We had just finished pressure washing our vehicles. Yet, there was still some work to be done, though we had accomplished the larger part of our mission by the smallest of margins. So I sent my Soldiers out to eat and rest. Unfortunately, I still had a little more work to do. Now that the stock had been pressure washed, I had to put shipping labels on all the stock. But by this time it was getting dark and I didn’t have a flashlight on me. Still, it had to be done and I’d already sent everyone else away. It took time, but I fumbled through the papers and squinted at the serial numbers until I had everything properly labelled… except for a couple Bobcats I’d switched. One of the Customs guys had come by about 3/4 of the way through to check on me. He was kind enough to loan me the flashlight he had. Wasn’t soon enough to get me some dinner though.
So that’s the other part of being an officer. You have to take responsibility and be accountable. Thankfully, we had everything in place, secure, and ready to go to the port. It was time to finish up any last minute errands for the night, like laundry. I knew enough to do the final load on my own time. My guys used the KBR point and could only pick up their laundry during business hours. Of course, that delayed our departure the next morning.
We did finally get moving and arrived at Arifjan, which isn’t but twenty minutes away. The Soldiers leaving had to hurry up and download their gear into another truck to transport. Then the buses had to be cleaned and the NTVs were left for myself and my small detail.
Finally, I had absolute control over my Soldiers! No more meddling Platoon Sergeant! Mwahaha!
Except we really aren’t doing anything. We’re here just in case there is an emergency need for drivers or mechanics/troubleshooters. So we’re mostly on standby all day. Nonetheless, I try to keep them on a steady schedule of lights on/out and leave them to entertain themselves during the day. There’s only five of us here, so I’m giving more free rein so we don’t drive each other crazy.
Arifjan is a nice place. I’ll have to let you know about it next post.
2LT Adam Ochylski
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