Back at BAF, and closer to home
10:35AM Central Afghan Time
The last several days have been eventful, if not precisely exciting. The morning of the 23rd, a rocket hit a row of conexes (big metal storage/shipping containers) thirty or forty yards from where I was sleeping. No, not exciting: you hear the boom, it didn’t hit you, it’s already over. All the same, we had to get up and report to stations, then a couple of hours later we marched to the airfield before dawn for a ramp ceremony. I spent the rest of the day operating on lost sleep.
The 24th, there was a brief problem regarding property transfer. Months ago, I received and signed for various night vision scopes, and signed them out to the various teams; most were signed over to our replacements, a few were brought back. One of them, however, had slipped off the grid. Guess what? Sensitive item, very expensive, major ruckus. It took less than two hours to establish that it had indeed been transferred to one of the incoming personnel, but during the interim I took considerable heat and deserved almost all of it. Sign for something, you’re responsible for it; sign it over to an approved other person, the responsibility shifts to them; but misplace the hand receipt, and you have no proof that you didn’t lose, destroy, or sell the original item yourself. I learned some harsh lessons very quickly, without lasting damage but in terms that I’ll never forget.
The 25th, we flew to BAF (Bagram Air Field), and have spent the days since in paperwork, exit briefs, customs inspection, gear palletized and sealed. (I’m currently living out of a single bag. And my laptop stopped working again. It does NOT like flying military air.) A number of us have flown to a transitional base in Kyrgyzstan, BAF being somewhat crowded just now.
I’ve continued to work on “Learning Curve”, though less steadily. Right now it’s just under 9,500 words.
This afternoon, I’ll try to see a recruiter about early re-enlistment. (And maybe switching to a different specialty, one that accommodates my recent experience with, and desire to continue, the study of Middle Eastern languages.)
With one thing or another, we should be back at Fort Bragg within seven to ten days. Then they can really start messing with us.