YOU! HAVE! GOT! TO! BE! KIDDING! ME!

This was much of my Easter Sunday; alternating sleeping and crying and then ignoring mean female soldiers that were making fun of me for sleeping and crying.

In celebration of the pity party I had apparently decided to throw for myself, I actually went to the mess hall and ate. I was in a foreign country and knew not one single person there. I was broke too as these were also pre-direct deposit days and being I had not been to a unit in over a month, I missed a payday (and I was only paid once a month). Sure, the money would eventually catch up with me but in the meantime, I was broke. I missed my family so much it hurt and I kept wondering if they missed me too. It wasn't as much about how long it had been since I had not seen them but more how long before I would see them again and the distance that was between us. These were the days before Internet, email, cell phones --all we had is snail mail and since I was not yet assigned to a unit, I didn't even have a mailing address. I don't know if all soldiers take transitions as hard as I did but I can tell you, I was one miserable soul.

This was the last day I spent sleeping 20 hours or more. In hind sight, I think the sleep was due to severe cases of both jet lag and depression. I guess I could have been sick but I never did see a doctor and it eventually got better so if there was any illness, it couldn't have been more than a minor bug.

Monday was just a lot of barracks detail which I remember very little about. I do remember I had to clean out a room that was behind one of those brown doors down that dark hall but mostly, it was a lot of boredom and a lot of waiting.

Tuesday morning arrived and I sprang out of bed! Today is the day I get to report to my unit! You don't understand, all during basic training and AIT all you hear is, "When you get to your unit . . . . " I have been waiting 7 long months for this day and the past 2 weeks in country seemed longer than the months before. Of course, there were floors to buff, beds to unmake and bags to pack but I was ready to go!

Thankfully, I had a very short bus ride --maybe only 15 minutes or so. THIS was Division Headquarters, 1st Armored Division, Hindenburg Kaserne and it looked the part too. NOW I am a soldier, I have arrived. Nothing was going to spoil this day for me. Let the soldiering begin!

I got to my unit PAC and signed it. Ah, I'm here! My duffle bag was in the hallway right outside the door. There were busy soldiers everywhere --some spoke to me, others didn't. I was terrified of anyone in the rank of E5 or above so I tried to not make eye contact with any sergeants or officers that walked by. Down the hall was the NBC room, Arms room and the 1SG's and CO's office and then a set of stairs. We were in the basement of the barracks, which were 3 floors; 2 male floors and one female floor. On the wall, painted the same putrid green the other barracks had been, there were picture frames in a line of our Chain of Command starting with the President of the United States down to our CO. I was in my Class A uniform, which was required when you reported to a new unit, and which I was rather proud of despite my weightless sleeves and collars that had no rank. Private E1 Dodge, that's who I was. And I was reporting for duty!

After a brief sign in at PAC I was told to go wait out in the hallway on some benches that lined the wall. I didn't mind waiting because I was finally where I was supposed to be. A little while later the PAC NCOIC came out and said, "I have some bad news. It turns out we really don't have room for you here so we're trying to find a slot somewhere else in the division for you." I didn't take the news too hard because I thought she meant someplace HERE, on Hindenburg Kaserne, Ansbach, Germany. I asked how long before she'd know like you know --few minutes, right? No, could be hours. In the meantime, she told me, "Why don't you go over to the mess hall and get something to eat." She told me to take my things into her office where she could lock them up. I was afraid to ask but I had to know so I finally asked her, "You mean right here, right? You'll find me a slot here at division headquarters?" "Oh no!", she went on to explain, "we don't have a slot for you here at the division level but we're calling out to the battalions and brigades. We've got a place for you, don't worry."


I was worried. Dare I ask? Yes, I need to know so I asked, "How far away are these battalions and brigades?"

"Oh, some right down the street where you came from but the ones we have calls into are --1, maybe 2 hours away. I'll let you know as soon as we hear something."

ONE OR TWO HOURS AWAY???

YOU! HAVE! GOT! TO! BE! KIDDING! ME!

I was so weary of travel. The thought of another bus ride made me want to collapse.