Things have been a little crazy at work, hence no updates
for quite some time; it seems that is always the excuse! J We are prepping for
our redeployment - putting together a training schedule for our replacements, having
them assign their personnel to certain FOBs once in theater, downsizing my room
and mailing things back home, among other tasks. I had to do my last COR audit
and inventory as well. We are adding cash payments to our operations, which meant
we had to get change, then divide it among the FOBs and split it with certain
percentages at each location in stamp stock versus cash. We are still working
out that last part.
Our replacements are due to get here within the week, so
time is really getting short. I am trying to either mail items home, throw away
some, or leave things for the incoming LT. The plan is to have everything fit
in my ruck sack. Essentially, I will need to live out of it for a few weeks, a
couple here, then on to KAF, Manas, and then HOME!!!
I have had to deal with some real drama recently as well, with…interpersonal
differences amongst the troops and between military and civilian. I don’t know
if it was just nerves, stress, or what, but it was resolved in a matter of
speaking, with shifting of personnel on both sides. I was really hoping to
coast once I returned from R&R, but it seems I have done most of my work
since I returned.
I continue to volunteer at the USO, but I will likely stop
shortly. It will be nice to sleep in a little during my last few days, plus
with all the training I’ll be conducting. Not that it will be overly busy, but
more so than usual. I am actually hitting 645 hours today. Speaking of which, I
need to follow up on a couple of volunteer medals that were submitted. My Soldiers are really big on what they will
earn from this deployment, as far as awards. Of course, there is the end of
tour award, a Commendation Medal for pretty much everyone. There are also the
Afghanistan Campaign and NATO ISAF medals, as well as an overseas ribbon. Most
of the Soldiers will more than double what they have since they are “new” to
the Army. They are pretty excited. I remember the feeling when I received my
first post-basic training awards. There was a real sense of accomplishment, and
of course excitement.
We are now into the voting season, so pushing ballots is a
big deal, especially processing them correctly. If things are not done right,
we are talking the Constitution, which means Congress would get involved. Not
something I want to mess with! Of all my responsibility since I arrived in
Afghanistan, this is the most weighty, and most concerning. Even though I don’t
actually process them (that is the contractor’s job), I have to know how to do
it. I am going to ensure that I am aware of every ballot that comes through my
APO.
How about an entry about my R&R trip? Sounds good to me.
This is the fun part. Before we left Paris, we had one last great breakfast at
the B&B; pictures are in part 2. I really would like to get my hands on the
cereal available there. It was granola with slivers of chocolate. Unlike most chocolate
cereals we get in the states, the chocolate didn’t melt and turn the milk,
well, chocolaty. It stayed whole. I really liked it. On July 10, my parents and
I drove (or rather Dad did!) toward Germany from Paris. We planned on going
through Luxembourg in order to stop by the American Cemetery there. As usual,
driving through the European countryside was pleasant, though a little
overcast. Once we arrived at the cemetery, it started to drizzle, but we still
took several minutes to walk the grounds, which like the cemetery in Normandy,
was somber but quite beautiful. The area is well-kept. For anyone who doesn’t
know, GEN Patton is interred here. His grave is a simple affair, and his marker
is separate from the others. When you look at his marker, the cemetery memorial
is in the background. The memorial itself is quite nice as well. It is bold yet
simple. A couple of pics are included in part 2. It started raining pretty hard
after about 10-15 minutes, so we rushed to the car. I would like to have stayed
a little longer, but I at least had the experience. The amazing thing was the
rain didn’t last long, and wasn’t expansive. After leaving this cemetery, Mom
and Dad thought it would be nice to stop by a nearby German cemetery. Although
the grounds are nice (at least nowadays) there is a sharp contrast to the
American cemetery. You can see this in the pictures. I noticed one thing in
common though, and that is markers for the unknown or not found. In this,
humanity it seems, is linked. In this cemetery, I felt sadness for those lost,
just as in the American one.
Once we finished visiting the German cemetery, we continued on
to Gernsheim, Germany and our next B&B. Gernsheim is south of Frankfurt,
about midway to Heidelberg, right along the Rhein river. After we arrived at
the B&B, we were led through the garage and down some stairs. I think we
all had a weird feeling about the set-up. However, our accommodations were
quite nice. We had the entire lower floor, with a HUGE bathroom and even a
sauna (for a price of course) in a sort of “foyer”. There were two bedrooms.
There was a second set of stairs that led to the house proper. The young couple
who ran the B&B were quite nice, and had two young children, the daughter
Sophie the B&B’s namesake. We settled in, arriving later than our hosts
were expecting. Some sort of communication snafu I presume. This was probably
caused by our stop in Trier for lunch. There was construction around the exit
to Trier, and we were going by the GPS, and the two weren’t playing along. Anyway,
we made it into town, managed to find “old town,” park, and find a restaurant. The
place was called Crocodil; I’m not sure why. I ended up getting fish, which was
the entire fish. Not that I mind, it was just funny, since my mother joked that
was probably going to be the case when I placed my order. Back to Gernsheim. After setting in, we drove down
the main street into the little town for dessert. It was a little difficult, as
the map we had had small writing, and the side streets were narrow, sometimes
missed. I think we just settled on turning down one of the side streets and we
got lucky. We found a gelato shop. I love gelato. After dessert, we walked
around the near block, narrow, brick streets, and neat buildings. We then
headed back to the B&B and settled in for the night.
Well, that was it for the 10th.
Until next time…
