Mobilization Day #1

A smart person recommended that I keep a journal of my mobilization experience. Of course Katie and I have had this blog for a little while now, so as long as I keep it unclassified there seems like no better place to record the process of going from citizen-sailor to full-time sailor. I'll probably put links on my Facebook page, and maybe on my Linked In profile.

My Uncle Richard wrote a similar journal while deployed to Krygystan with the Ohio Air National Guard. He sent an e-mail once a week on Sunday, sometimes with pictures. I hope to get in a similar routine. But I thought it might be interesting to record the first week of mobilization on a daily basis so people can see the effort it takes to go from drilling Reservist (or National Guardsman) to full-time active duty.

I could go off on a tangent about all the different categories of active duty, but the main thing is the difference between "one weekend a month, two weeks a year" to straight up 24/7 service.

So here is the mobilization process...

Mobilization Day #1: Checking into my local NOSC. Well, my 'local' NOSC just happens to be on the other side of the country. Both Katie and myself are to blame for this. Katie because she took her dream job and ESPN and we moved back East about six months into my tour as OIC of NR CNFK Det. C. Me because I kept my billet as OIC of the Fighting Det. C out of NOSC Sacramento rather than do the sensible thing and just transfer to a unit on the East Coast.

I'm going to start a special section called 'Acronym Moment' where I describe any acronyms I used in the previous paragraph. This seems like a better way to explain something...

Acronym Moment:

• NOSC = Naval Operations Support Center, formerly the 'Reserve Center', now sometimes referred to as just 'Center'
• OIC = Officer in Charge, analygous to Commanding Officer or CO
• CNFK = Command, U.S. Naval Forces Korea

Regardless whose fault it is, I traveled to Sacramento yesterday (Thursday, 4 September) even though I probably could have begun the mobilization process at NOSC Plainville, which is approximately 1.5 miles from our home in Connecticut. I went to Sacramento because I also had to turnover my reserve unit (the subject of tomorrow's post).

I had an uneventful cross-country flight, which inched me ever closer to the 50,000 mile point for the past year and some sort of super-duper frequent flier gateway to premiere, exhaulted status with United Airlines.


This morning I checked into the NOSC and began the mobilization process, which mostly involves following a standard checklist. Using the copies of what my orders said to bring, I started making the rounds at the NOSC to places like Supply Department, Legal, and of course Admin getting things 'signed off.' Unfortunately the Center was going through an inspection at the same time, so people weren't always available. But I did manage to get most of my chores done, including a couple of shots: my annual Typhoid booster and my final Anthrax shot #6. Medical says I only need my PPD at the mobilization processing site, but I'm betting they have more hidden requirements and I'll be stuck full of needles before next week is over.

Had to take care of some unit business today, especially getting one of my cross assigned in (CAI) sailors on a plane to Korea. Sometimes its amazing how much effort it takes on behalf of the unit OIC to make things happen. But that's the military, and why I have a job!