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April 17, 2013 - Afghanistan apprehension deployment optimism rain
Nov 28th, 2009 (Entry 6)
(http://thoughtrepair.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/img_5994b.gif) Outside our tent in the city of waiting: Kuwait.
It poured at 4:30 am when we departed Georgia. It rained when we landed, and it came down in sheets as the Commanding Officer gave us our farewell brief before taking off from Hawaii two weeks later. And it has rained the last 24 hours of our international travel creating a gauntlet of mud as we move around. We relocated all forty plus of our bags six times last night, in the rain. So today I emptied my gear out and put in the waterproof liner they issued us.
I’m not sure when I’m supposed to be sleeping. We’re now half a day of time zones away, and I’ve been dealt 30 minute naps between in-flight announcements and very uncomfortable seats (aside from the business class upgrade of course). I’m sure a large part of it is that I’m overseas now, but I woke from my three hour sleep last night and didn’t feel disturbed. My tiredness is omnipresent but I feel alert. My eating patterns are equally irregular. I had five meals yesterday and none yet today.
All of us are in one tent. There’s soldiers we don’t know in there too, all interim bunks. A light stays on through the night, and someone is up at all times, both by necessity and out of varying arrival and departure times, but anyone who’s asleep is passed out. Announcements echo across loudspeakers, “All permanent and temporary restrooms and laundry facilities are closed until further notice. Please use the portable facilities.”
The rain chips away the minutes. I haven’t seen the sky yet here. All this being said, I can’t help but be excited. I remember Boy Scout conventions with a similar feel, countless tents and troops, with no real objective at hand except to wait- only then it was without about 80 lbs. of gear and with a lot more whining.
When the power went out in our tent, nobody really complained (except Joe). Flashlights came out, and people continued to sit or sleep until it turned back on about 15 minutes later. In this limbo, active duty and civilians wait to go to their final destination, and waiting is what we’re expert at. This is surely the essence of deployment.
Once we move on to our final destination, I’ll likely have less access to the internet. In the meantime, ripe with expectation and time, I’ve got nothing better to do but write. And I’m now Level 20 on Farmville.
Continue reading: 2. Unfinished predeployment sentiments