Makes You Wonder

Did you ever get the feeling that someone has been looking at their own plan for so long they've forgotten what it says?  In the formulation of the Plan for a Major (Possible) Event here in East Africa I had a conversation with someone about the portion they are supposed to write.  They'd gotten information from the Holders of the Plan and were working off of that.  I thought for a moment.  Then I said, "Uh... I'm not really sure that's entirely accurate."  I leafed through some paperwork.  No, it definitely wasn't accurate.  However, since things change so rapidly around here I offered that it could be me who was misreading the Plan.

But I don't think so.

Random Care Packages

There's a program in the States, I've seen it done but kinda ignored it until now, that allows people to fill boxes with stuff and send them out to US military personnel.  These boxes wind up in office spaces and opened up by us folks, usually near the end of the day when we're bored and tired.  I have to say that we really appreciate this.  Sometimes the packages are addressed to specific individuals and sometimes just to the office code in general.  The package is opened, like a Christmas gift, and the unknown contents are pulled out and distributed to each according to his need.  Just yesterday I was thinking about getting some hand sanitizer for when I go out on the ranges.  Poof!  A couple of bottles of it appeared in the next care package.  Thank you to whoever sent that.

Sometimes we also get really special treats such as the below cookies from Carl in Virginia.  (Or, more likely, from Carl's Wife in Virgina.) They are very tasty.

The Passport

I knew I was going to need a passport so I started that procedure months before I deployed.  What I never quite figured out correctly is what the difference was between a tourist and official passport.  The tourist version is blue and the official is red.  But that's not the real difference.  The real difference is that the official passport gets you through customs without having to pay for a visa.  Also, a visa application could take a few minutes or could take forever and ultimately be denied.  The passport for which I paid over a hundred bucks is the tourist kind.

I'm now in the process of applying for an official passport.  On the good side, it's free of charge since I'm working on government/military business.  On the bad side, it's going to take two to three months and I have places to be within that time frame.  So, if you find yourself coming out to Djibouti, you're going to want to look into getting that official passport as soon as physically possible.

Oh, another Important Tip about coming out here:  Get lots of extra passport photos and bring them.  The only way to get them here is to go out in town and you will probably need them for various things.  Like visas and new passport applications.

The Rotator

The rotator is the mil air flight that brings new people in and old people out of Djibouti.  It shows up once a week at an hour of its choosing.  Today it chose right after midnight.  I've been up for quite a while helping a few new members of our office get their bags sorted out, trucked down to CLUville, and get them settled in.  Unlike my commercial air flight, they stopped just about everywhere possible on their way from the States.  Mostly Navy and Air Force on this rotator.  Marines tend to fly commercial air due to the location of our pre-deployment training.  And it's a good thing, too.

Stuff Blew Up

As part of my job here I schedule the ranges for all the various units that want to shoot stuff and blow stuff up.  Sounds simple but when the Djiboutians own the ranges and the French run the ranges there's a lot of coordination that has to happen.  Anyhow, yesterday I got to go out and watch Marines shoot up some 55 Gallon drums and drop live ordinance on some range hulks.  500 pounders.  Amazingly loud from 2500 meters away.  The above helo was landing for a quick meeting with the range OIC before making its attack runs.

The Old Cantina

Next to the Combat Cafe is the Old Cantina.  It's a large patio type space, about 50' x 100', covered by a suspended tarp/awning system.  There is a big screen TV and a scattering of tables and chairs.  Up until very recently they served alcohol in the evenings but that's been stopped due to 'staffing issues.'  The issue at hand was that the bartenders were Chief Petty Officers stationed here and working in the evening, getting a paycheck from the contractor responsible for base operations, and getting tips as well.  Lots and lots of discussions ensued regarding words like 'conflict of interest' and 'inappropriate senior/subordinate relationships.'  The decision was finally made to stop the chiefs from being bartenders.  It is very unlikely that the Old Cantina will open back up for alcohol.  Now, since the weather is reasonable, it's a popular place to sit and eat noon chow.

Balbala

This is the shanty-town called Balbala.  It's filled with Somali refugees that have absolutely nothing except rocks and dirt.

Joint Pubs

If you are an officer and you're going to be part of the staff here at all, make sure you read up on your basic joint pubs.  JP-5 is critical.  You'll need to be able to speak the planning language that everyone else speaks.  Another good one is JP-3.57 Civil Military Operations.  There are also some pubs on interagency operations, which is especially important in the emerging 3D environment.  (Development, Diplomacy, & Defense)  USAFRICOM and CJTF-HOA are forging new trails regarding how to fight and win a war without pulling a trigger.  Anyhow, the best place to find joint pubs online is the Joint Electronic Library.  It's a gold mine for joint doctrine geeks.

Increasing Efficiency

Like any military headquarters staff, we generate a lot of reports around here.  It's almost a daily occurrence for us to come up with some kind of briefing, point paper, after action review, op order, etc.  Around the office we joke about how most of this stuff sits in desk drawers or file cabinets and then eventually gets shredded when it's superceded by a newer version.  (The Range SOP that was finished and signed when I got here a few weeks ago is about to undergo Change 1.)  So I thought of a clever invention that will cut down processing time and lead to greatly increased efficiencies throughout CJTF-HOA.  We could put a printer on top of a shredder and rig the document tray to feed directly into the shredder's mouth.  I even came up with the name 'Shrinter'.  That had us laughing most of the afternoon.  This morning I discovered through Google that The Shrinter already exists.  There is nothing new under the sun.

The only improvement we could come up with would be to pass the documents through a scanner that automatically emails them into everyone's recycle bin.

The Running Trail

The running trail here starts at the far end of CLUville, down by the flightline where SOCCE has their compound.  (Special Operations Command Combat Element, pronounced sock-see.  These are the guys behind heavy concertina wire with Predator drones and top secret sat-comm dishes.  When you ask them what their mission is they just wave their hand in front of your face and say, "These are not the drones you're looking for.")  The trail goes off along the fence line and is lit by standard light towers. It's 1.8 miles to where it dead ends and you turn back.  I'm still turning around at the one mile mark but will run out to 1.5 later this week.  As far as a trail goes it's in pretty good shape; compacted gravel and dirt about ten feet wide with a few water coolers along the way.  There is nothing much to see out there except some brush and a tall chain link fence.  Sometimes in the morning, if you're lucky, you get to run through rotor wash from an MV-22 or grimace as a C-130 powers up and taxis off the pad right next to you. This is life at the tip of the spear.