So, we finally land in Kabul and they let us get off the plane. The first thing I notice is the wonderfully cooler air. Immediately, I prefer this place to Kuwait or Kandahar. They load us on a bus and, after our luggage is unloaded and the pallets moved, they drive us to the terminal. Before we even unload the bus, I see my good friend Butler with 3 Sailors unloading the pallet and I realize they are looking for my bags. I hurry off the bus and yell for him. The smile on his face told me he was happier to see me than I was to see him...and I was pretty happy to see my friend. However, my arrival reminded him of his impending departure I think. The guys grab my luggage and load it in a truck. I even had welcoming presents from Butler. He immediately handed me my new IJC patch, a tupperware filled with random useful stuff and a wallet for all the IDs I will soon need. Consider it my guest amenity if you will. This is real VIP treatment and my travelling partners, the rest of Morgan's Zeroes, finally realize how important I really am. After a few quick "goodbyes" and "good lucks," Butler and I leave the terminal. He tells the Sailors to drive to my barracks and we will walk. That's when I realize I am actually stationed at the airport. I had a different idea in my mind but we walked off the flight line and onto the compound. Butler gave me a quick overview as we walked and we passed my future workspace.
At the barracks, the guys were already taking my stuff in and Lt Finger met us and showed me to my room. Before heading into the female berthing, Butler asked me how long I needed. Keep in mind, I had been travelling for 11 days, wearing the same cammies for 3 and sweating profusely the entire time. With a straight face, he asks if I want to meet him in 30 minutes. Yeah, he was excited to see me. I gently remind him I need to shower and for my efforts, get an hour and a half. The good Lt showed me my lockers, let me pick a bed and already even had one with sheets and a pillow on her. Yeah; we'll get along famously. I dump my stuff, find clean clothes and hop in the shower. Ahhhh, relief. I'm "home" now but have no time to get used to it. Butler wants to begin turnover.
He takes me to the office and the handshaking and "nice to meet you" part of turnover begins. Fortunately, no one had anything terribly important to say. I think they all remembered what it was like their first day and knew I would remember nothing we talked about. After a quick tour, Butler asks me if I'm hungry. Considering that the only meal I had consisted of the few raviolis I was able to spear with my knife, the answer was "yes."
He took me to the Turkish restaurant for dinner. I had a nice kabob. Sadly, mealtime included a fly invasion that ruined the ambience of the whole place. I'm not an expert, but i think the missing screen or glass on the front door might have been their entry point into the place. Butler had a checklist to review and all sorts of official looking paperwork. He gave me a rundown of the crew and my new officemates as well as a history of his experiences during deployment. It was great to have a friend and familiar face on my first day and I am so glad I got replace him. All the emails, phone calls and letters really prepared me for the coming days.
We went back to the office where I had packages waiting for me already! I had one from my good friend Jennifer and two from my mother. Jennifer's package included flashlights and caribiners which helped make me an instant hit in the office. It also included a little momento to remind me of some of our finer moments at the occasional watering hole. My mother had sent forward some of the items I had left for her as well as chocolates, cup O' noodles, crackers and assorted snacks. I thought, "my new office mates HAVE to like me now, I showed up with cool gear and food on my first day." It was nice to have pieces of home and care packages waiting on me. It was a great harbinger of mail to come!
At about 9 that night, I finally tell Butler I have to go to bed. We make arrangements to meet for breakfast the next morning. I won't bore you with detail of my dining experience..that's a later topic. Let's just say that the food really is as bad as everyone told me it would be.
My first few days really were a blur. I met a lot of folks, learned a lot of information and forgot even more. I got my emails set up, checked in to the various offices on base, started to unpack but never quite finished and before I knew it, Butler was leaving. I think I may have pushed him out of the office at some point. This job has been his project for the last seven months and I could see the passion and concern he has for it. Somehow, I think that will start to fade in the coming weeks and months as he gets closer to home and returns to his life. I only hope that in 7 months, I have put the same effort into this job as he did. I hope that I will have been as good to my relief as he has been to me. I guess really, I hope I will have been as good period.
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