CONUS Replacement Center, two days down

The last two days have been busy as hell.

I spent the first day getting inprocessed. I remember when I was advising National Guard troops in a former job that their obligations when they got mobilized were a necessary but painful process. Nothing has really changed, although the unit that is processing me for deployment is trying to do their best (as would normally be the case) but the group I'm with is a few hundred folks. Brings a new meaning to herding cats...

Yesterday marked drawing Rapid Fielding Initiative and central issue facility gear. That was a lengthy, somewhat painful process that was punctuated by a lot of waiting and finding out that there are a lot of funky MREs in the menu now. The MRE I ate the day prior had been Pork Chop ("imitation pork chop"). The one I got, however this day, was Veggie Burger in Barbeque Sauce. Actually, I thought it was pretty good, and if I get it again, I'll definitely eat it. Harrumph.

Today we go to the range. It's been a while since I've popped off 9mm rounds, but old habits die hard, so I expect to qualify with little issue.

Fort Bliss is at 3800 feet MSL. I had a low-grade headache the first few days I was here, but that seems to have gone away. Surprisingly, after getting voodoo dolled on the first day for immunizations (which included the vaunted smallpox and anthrax vaccines) I don't feel as bad as I ordinarily would. Normally I feel like I got quashed by a baseball bat after a large series of vaccinations, but this time, surprisingly not. I guess I should be thankful.

I could say this deployment vindicates my huge investment in "go-faster" gear that I collected over the space of over a decade in college and on active duty, but in reality, only a little of it was really critical. I did show up with quite a bit of my own kit, and for that I have no real regrets.

More to follow when I get a chance.