the country. I'm flying to FT Riley, KS. We are all meeting at 03:00 for our transportation to LAX. Many of us are flying out around 08:00 and it's about 1 1/2 hours to LAX. I know, it seems a bit odd that we have all day today to ourselves only to have to get up at "OH MY GOD IT'S EARLY" for a flight the next morning. I've been in the Navy for almost 18 years, so I'm used to this type of scheduling. I intend to just enjoy the time while I have it to myself.

I met up with the same group of Officers last night as I did the previous night. We went to my classmate's house for a cookout. It was a pretty good time. My friend has a great house in Ventura that they just moved into. It was nice to get off base and enjoy time with friends. My only regret is that my wife and daughter couldn't be there. Naturally, I took my camera and played the 'proud Papa'. I showed off the pictures of my family. It was nice to share and reflect on my family. I miss them very much.

Fortunately, I'm been able to speak with my wife fairly frequently while I've been here. Ella, my daughter, seems to be adjusting. She has a little bit of 'stranger anxiety', but I expect that she'll adapt fairly well soon. I'm very glad that my wife was able to fly home to her family. I'm sure that the familiar environment and support will help her. Plus, it gives her the opportunity to meet up with some friends that she hasn't seen in quite a while. That is the one difficult part of living in another country is that it is hard to maintain connections. It's one of the reasons that I am writing in this forum.

I have to get going now. Laundry to do and I'll probably go for a short run. Keep checking in....

In-Processing

OK, I've been a little slack on posting. I arrived in LAX on Sunday night to find that there wasn't any arranged transportation up to Port Heuneme. I still had not received my Government Travel Credit Card, so I was left with paying for it myself. So, I went outside the baggage claim area and found a shuttle.

$90 and 2 hours later (~22:30), I found myself at the Officer quarters at Port Heuneme. I was so tired when I arrived; however I was even more hungry. While checking in, I met up with another Officer who was checking in and was also hungry. We ended up ordering some pizza. I finally ended up crawling into bed about midnight. You can understand then when I tell you that I was not happy to be wide awake at 04:30! Jet lag, time difference, etc... We had to report to the Navy Mobilization Processing building at 07:30, so I had some time to iron my uniform and get some breakfast (and much needed coffee).

Upon reporting in, I saw that there were about 100 of us there. Not everyone is going off to the same place. Some are off to Kuwait, Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan. This week is just meant to be an assembly-line process of medical, dental, legal screenings and uniform fittings. We are being outfitted with about 4 sea bags worth of gear. Uniforms, gas masks, body armor, etc. Fortunately, these things will be waiting for us at our next training stop. We won't have to haul that across the country. YOO HOO....

My wife and daughter left Virginia on Tuesday for Germany. I am glad that my wife had that to keep her mind busy. It helped to deflect the anxiety of my leaving, which helped relieve my own anxiety. It was really difficult to leave them. I didn't appreciate fully how hard that would really be. Fortunately, I will have a couple of opportunities to see them before I ship out to Afghanistan.

The processing here can best be described as stuffing 2 1/2 days worth of stuff into 5 days. I can understand it though. They have widely varying numbers of people coming through every week. 100 people is relatively small and easier to deal with. It is easier for the whole process to keep a set schedule that can accommodate any group from 5 to 500 rather than changing it for every group. I don't mind the down-time (we call it 'white space'). I'm sure that I'll have little white space when I reach my next training phase and probably none when I get to Afghanistan.

Monday was taken up with a couple of briefs and uniform fitting. Tuesday was the Medical day and Wednesday was for Dental. I had nothing to do for dental, but my medical record was missing some stuff, so I had to do some things over again. Nothing too big. I had to get a full eye exam, pick up my Malaria medication, and a PPD shot.

I was a little frustrated with the eye exam because it too much time than it needed to. I ended up sitting around for almost an hour after the exam, only to find out that I was waiting for a doctor to sign off on some paperwork. No one could find him, so I told them I would be back the next morning to pick it up. I just couldn't see the use in sitting around waiting for this guy to get around to it.

I caught up with a few other Officers last night for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Ventura. One of the Officers knew someone here and we all met up with her and her husband. There was about 8 of us in all. It turned out that the husband of this Officer's friend was a classmate of mine from the Naval Academy. I knew him fairly well when I was a student, but I hadn't seen him in about 10 years.

It was good to see him again. One of the great things that I took away from going to the Naval Academy was the friendships. There have been many times in the last few years where something similar has happened and it's always the same. We are able to pick up as if hardly any time at all has passed.

