Saturday, November 10, 2007

10 November 2007: HAZMAT Marathon


The word of our arrival spread quickly throughout FOB Marez/Diamondback. We're the redeployment "enablers." My Coast Guard personnel are the HAZMAT gatekeepers. If they inspect it, the container will clear the port without any problems. Units started calling early. I thought we were just going to visit a few people and assist them with identifying HAZMAT for shipment. At first that's all we did. After lunch things got hectic. A mad rush ensued. Several units at once wanted us to come seal their HAZMAT containers. We are here to serve so we decided to work until finished. Around 1930, and several containers later, we sealed the last one for the day. We worked by the headlights of a forklift - it gets dark here by 1730. There was a definite chill in the air too.

We barely had time to make it to the DFAC for supper. After taking our time at chow we went back to the office to check e-mail. I tried a phone call home but couldn't get through. By 2100 I was back in my room reading.

It was a HAZMAT marathon. We'll probably finish up early here. Folks sure are eager to go home.

Oh, one more thing.... Happy Birthday U.S. Marine Corps!

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