Day 12 at NTC

[aadler]

 

The more things change …

It took some time to make connections this morning because, even though the battalion CO and XO have both welcomed me warmly, I can’t go to them for everything, and 1) I didn’t really know anyone else, while 2) no one else really considered me (and my team) to be their responsibility.

This morning, after I reported to BSTB TOC, I found myself talking to the captain of a technological analysis unit. (His job description is somewhat vague, as he no doubt finds mine to be, but it deals with emergency ordnance disposal — the bomb squad — as well as analysis and detection of WMD indicators, presumably including other aspects that weren’t specified.) In some ways we were in the same boat insofar as integrating into battalion operations in a very tight time frame, and we compared notes and commiserations. The next thing I knew, my team was attached to his unit, though the CO made it clear that he would have unrelated jobs for us as well.

When we first arrived at FOB King, I made connections with a commo sergeant to see about acquiring a bar that would lock our radios into our vehicle; without it, we’ve had to take our radios into our barracks to maintain accountability every time we park the truck. He said he’d be able to fix us up, and every time I saw him over the next several days he assured me he’d get to that as soon as he was caught up on more pressing tasks. Today he finally told me they didn’t have any. I consulted with his counterpart in BSTB — the original guarantor was brigade-level — and he said he could have something for me within the hour. When I went back to check with him, however, he’d been called to accompany a convoy, so that would have to wait.

There was an afternoon meeting that I was to attend, so — with occasional visits to my team at the barracks tent — I hung around the BSTB TOC, taking notes and touching base with people and doing fanfic draft. (Sometimes I have to be somewhere but there’s nothing to do for awhile; writing fills some of those gaps.) The tech analysis captain to whom I’ve been assigned told me that the initial mission of several days ago — that was altered to the non-event I attended with the chemical company — was back on, for departure early morning. Yes, sir.

I checked back with the battalion commo sergeant; he ordered a PFC to get me a locking bar, and she said all their inventory had been handed out already. So, he gave me a standby battery so we wouldn’t lose our code fill every time we pulled the radio from our truck, and I got with the commo tech from our assigned unit to get a new fill so we’d be on for tomorrow. Then I attended a briefing for tomorrow’s mission. Then I checked with our interpreter; he said he could indeed come with us on mission tomorrow, and helped me record a “stay away, this area is dangerous” message in case anything forestalled his coming along.

I put together a sitrep and turned it in to my NCOIC, at which time he told me there had been an angry crowd (small, about ten people) at the gate today and nobody called us, they just sent an infantry squad to maintain order. Not good; we’ve been prepping for exactly such a scenario for most of a week because we’re the guys trained for it. Apparently the word takes time to get out.

Because tomorrow’s schedule calls for an early departure (and a much earlier wake-up), I advised my team to take a commensurately early bedtime. I checked my draft sheets, found I’d done just over 1,000 words on “Queen’s Gambit” today, and called it a night at 8:30.