Leaving... On a Jet Plane

It's been quiet on the blog, hasn't it?

Yes, I've actually been very busy in the time since the last post. We've packed all of our belongings, sold/thrown away what didn't get packed, left our house, had umpteen signatures authorizing me to leave, shipped more items, and cleared up any loose ends here in Germany.

So, what is involved in leaving the base?

First, some timeline. My orders are stamped 06 November. They told me to be out of town on the 22nd. 16 days, right?

Wrong. I actually received the orders on the 7th. 15 days. Late on the 7th, so... 14 days.

The 22nd is our flying date, so everything needs to be done before that, so... the 21st. 13 days.

Veterans Day was in there. That's a four-day weekend here. 9 days.

There was another weekend. 7 days.

7 days to get it all done.

Wait, one day is spent with them packing up "Unaccompanied Baggage" - that's the critical need stuff you need shipped lickity-split to your destination. Clothes, cribs, computer, TV, etc. Lickity-split for us equals 22 December. Oh, and that leaves 6 days.

There's still the rest of the house... different day to be shipped. 5 days.

Oh, and if you have a vehicle (like I do), it needs to be cleaned and shipped. Cleaning requires it to look better than when it left the dealer. Really. That clean. I didn't have the time, so I paid a guy $200 to do it. Took him TEN hours. Think I got a good deal. Oh, and of course, the shipping base for the vehicle is an hour and a half away, and it takes a few hours to do the paperwork. 4 days.

4 days to clear the base.

4 days to get signatures from: The bank, the PX, the fitness center, the education center, the phone service, the school, the childcare center, the medical clinic, the dental clinic, the child registry, the finance office (twice), the Army Community Service, the housing office, the transportation office, the Installation Access office, the personnel office, the ID card office, TriCare office, the Central Issuing Facility, your arms room, the Career counselor, the Veterinary clinic, the Safety office, the tax office, the Key control office, the Vehicle registry, the travel office (need plane tickets, don't forget!), the post office, the tool room, the motor pool, the operations office, the supply room, the intelligence office, the battalion supply office, the commander, and the battalion personnel office.

4 days.

In Illeshiem, it can take up to FIVE different bases to accomplish all of this. AND there's a prescribed order in some cases (A must be done before B, but neither A nor B will tell you about that until you try to do B without A). Throw in the fact that a small post like this has limited and odd operating hours for some offices, and it becomes a planning challenge. Further add that you don't know what an office may require of you UNTIL you arrive, and it becomes more interesting.

Quite a few didn't think it could be done in 4 days.

Further add one more thing. The PCS-gremlin. The PCS-gremlin is the kind of thing that will crop up when you least need something to go wrong. In our case, it was two of the clan getting sick and one falling (twice) and hurting her collarbone. This also being after I'd already cleared the medical clinic.

4 days was not a lot of time. It was hectic, stressful, and often frustrating. Some offices refused to do business with me until I had special memoranda written by my commander explaining how I was an exception to policy. Then, in a neat twist, the supply room of the unit wouldn't accept the clearance authorized by that memoranda. Back and forth, like a tennis ball, until I finally cleared.

Lots of driving.

It was an impossibly tight schedule. I'm happy it's done and over with.

All the paperwork has been cleared. Our stuff is all gone. Our beloved house is no longer rented by us. The kids have finished their schools.

We're leaving... on a jet plane.

My father and his ex-wife came over to help, and they helped us accomplish a good bit (best darn house-cleaners on the planet!).

So, in a few hours, we'll convoy, in three cars, to Frankfurt. There are seven of us getting on the plane. Plus about 11 or 12 pieces of luggage. And two cats. And a child seat. And a booster seat. And a stroller. Think the only thing I haven't arranged is the sherpa.

We'll soon be back in the United States. As I told a friend, I'll know I'm going home when I approach that big (and beautiful) Delta jet and see the beautiful American flag on her tail.

What am I going to miss?

Lots. I've enjoyed my time here in Germany, and am disappointed it can't be more. I'd originally extended to stay here through 2009. I'd always thought I'd won the Army lottery by being assigned to Europe.

