Well, at least they kept him on the same continent, which is an improvement over some past operations I have witnessed. Honest to God... a long, long time ago, before I had really learned the science of disgusted resignation, I would just place my hands on my hips, shake my head, and contemplate in absolute awe and wonder how the military could totally screw things up. If it involves a mode of transportation any more sophisticated than your leather cadillacs (boots), you can pretty much plan that- pretty much, there is no plan. I learned all this after I learned all the swear words that are available and deployable in such situations. It is no wonder that most really good profanity can trace it's roots back to the military. You have your SNAFU, (Situation normal all f#cked up) which is an extreme oldie, but goodie. You have my preferred phrase, which if you re-read David's blog will discover is stunningly accurate---clusterf#ck, You also have your "hurry up and wait", etc. To those unfamiliar with some of the vernacular, I mentioned REMF-- Rear echelon MotherF#cker... a wing-wiper is anyone associated with the military air wing(s), a pogue is also rear echelon... you have your remington raiders-- these are REMFS with typewriters/computers (named for a brand of typewriter). A war hero is anyone that has never been outside the base/compound...I could go on, but I'll let David fill in the details, as evidenced by his blog, he no doubt learned (and deployed) all of them while hurrying up and waiting, I'm sure.
I also would bet that someone in his unit turned the whole clusterf#ck into a game... This is where you start predicting just how badly "they" are going to screw with you, and attempting to determine when the screwing with you ceases, and reveling in just how badly you can be treated like absolute shit... This can actually be a lot of fun, especially when someone plays straight man, foolishly believing (like a civilian might) that the game is actually over when it has only begun...as the military can absolutely amaze the most jaundiced and cynical ... e.g. I once spent a week stranded on a beach with my unit, the US Navy having forgot about us...this after we had (Actually) thought the "game" was over, having been screwed with (one of those stories) for the week prior to the stranding :icon_smile:
Keep 'em coming, I love reading these!