Bright and early this morning I drove over to Catfish Air. It's a familiar drive. The same scenario has played out multiple times over the past year. The showtime was 0730. With my coffee in hand, I negotiated the southern end of Anaconda along the perimeter road. Then I turned right on Texas Ave and drove north past the retail fuel point. A few short minutes later I parked. I walked into the terminal to see two familiar Coast Guard personnel. They had all their gear ready for the mission. It was 0730. I was right on time.
This is where the normal story deviates. I was not going on this mission. I came out to greet the new team and see them off on their first mission. They were going to a place I've been to many times in the past year. It's famous for the oil mud. I'm talking about Camp Taji. This wasn't my mission. Other than the Coasties, none of my team would make this trip. All the Army personnel were from the replacements. There was the new Team Chief, NCOIC, and some of their other soldiers. They carried all the same gear. They were eager to get going. The new NCOIC immediately exclaimed, "I love flying on helicopters!" I assured him he would get his fill in the coming year. I gave one last check with the new Team Chief. They are ready. Now their first mission will begin the process of teaching them the things we simply could not convey in our training. I'm now just a spectator. It's not my team anymore. The mission responsibility now belongs to someone else.
When the KBR person came to conduct role call they all put their gear on and lined up. I took a photo of them and promised to e-mail later. I also needed to verify Hud's e-mail address. (Hud left the team back before Christmas. He found his way back. Now we had to say goodbye again). I said, "Hud, what was your middle initial?" He replied, "A. You know sir, A for Outstanding." I said, "Uh... is that Texas spelling?" Hud, realizing his mistake, said, "Well, um, you know what I meant."
Now I'm just packing the hooch and marking time until my flight to Kuwait. For the first time in a year, a mission began without me.
This is where the normal story deviates. I was not going on this mission. I came out to greet the new team and see them off on their first mission. They were going to a place I've been to many times in the past year. It's famous for the oil mud. I'm talking about Camp Taji. This wasn't my mission. Other than the Coasties, none of my team would make this trip. All the Army personnel were from the replacements. There was the new Team Chief, NCOIC, and some of their other soldiers. They carried all the same gear. They were eager to get going. The new NCOIC immediately exclaimed, "I love flying on helicopters!" I assured him he would get his fill in the coming year. I gave one last check with the new Team Chief. They are ready. Now their first mission will begin the process of teaching them the things we simply could not convey in our training. I'm now just a spectator. It's not my team anymore. The mission responsibility now belongs to someone else.
When the KBR person came to conduct role call they all put their gear on and lined up. I took a photo of them and promised to e-mail later. I also needed to verify Hud's e-mail address. (Hud left the team back before Christmas. He found his way back. Now we had to say goodbye again). I said, "Hud, what was your middle initial?" He replied, "A. You know sir, A for Outstanding." I said, "Uh... is that Texas spelling?" Hud, realizing his mistake, said, "Well, um, you know what I meant."
Now I'm just packing the hooch and marking time until my flight to Kuwait. For the first time in a year, a mission began without me.
1 comment:
Will you keep your when you get stateside? I've been reading this blog since September when my daughter's boyfriend went to Iraq with the VA National Guard.
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