Packing is fun...

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It’s the day all good soldiers wait for…Packing for the trip home. Yup HOME! Now don’t get too excited because we still have time here in Kosovo but the redeployment process has begun. It’s seems quite simple but there are many steps to do until mission complete.

For the past few days most of us have been digging through our drawers, emptying closets and rummaging through our personal belongings and separating them into very deliberate piles. This pile goes into the big green tote, that pile is for the giant ruck sack and then there is a pile for the ever familiar duffle bag. Army gear over here, civilian stuff neatly folded up and then the miscellaneous pieces of things that we have collected since landing in Kosovo.

Now there are many ways to pack. Some of us neatly fold and put things in order before they go into the various containers, while others just jam the clothing and equipment into all the bags without folding a dang thing. I personally am a little anal and not only use a folding technique but also tape all the shirts together, pants together and even underwear together and then put them into ziplock bags. Okay, I know that’s going a bit far but I can’t help myself.

Once everything is packed we haul all the bags and totes to a large parking lot that is lined up with bunches of 40 foot containers and a single green army tent. Our job…go into the tent on one side and exit through the other end. Of course it’s really not as easy as that. First of all, there cannot be any dirt on the duffle bags, totes or ruck sacks as you enter the tent. Before you wander into the big green army tent you must dust off your foot gear and put these little blue booties over your big army boots. Of course it’s easier if you have smaller feet, but it’s all for a good reason. The Customs Officials do everything within their power and guidance to assist us with not taking any contaminated dirt or foreign bugs and things back to the United States. They also keep a close watch on us so we do not import any contraband that would be illegal or unsafe for the trip home.

So there we are from privates to Colonels, all with those silly blue booties on, trapped in the tent with Customs Inspectors as we are dumping all our worldly belongings out for inspection. The hard part many times is getting the bags and totes repacked exactly the way they started, inevitably some soldiers have a difficult time of getting them closed the second time around. Today it was steaming hot, I would guess it reached temperatures nearing 100 degrees inside that big green army tent. It’s so humid here right now that it reminds me of the extreme Deep South. I guess I would consider it to be “Alabama Hot!” It just isn’t right to sweat so much. Humidity is not for the weak, but all said and done, we are one day closer to coming home regardless of the weather.

After we are completed with our inspections soldiers haul them down to one of the 40 foot containers and stack them nicely so all the totes and bags travel well on the journey home via the deck of a ship. But it’s more than just brute labor that goes into the process. Inspections aside, there’s a mound of paperwork that is associated with all the cargo. Each individual soldier has to complete a packing list, then after multiple copies; one in the tote, one for your records and two for the unit records. I know you’re thinking…why so many copies, what could possibly happen to your gear between here and home. Well most every unit experiences some kind of havoc with the containers during a deployment. Just with North Dakota units only, over the past 6 years there have been 3 containers that have been started on fire, some are damaged in transport and there has actually been a few that get lost and are never to be seen again. So simply put, all the paperwork is to protect both the soldier and the military when it comes to filing claims and actually trying to figure out what the 40 foot loads contain.

Now that our job of packing is complete, then unit logistics personnel will spend the next month accounting for everything they brought from their home units, they will turn in vehicles, ensure all combat protective gear is sent back to the mobilization station so it can be issued out to other units going to a combat zone and assisting with the planning of our return trip. So aside from having to wear funny blue booties and sweat our butts off it’s a great time in the deployment.

Most everybody by now has their own personal countdown and planning their vacation with their families when they return home. I would say that there is a sense of exhaustion both with the mission requirements and trying to tolerate the simple politics of the army way. Soldiers have a true knack for seeing through all the crap that systems and leadership throw at them. The closer to leaving a deployment the more vocal some can become because of the anticipation of completing the trip and knowing that they don’t have to deal with all the little things soon. It’s a natural occurrence, to become anxious and impatient. Boredom becomes a daily event and as everyone knows…”Busy Hands are Happy Hands”, which means it is much better to keep soldiers engaged rather than let them sit around and figure out ways to get into innocent trouble.

My message for everyone…Patience is a virtue! We are close and next month will be home and then all of us will have fantastic stories of adventure to tell. Both from the soldiers here in Kosovo and also the adventures of our loved ones who have been without us for nearly a year. Soon we will be able to start sharing face to face, planning for our futures and laughing together.

Soon the peacekeepers will return!

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