Day 160

One six zero! Rollin' right along and another week coming to a close. Today, I had my normal Friday morning meeting but afterwards, the Navy was having the Chiefs' Induction Ceremony here. Becoming a Chief (or an E-7 for you non-Navy types) is a big deal in the Navy. Lots of tradition and heritage go into it and those who were selected have been going through weeks of "initiation." Today was the capstone of it all where each one has his or her anchor pinned on and cover placed on their head. There were about 25 selectees here on my base who made Chief. All across the world today, the same induction ceremony is taking place for all selectees. It started by them all marching in and singing "Anchors Aweigh," then standing at attention to the right of the audience. After one guest's opening remarks (the Command Master Chief of NAVCENT Forward), each Chief-Select was called up and officially made a Chief. It was really cool to be in a packed tent with so many Navy folks and to be present for a ceremony very special to many. The Army does nothing like this and putting on E-7 isn't a big deal like this. I definitely felt at "home" as I sat there amongst fellow sailors. Confirmed again...Navy was the right choice. Among the crowd of new Chiefs was a Navy SEAL. Two of his fellow SEALs were in that Chinook that was shot down. Had they not given their lives, they would've been here today along with him. You should've seen this guy, though. He had to be about 6'5" or 6'6" and probably 250 lbs of solid muscle. Of course, he had a full beard (not Navy regulation!!!), of course, as all SEALs do because they work among the local population and this helps them blend in. On his upper left chest, the ever-recognizable trident...the visual mark of a SEAL. There is no doubt, at least for me...when I'm in the room with a SEAL, I feel honored just to be there. They are our country's ultimate warrior and are THE ones who are hunting the very people who wish to wipe us "infidels" off the face of the earth. But still, they are sailors, and he participated, marched, and sung along with his fellow Chief-selectees. I'm sure he got grief from his fellow SEALs in the room after they got back to camp but it was cool to see him embrace the tradition, side-by-side with his fellow sailors.

The whole second half of the day, I was on another hunt. One thing I've been heavily involved in and leading is the ordering and bringing in of generators for the soldiers. (no such thing as power plants over here) To date, I've ordered well over 200 of them and they're now flowing in to the country. Since they are coming straight from the manufacturer, we lack the tracking ability and visibility of them which we need. I need to verify every last one gets to it's ultimate location and customer. No one could tell me what happens to them when they touch down via 747 so I didn't stop until I had answers. I knew 45 of them touched down within the past 48 hours so I knew they were here. After walking at least 3 miles and walking in countless offices and being directed every which way, I finally found who I was looking for...the contractor who is holding onto them and coordinating getting them to the right place. I took them up on the offer to go see all of them, I took photos of them, inspected them for damage, and got them to agree to start including me on all movements from this point forward. Some stay here, but many have to go on host nation trucks to travel to remote bases. This was a huge breakthrough...absolutely no one had a clue about how this process works and with so much coming in, not knowing just wasn't an option to me. My boss actually got on my case because he thought he knew the process and thought I should know the same, even though I've never run an airfield like he. In the end, he apologized for that after realizing I was doing everything and more to figure all of it out...and, it ran nothing like he thought.  Once back in the office, I pushed out a message to everyone to advise them of the process and how to communicate to me going forward regarding the travel of these valuable assets. Again...success because I got out, knocked on doors, and didn't stop until I solved the puzzle. Priceless experience to remember in the future. We're talking about millions of dollars of generators, by the way. No small beans!

Well, it's time to wind it down for the night. Morning is going to arrive VERY early tomorrow. We have to be at the start of the Air Force Marathon at a ridiculous hour like most races. To minimize impact to traffic and maximize safety, we'll start before sunrise but have to meet an hour earlier than that. I still don't know exactly how I'm getting there. Supposedly, the shuttle runs 24 hours a day so I hope to catch it. We shall see! So with that, it's time to relax, drink some more water, and get some sleep before my 26th marathon! WOO HOO!!!

Goodnight, everyone.