TRIP PART TWO

Finally home. This last trip was tough, but it is always good to see the troops and truly understand the great work they are accomplishing while overcoming challenges. Every location we went to was making great progress on items they needed to improve and working diligently on preparing for the next Battalion.

The second half of the trip did not go quite as planned and we realized quickly we needed to adjust our plans when our plan to Europe skipped Frankfurt (where we were supposed to go) and landed in Amsterdam. The airline was not prepared for this and instead of having everyone line up so they could work flights back to Frankfurt or to the next location (Madrid for us) it turned into a mob of people yelling and shoving their tickets at the ticket representatives. They finally separated the group into Frankfurt, Europe, and non-Europe groups, took our tickets, and said to hang out for a while. We shopped around some and then settled in to wait. What should have been fairly simple turned into an all day long nightmare with us finally being given a flight for later that night. Sure there were 8-10 flights to Madrid before ours, but they kept missing them as they were distracted by the angry mob. They were just overwhelmed and did not know what to do. We finally made it to Madrid, but our bags were no where to be found. This is when we realized the trip was going to be painful. It was late at night, our rescheduled flight to Jerez (near Rota Naval Base) was the next morning, we had not clothes or toiletries, had been traveling now for 36 hours, and needed a place to sleep. We found a hotel close by and grabbed 4-5 hours of sleep before heading back to the airport. Needless to say our bags were still not there, but luck was with us. We were passing back through Madrid the next day on the way out of the country so we should be able to get them. Rota was a good visit. The main project they are working on is a Combat town for the Marines so they can train on urban environments. It was coming along nicely and the troops seem to be doing very well. The camp still seems almost like a ghost town since it normally holds 300+ Seabees, but it is down to 30 for this deployment. Our luck paned out as we flew through Madrid and our bags were there. We picked them up, checked them in for our flight to the states and off we went. But guess what, even with the two hour delay in Philadelphia the bags did not make it to West Palm Beach. Now we were back in the same boat as before with no bags and a flight that left for Andros before the next flight in with our bags. We just left the airport and did not even wait to fill out the paperwork – we would be back in West Palm and could pick them up. Our visit to Andros went just as well. The first Barracks project they completed was being turned over to the base a couple days later and the next Barracks project was finally getting over some of the material issues they had been dealing with. Materials in Andros are very difficult since they all come in on a barge and our stuff is not the top priority. It is a constant battle to stay ahead of the work, but they are good right now. We heading back to West Palm, picked up our lost bags (the baggage rep had been calling everyone and trying to find us since there was no paperwork done – ooops), and drove to Jacksonville. The bonus in Jacksonville was that my Dad had flown in for the night and we were able to catch up and have dinner together. It was a very short visit, but well worth it. Jacksonville sure looks like a nice town once you get away from the base. Cuba was next on the list so off we went again and YES the bags finally made it. We were now able to pull out our stinky week old dirty clothes and do some laundry. I also did a couple of runs with some of the guys in the hills of the island which was great (but painful the next day). The weather was still well in the nineties so definitely not a winter feel there. Their main project is a steel bridge along the perimeter and they are making tremendous progress. The piles are almost all complete, the abutments are close, and bulk of the bridge itself was assembled along the banks. They will get as far as placing the main steel girders and the next group will place the wood decking and guardrails. One bonus in Cuba was seeing the “LT Dan Band” with Gary Sinise. They played all types of music and were very talented. The entire group was appreciated of the efforts of the troops in Cuba. Final leg of the trip was to fly to Norfolk, drive to DC and fly back to Kuwait. The bags made it, I had a chance to see Jennifer and a bunch of past co-workers, I actual saw my new Condo that I just closed on, and even had time to drive by the Seabee memorial before my flight. A long trip that I am ready to be home from, but it was worthwhile and I feel confident in where we are heading in preparation for turnover. Now it is back to tightening things up in Kuwait and we will be home in no time.