Today, we have to meet up at the processing building at 13:00. I think that we have briefs all afternoon. We'll probably also find out then what our travel arrangements are for our follow on training.

My wife had sent my government travel credit card to me before she left. I received it yesterday. I'm a little nervous about having one. The Navy is supposed to have it set up for direct payment so we'll not have to pay 'out of pocket'. We'll see how well that works. Too many people have gotten into trouble with these things. I've been successful thus far in avoiding getting one, but I ran out of luck this time. It was in my orders to get one, so I was forced into it.

Anywho, I have to get prepared for this afternoon. Hope to write more tonight. I'll make more of an effort to be more regular with my postings.

On my way

Well, the journey has begun. I ended up drinking a little too much wine last night. I woke up, naturally, with a bit of a headache. I guess I was feeling a little melancholy about leaving my family behind. That was to be expected.

However, I still had some last minute work to do to finish up my bathroom renovation project. Mainly, I just had to caulk the toilet and bathtub. Thankfully, my wife volunteered to finish the priming and painting of the door jam and trim.

The parting with my wife and daughter was, naturally, emotional and difficult to do. I tried, and failed horribly, to not think of all the things that I’ll miss out on while I am gone. My daughter has only recently started walking. I can’t imagine all of the new things that she’ll learn in just the next few weeks. It’s impossible to think about what she’ll be like when I return after my year in Afghanistan. I miss her very much.

The flight started out typical of such a journey. Namely, it departed late. So, I ended up missing my connecting flight in Dallas. The flight was only about 3 ½ hours, which was a blessing because the seats were hard as bricks! The good thing about traveling is the different people you can meet. I ended up sitting next to an Australian Air Force Officer. Good “Bloke”. We talked for much of the flight about the various similarities between our cultures and militaries. I don’t envy the flight that he has ahead of him. He’s on his way back home and has about 24 hours of flying left.

So, I arrived in Dallas about 15 minutes after my original connecting flight departed. I was able to get onto the next flight to LAX; however, it was set to depart about 20 minutes after I got off of the plane. I had just enough time to get to the next terminal, call my wife (enroute) and get a boarding pass for that flight. I’m currently on that flight and hoping that I’ll have transportation to Port Hueneme from LAX. I received some vague references to available transportation at the airport. I have a feeling that I’ll have to get a airport taxi or shuttle and claim the costs when I arrive at the base.

Night before leaving

I know that I just started this blog, but I felt the need to say something....anything.

It's 10:27 pm here in Virginia. I've spent the day finishing up the most urgent of my various projects before I have to leave. I took off from work (leave) for the past 30 days so I could spend time with the family and take care of those things that I didn't want the wife to have to deal with.

The biggest project was my upstairs guest bathroom. The project started with a small leak in my inlet valve to my toilet. I discovered water damage in my sub floor, which made me pull up the linoleum. I replaced the sub floor, added concrete board and installed tile. While adjusting the door trim to account for a higher floor, I discovered that the door jam was completely out of square and subsequently discovered that there where no studs in the wall that the door jam was attached to.

Long story short: I ripped down the walls directly adjacent to either side of the door, built in new studs, put up new drywall, created a custom door jam, painted the walls and re-installed the sink and toilet.

I re-installed the toilet today. I discovered that the owner before me used shoddy materials for the base ring of the toilet (NO SURPRISE!!!). I had to cut out the existing base ring and install a new one. Not an easy job with an existing tile floor that I had NO intention of tearing up. Lucky for me that I studied engineering in college and was able to create a solution. I am very thankful to my Dad for getting me a Dremel Tool! Very useful!

So, it's 10:30 pm and I'm up sipping on some Chardonnay and trying not to think of my upcoming travels. No such luck, hence my writing in this blog tonight.

I still find myself hesitant to write anything at all. I couldn't possibly understand that anyone could find this stuff interesting.

Anywho, I need to finalize my packing. I don't have any time in the morning. I'm taking my daughter to IHOP for breakfast. She loves pancakes!!!. This morning I took her to the YMCA for baby swimming classes. Not much teaching going on there, but it is an opportunity for her to become more comfortable in the water. More importantly, it's an opportunity for me to spend some more one-on-one time with my little 'monkey'.

I never thought that I wanted children. However, since she was born, I can't think of why I wouldn't want her in my life. She makes me laugh every day. I do get frustrated sometimes, but the 'special' times makes all of that go away. When she learns something new, or gives her daddy a kiss out of the blue, make up those brief moments and I am overcome with emotion and love for her.

OK, enough of that, good night......good luck.