MOB Days #2 & 3 - Turnover Weekend

Because I'm mobilizing, and because my Assistant OIC is also going on this 'mob' we had to turn over the unit to another officer. Our Reserve Component HQ in Port Hueneme designed another LCDR to come up and act as both Interim OIC for a couple months, and continue as the AOIC through the next exercise, a total of about six months. While he'll probably have to pay his own way, its a valuable way to get experience and help get promoted to the next pay grade.

Acronym Moment:

• LCDR = Lieutenant Commander, Navy rank of O-4, same as Major in the other services. Between Lieutenant and Commander. The way I remember the ranks of other services is that Lieutenant means "vice" or one below the full rank, like Lieutenant Colonel and Lieutenant General.
  

So today I turned over to my temporary relief here in Sacramento. I actually met him Friday night at the contract hotel (which was full by the time I booked my reservations, but I got a room right across the street) to go over the bigger picture of how the unit is organized and the unit personnel.

Looking back, I'm really glad I insisted on delegating responsibilities down to the lowest level possible and recording our procedures and policies in a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) document. It was like a built-in turnover. The other collaborative documents we built over the last two years, which usually included a key or instructions, also helped make this a smooth process. They should come in real handy when the official OIC arrives in one or two months.

Since I spent much of Friday taking care of some last-minute unit business, I still had quite a bit of mobilization stuff to do. And unfortunately, that didn't go without some hiccups. One big problem was getting my CAC switched over to active duty. When they stuck my card in the machine, it showed I was still on active duty from my last mobilization, June of 2002. Even better, it had me on active duty until my birthday in 2018! That took a couple hours to unravel this mess.

Acronym Moment:

• CAC = Command Access Card, e.g. ID card.

One thing about the officer community, we usually take care of ourselves via a Wardroom Association of some sort. For larger units you will 'buy in' to the Wardroom Mess. That money usually goes towards going away plaque or present at the end of your tour. With only two or three officers in CNFK Det. C that simply doesn't happen. It would be nice if our HQ in Port Hueneme did this for everyone.

Anyways, the officers will usually throw some sort of going away party for people, a 'hail and farewell.' Well, in my case my enlisted sailors offered to take me out to dinner. There is a place near the contract hotel that I frequent almost religiously while in Sacramento, Chipotle. Apparently its a nationwide chain. So we agreed to meet there for dinner and drinks. I actually got there early and bought my own dinner, but I have to say that spending some time with 'my guys' (and one gal) was a nice way to end my tour. All four of the enlisted sailors still in the unit who were there when I left for Korea came out, and I really appreciate this.