Redeployment

One year ago today I arrived in Djibouti.  I should be leaving next month but the final date isn't set.  Redeployment is not nearly as complicated as getting over here in the first place. At some point towards the end of your tour you will likely get an email from whoever is supposed to be replacing you.  That begins your turnover, probably very much like you did before you got here.  The rest is Admin Magic.  There will be some kind of service component admin shop that will start the process of booking your flight out of here and most of that is invisible to you.  Over the next month I'll hit the high points and provide tips on what to expect.

Stuttgart Schlossplatz

If you find yourself in Stuttgart with an evening free, you should go downtown to the Schlossplatz.  It's all there; shopping, museums, or just laying down in the park.

A Helpful Tip

Many people around here hang their sweaty PT gear outside their CLU so it can dry off.  This is a brilliant idea until a windstorm comes along and your T-shirt ends up in Somalia.

R&R

Since I am currently in Seattle on R&R, I should describe the process.  If you take a one year deployment overseas to a combat zone (which Djibouti laughingly is) you rate a government funded ticket home for two weeks of leave.  Your travel days do not count as leave; be prepared for 40+ hours of travel to get anywhere in the United States.

The process is pretty simple but the trick is to plan early.  The Army is in charge of the R&R program and they need 30 days to work the system and produce a plane ticket.  There is a packet of paperwork that they need: leave request which is approved through your service chain of command, copy of orders showing that you expect to be in theatre for at least 270 days, safety brief that you get from your work section, and maybe one other stupid thing that I can't remember right now.  The difficult part used to be the safety brief because it was only scheduled a couple times a month and always at the most inconvenient times.  That responsibility has now been handed down to the sections.  So it's much easier to grab the poor unfortunate soul who's been shoveled that particular collateral duty and make him or her run through the brief at lightning speed so you can all get on to more important things.

Anyhow, two weeks back home is a good thing.  In addition, I'm going to have a nine hour layover in London on the way back.  Looking forward to running out and having a pint.

What Happens With Chocolate

Since there is no way to avoid the care package that will be sent to you I should tell you what happens to chocolate.  I've discovered that Nestlé foil wrapped eggs hold their shape remarkably well.  So do Snickers mini size candy bars.  Less effective are Mounds and Almond Joy.  And Reese's Peanut Butter Cups will mold themselves into the shape of whatever they happen to be packed next to.  Spread the word.

One Hundred Ten Degrees

Let the record show that today, 27 May 2011, was the first day of the year that the thermometer passed (yeah, I said passed) 110°F here at Camp Lemonnier.

Halfway Home

A few days ago I hit the halfway mark on my time here.  It's been a little weird lately, seeing people that got here after me announcing that their replacement has arrived.  But that's what happens with a year tour.  I can definitely say that what someone told me early on is true: The days drag but the weeks fly by.  I think that's mostly because the days seem to blend into one another and you lose track of them, only to be punctuated by a Sunday off.

We have a new Admiral now, the previous one has taken a post in Germany and the current one has come over from CENTCOM.  It will take some adjustments on the staff's part to figure out what the new boss wants and what is important to him.  So that is the exciting part of May.  June surely has more excitement just around the bend waiting for us.