Admin Week

The first week of my mobilization to Kuwait has been eventful and uneventful at the same time.  The pace of the workups goes something like this: one week in Norfolk to make sure I am not sick, lame or wounded either physically or mentally and to ensure that I am fully transferred from the Reserves back to active duty Navy, followed by a period of weeks of Army training at Ft. Dix to make sure I am ready to enter the CENTCOM area of responsibility, followed by a couple days of training on what the Customs battalion will actually be doing.  The training period got off to a fitful start because of Hurricane Sandy.  Although it was only a glancing blow to the Hampton Roads area it was still enough to curtail the majority of operations at the naval base for a day or so and throw a major wrench into the travel plans of dozens of sailors trying to get there.  I ended up being the senior officer for the Customs folks going through Norfolk, which is both a blessing and a curse.  It is always a privilege to be in charge of sailors and it is not something I ever take lightly.  I am fortunate because being responsible for a group of mobilized Reservists headed out on Customs duty is sort of self-selecting in that these all appear to be locked-on sailors, most have volunteered and for a large number this is not their first deployment.  In fact, at least 2 did this very mission just last year.  The flip side is that there is no skating by this week, just tracking where the heck everyone is spread around the country is a major effort.  I am extremely fortunate to have some solid Chiefs and a Senior Chief, these gentlemen (and one lady) are the folks that make the Navy run.  I get a little bit of street cred with them because I was a Chief myself before I went to the “dark side” and got commissioned (the Chief’s point of view, and there is a lot of truth to this, is that the pinnacle of Navy service is to reach the rank of Chief) but they are evaluating my performance as much as I am evaluating theirs. 

Logistics are my only major problem as I go through the week in Norfolk.  My flight to get to Norfolk was cancelled due to Sandy, so I jumped in my car and drove down.  Because personal vehicles are verboten at Ft. Dix, I had to get the car back home and get to Ft. Dix on my own while the rest of the crew took buses up.   I was able to finish up with the paperwork on Friday, turn everything over to the Senior Chief and Chiefs and head home.  It was great to be able to spend a few more hours with the family but not-so-great to have another goodbye.