DAY 1: Departure

Sat, 27 August 2005
The Mad Scramble and Dash
I got up early and started laundry to prep one last load for my pending deployment. Although our initial deployment date of August 25th had already passed, a delay in airlift indicated that we would not depart for another week. So, as an Assistant Installation Deployment Officer, I was getting ready to head for work and deploy out the other squadron within our unit to an undisclosed location in Africa later that afternoon. Then the phone rings. It’s our command chief and she informs me that they are currently conducting the roll call for my deployment. Wait – I inquire that this roll call must be for the other squadron, right? Wrong! I somehow got left off the notification list from the previous night and thus this is the first time I’m hearing about our new departure time. Panic, panic, panic. Okay, I pause for a moment to think what I need to accomplish -- finish the laundry, pack my bags, perform a few necessary errands, and finally turn in my laptop to my civilian employer. I was planning to leisurely perform these chores over the weekend, but now I had just two hours to complete everything and leave – ugh. After frantically getting everything done that needed to get done, I arrive on station just as the folks were loading their baggage. Whew, just in the nick of time and not a minute to spare. We’re then given an hour for lunch, and then reassemble to be bused to another location for airlift.

KSUU
Some of the folks say goodbye and hug and kiss their families before boarding the bus and departing for our destination at Travis AFB, a 90-minute bus ride in the San Francisco Bay Area. The trip is uneventful, but as I pass Concord I try to call a few friends in the Renegades – a senior drum & bugles corps that I march with. Since I was selected for the deployment, we all knew that my last show with them was at the end of July in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Wonderful memories I have with this great bunch of people – let’s see, doing run-throughs on a football field in a soaking rainstorm, attack of those pesky black beetles, performing our show at Wake Forest’s Groves Stadium, and then partying all night at the local brew pub (complete with random transvestite). Okay, I’ve digressed a bit. The Renegades have since filled my hole and were gearing up for the DCA World Championships over the upcoming Labor Weekend. Sadly, everyone I call is not answering – they are all out on the field probably going through another run-through on a football field in the hot sun. Alas, we proceed on and arrive at our destination of Travis AFB (KSUU).

Hurry up and Wait
For those folks with a military background, you know exactly what I’m talking about. We were hell-bent on arriving early at Travis AFB, only to wait…and wait…and wait. Finally, in the early evening we head out to the plane – a KC-10 aircraft (military version of a DC-10 with the third engine in the tail fin). The cargo gets lifted in with a K-loader, which is a military flatbed that lifts the cargo to the plane’s cargo bay and then slides the cargo in on rollers. This is an awesome sight to behold and one that I sear into my mind while I chat with my family one last time as they celebrate my nephew’s 5th birthday.

The Arctic Chill
If you’ve traveled on a military aircraft, then you’ll know that the inside of the aircraft is not insulated – unlike a commercial aircraft’s plush interior. There’s not much of a difference at takeoff, but once you’re cruising at 40,000 feet the outside skin starts to chill the cabin air. And boy, does it get cold. In my haste, I leave my sweatshirt in the carry-on that has since been palletized and is unreachable during flight. So, I grab a blanket and try to get some zzz’s to pass the time. The air then really cools, and I start to shiver. As more time passes on, I start to shake so badly that I’m now almost into Stage 1, Hyperthermia. When the cold finally becomes utterly unbearable, the lights come back on just in time and we start the approach to land. I somehow hold on these last few minutes, and as we deplane onto the tarmac I bask in the warm mid-afternoon sun upon our arrival to RAF Mildenhall, UK.