Leaving on a Jet Plane - Blogged by N8


Hey everyone! Greetings from Deutschland! Sorry if I have kept everyone out of the loop for a while with communication, but between work, jet-lag, and lack of internet access I really haven't been able to keep in touch with everyone. As you know, I was sent two weeks early ahead of my group due to a miscommunication with the order writing people (this is the Navy, afterall) and the RP detailer (for lack of a better term, my "puppet master").

So, after spending a week in San Diego the small group of us that were overlooked, 5 altogether, traveled by train to Oxnard County, California to await the arrival of the rest of our group. While we waited we worked for the NMPS, Navy Mobilization Processing Station, by getting the paperwork, barracks, and uniform orders ready for the oncoming group. After they arrived we helped in the process that they had to go through in order to mobilize.

Finally the day came for us to leave. They took us to the base where our plane was waiting for us. It was a charter flight, so we had the whole plane to ourselves. I was one of the first on, so I nabbed the best window seat that I could and got ready for a ten-hour flight. We took off at about 10:00pm in California and landed at Ramstein Air Base at about 5:00pm the next day! Crazy huh?

After we left the plane, we went into the terminal where a greeting party had lined up for us. They were all the big wigs from the hospital command, including the Commanding Officer, Command Master Sergeant, Command Chaplain, and the outgoing Commanding Officer of the old Navy Expeditionary Medical Unit. As I made my way down the line, I shook everyone's hand and greeted them with a loud, "Good Morning Sir/Ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you." As I reached the end, I shook the hand of a Navy Master Chief and she said to me very softly, "Morning has been over for quite some time, it's almost 6 in the evening..."

I felt so stupid!

Anyway, after a couple weeks of processing and indoctrination, I'm finally about to start doing the job Uncle Sam sent me here to do. We should be moving into our permanent apartments this weekend and I can keep better lines of communication with everyone. Thanks to everyone for your continued support and love. I really can feel it this long distance away.