13 March 2008: Demobilization Day 4

First order of business today was to walk down to the barracks where my unit was housed. I stopped for coffee on the way. There's a coffee kiosk adjacent to the PX. Thomas met me there and we waited for the owner to open the place. In the meantime, I noticed a plethora of kittens running around. By my count, there were six of various colors. Camp Shelby seems to have an abundance of stray cats.

The "main body" of the 1190th DSB departed for home. The charter bus picked everyone up at 0730. I shook hands with everyone as they boarded. Their demobilization is complete. I'm the last of the holdouts. I stood with my coffee and watched as the bus pulled out and departed. Then I walked alone back to the coffee kiosk for a refresher. From there it was back to my billets. No more progress on my administrative out processing could be made until I heard back that my extension memorandum was completed. Just to stay productive, I dumped my dufflebag and boxed everything up to mail home. That would save me an extra bag to lug around the airport. The post office was adjacent to where I was staying. Once I mailed the box I was off to the club for lunch.

I had a surprise visitor about an hour later. Dallas, who's a Major in the 1190th, called me to say he was stopping by to see me. He did not mobilize with us a year ago. I have no idea how he flew under the radar on this one. He was on his way back from a conference and was driving through Hattiesburg. It was great to see him. His visit couldn't have been better timed. I got a call from the mobilization center right after he arrived. My memo was completed and I could continue the admin process. Dallas gave me a ride. We chatted while my DD214 was completed. This took much longer than anticipated. By the time my DD214 was complete it was 1700. I'd have to finish out-processing the next morning. Dallas gave me a ride back to my hooch and then was on his way home (Baton Rouge).

Now it's just me. Another day at Camp Shelby complete. I still don't know when I'll fly home. However, I will find out in the morning.