Welcome to CRC!

Disclaimer: Some of this may get boring. In addition to documenting my experience, I also want to document the process of getting from Kansas City to Afghanistan, and back, so that those following behind me may be enlightened and have an easier trip because of it. In order to do this, I will likely capture details which you, the reader, care nothing about. My apologies.

Well, I'm here. The horrific trauma of saying goodbye to my family at the airport is over, and the aftermath wasn't as gruesome as I thought it would be. Daughter Prime took it the hardest. She remembers very clearly me being gone for 3.5 months when I first got this job, and realizes that this absence will be longer and harder. Her birthday is also on Monday, just 3 days after I left, making her experience all the more difficult. My Wallflower took it the best, or at least put on the bravest face. Her personality is such that when her mask starts to crack, a cataclysmic emotional event is going to follow soon after. I'm hoping this happens later, rather than sooner, as she will be difficult to piece back together. Little One is too, well, little, to understand what's really going on. My wife reported to me that upon arriving back at our house and seeing my car in the driveway, she asked if I was home already. Sigh. Things like that make me cry. I'm hoping that using the video chat feature of Skype will make the separation easier, but this is still going to be one of the most difficult things I've ever done.

Enough about that depressing subject. On to what's keeping me busy.

My trip was, unfortunately, eventful. We weren't quite to cruising altitude from Kansas City to Atlanta when the older gentleman in front of me vomited explosively all over himself and the seat in front of him. The flight from Atlanta to Columbus was delayed an hour due to maintenance. Then the bus from the airport to Ft. Benning ran late because several people on my flight also headed to CRC had one or more bags lost. The airline even lost one poor soldier's rifle that she had checked. Not a good situation.

After all the delays, and one side stop, the bus finally got to the CRC compound around 11:30 PM. A line of nearly an hour to sign in for rooms, beds, and sheets pushed my bed time until nearly 1 AM by the time it was said and done. A very talkative contractor standing behind me in the line used our wait time to scare the crap out of me with stories about himself and other people he knew getting turned away by this course for multiple weeks, leaving their leave date in limbo. I ended up tossing and turning all night long, looking at the clock too many times to count. Heavily emphasized piece of advice: when traveling to CRC, leave as early as you can bear on Friday.

But in the end, I'm here, I have all my stuff, and I got a slot in the class (woo hoo!). During check-in, we were directed to show up for sign in at 9 AM this morning, and to bring all of our paperwork with us. Naturally, that meant people started lining up at 7 AM in an effort to be first.

I should explain about the CRC process for a minute. In order to attend this class, which is required for deployment overseas for all military, civilians and contractors not deploying as part of a larger unit, you're supposed to make a reservation. Reservations are hard to get. Only 400 people are allowed into each class each week, and a whole lot more want/need to take it. Now, in theory, this reservation guarantees you a slot. In practice, the school overbooks each and every class, and many more people show up unannounced hoping to make the stand-by list. Thus, waiting in line for a CRC slot felt much more like trying to buy floor seats for a Miley Cyrus concert than it felt like the first step towards Afghanistan. The picture at the top of this entry is what the huddled masses looked like this morning.

I want to point out that these are only the people that were standing in line precisely at 9 AM on Saturday. Technically check-in for the class is supposed to take place all day long, but the demand is such that if you aren't here PRECISELY WHEN IT STARTS, you're probably out of luck. All the people with reservations that thought they could fly in on Saturday are now waiting until next week to try again.

After sign-in, there was a brief respite before being walloped with briefings and paperwork. The FAQ on CRC's website says to bring 14 copies of your orders, and they aren't joking in the slightest. Almost every piece of paper they push at you ends up being accompanied by a copy of your orders. The redundancy results in carrying around something akin to this:


Mercifully, after the 8th (literally) briefing about CRC procedures, safety, paperwork guidance, and the mandatory daily shower (I kid you not), I was finished for the day. I used my free afternoon to watch a delightfully entertaining US vs England World Cup match, and type up this post. Next is dinner, (mandatory) shower, family phone time, and early to bed. The lack of sleep is beginning to make my eyes droop.

Tomorrow looks to be fairly tame as well. First formation is at 7 AM to get sized for uniforms and body armor, then some other briefings on who-knows-what, before another free afternoon. I'll be back then with the wrap-up of Day 2.

Until then. Out here.