I'm going to miss going on the next deployment with my (former, sigh) unit.

I'm going to miss driving in Germany. It's SO simple and predictable... I've felt perfectly comfortable driving 90 MPH, in traffic, in a blizzard. Could never do that in the States.

I'm going to miss the recent drive I took down the autobahn... 150 MPH. Even if I max the speedlimit in the States, it's still only half that. And it's faster than our helicopters. More? I still got passed.

I'm going to miss the backroads. Every road has a white stake every 50 meters. You could always see the road, and it was comforting at night. And in the day, the scenery was unbeatable.

I'm goint to miss the small towns and villages. Six houses might make a village here, and they're darn proud of their little hamlets. Very quaint.

I'm going to miss living in a town that celebrates it's 1000th anniversary.

I'm going to miss driving in other countries... Hmm, this weekend, I think I'll go to _________. Told you, won the lottery...

I'm going to miss my kids learning another language the easy way.

I'm going to miss a good German dinner.

I'm going to miss seeing the odd sights, like a turkey being taken for a ride in a wheelbarrow (not at Thanksgiving, which they don't have here anyway). It for all the world looked like Farmer Hans was taking his turkey for a pleasure ride.

I'm going to miss the stars. The nights here are so pure. No light pollution. Much like when I was in Afghanistan. So many stars. Beautiful. Breathtaking.

I'm going to miss German windows. Very innovative and WHY we don't have them is a mystery to me.

I'm going to miss my (former) unit. I can't say enough about my (former) unit. From the top down, it's been a fantastic group. For so many reasons, and not all dealing with how they helped me and my family. In many ways, they became another family. I will miss them.

I won't miss the way the Army functions... easy come, easy go. You arrive at a unit, and Poof!, instantly you're a part of it. Dive in. And when you leave... a signature, a stamp, shake your hand, and you walk out the door... and you're gone. Someone fills your place, and another unit fills the void. But it doesn't... I hated walking out that door. But the Army goes rolling along.

I'm not going to miss the absolute asses that Americans make out of themselves here. We forget that we're in their country. And often times, those loudly complaining about immigrants in the States not learning English, or American customs, are the very ones complaining that the local German storekeeper doesn't speak English. We may have come here by force, but now we're guests in their home... and many smell like bad fish.

I'm not going to miss the crazy hours of my small post. Always trying to remember what was open when... it's Monday, what's open today?

I'm not going to miss relying on the AAFES monopoly. Readers of the blog know how I feel about it, so I won't re-hash... but, overseas, it truly IS a company town.

I'm not going to miss the occasional frustration of outpost living... It's quite a transition when you come from the land of anything you want anytime, anywhere you want it. Life's different here. Often, in a good way. Not always.

I'm not going to miss the frustration I felt when I couldn't read a sign nor order my food properly. I made my effort to learn German (and was getting it when a slight detour in Afghanistan came along), but... while I was feeling competent, I just wasn't high-speed yet.

I'm not going to miss that inevitable tractor going 25 KPH on a windy, twisty, unpassable German road...



It's been quite an experience, both for myself and for my family. Good and bad all around. Putting aside the elephant in the room (cancer, sssshhhh) for a moment... I can only hope that my children will retain some memories of their experiences here. I know my wife has had an opportunity that she'd not have had otherwise... From Germany, we've toured around... Paris for New Years, the castles of France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Schloss Neuschwanstein, and Malta, just for starters. And I, too, have had a memory or two. I never, EVER, believed that one day I'd be driving my Ford through the streets of East Berlin, for example.

It's hard to believe it's all coming to an end. The suddeness with which one can change chapters in life is drastic, no? A few weeks ago, we were keeping house out in Bavaria, with German neighbors, and now, I sit here, hours away from a flight, my family asleep in the quiet of our last Deutsch nacht.

I don't want to leave. Not the experience, not the unit, none of it.

I can't wait to get back to the United States. I miss her. I miss all that we take for granted, back home.

I miss home. I look forward to our making a new home, this time in Virginia, and seeing where life takes us this time.

So, as this chapter closes, we turn the page...

(Want to come along?)