DAY 27: Do I look like a Travel Agent?

Thu, 22 September 2005

As a loggie, it’s time for me to finalize our homeward bound journey. While the details are classified, I can say this: we’ll be on 9 travel segments including: military, contracted, and commercial flights; and military, contracted and commercial ground transportation modes. Johanna and Robin are the loggie gurus for the Renegades – they would appreciate what I’m going thru. The hard part: everyone has a different opinion on how fast/slow they would like to proceed home. A few folks at the senior command level discuss the pros and cons for each variation for several hours. Finally, I press the commander to make the final decision. Again, not everyone will be pleased. But ultimately this is a military movement and we must make decisions that best suits the group to move us from Afghanistan to our home station in an expedient, yet efficient manner. I finally send the details over a secured network back to our home station. To confirm receipt, I call my boss. After reviewing the message, he mentions “Do I look like a Travel Agent?” We both bust out laughing and then call it a night – well at least for me. It’s 2:30am (next day) and I can now finally retire to bed after a LONG, but fruitful day.

Tour Extension
BTW, it is now official – I will be staying behind for two extra weeks with a few others to move a very large piece of cargo back to the states. The reason is that this is a high-priority mission and my role as a loggie is essential to make the cargo movement happen. So, my end of tour is now mid-October. Such is the life of a loggie – first one in and last one out.