Well, this job's not *ALL* glamor.... once in a while, it's a JOB. Today (it's now 2330), started at 0200 when I awoke earlier than I had to (0430), and never really got back to sleep after that. Gave up at 0330 and got up and got going. Drove an empty bus (deadhead) to the old George Air Force Base, a relic of the Cold War that's been turned over to the California National Guard. I had a pickup of returning troops from Iraq, taking them to Fort Irwin, a huge, sprawling Army facility used for desert training. It's such a national treasure, the huge decisive edge U.S. troops enjoyed in the Persian Gulf War has often been attributed to the superior training and tactics developed largely at Fort Irwin. Yes, the M1A1 Abrams tanks had a tactical superiority over the Russian-made T-72 tanks, but the battlefield tactics honed at Irwin turned the contest into a rout. The Iraqis never had a chance. You may recall that there were more US casualties from "friendly fire" than from the Iraqi Army. Anyhow, I needed to be at what's now called the Southern California Logistics Base at 0900, arrived at 0830. About 0930, a Master Sergeant arrived, asked us what our assignment was, and informed us that our flight had been canceled. Not rescheduled, not late, canceled. OK, that's not unheard of with military transportation contracts, there's quite a bit of waste. I had a later run, along with one other fellow driver, but it was 10 hours away. So, we drove one bus to where our motel was, Barstow, CA, about 30 miles away, and got into our rooms, hurrah! We met up with several other drivers from my company, and re-spotted at 1920. Shortly after, we were informed that the troops that were supposed to have arrived earlier were, in fact, on this flight. Meaning, even though we'd been assured (with a signature as well) that the earlier flight was a no-go, and so we were all canceled from that trip, they now needed us to do 2 trips instead of one. My day was looking like it was going to end around 0130 or so, 23.5 hours after I'd awakened for the beginning. WOW! Nonetheless, after talking to Dispatch, we were all a "go" to do it. So, we drive out to Fort Irwin, about 1.5 hours away. There, another Master Sergeant approaches me and informs me that the issue's been straightened out, there was another company contracted for the run, and they were just late arriving. Wonderful, I'm thinking, I'm pretty beat anyway (I only got 1 hour of broken sleep at the motel). So, we're happy, leaving the base, when our on-duty dispatcher calls us. The OIC back at the Logistics Center called, and was demanding to know when the coaches would be returning to pick up his troops. Oh no! Are we reassigned again, and back to do another run? 10 minutes later he's calling back, the other buses finally showed up, and we've been relieved of duty. WOO-HOO!! I've now returned to the motel, fueled and parked the bus, and have had a glass of wine, making me ineligible to drive for the next 8 hours. Sounds good to me! Sometimes, this really is a JOB! Tomorrow, I return to Fort Irwin, to pick up troops and drop them at Ontario (CA) Airport. Then deadhead home. I wonder what military mysteries await me tomorrow.........
