I figure the call I got at home on the afternoon of March 17th was the third time I've been called to go somewhere in response to a national decision. In all cases the calls were a complete surprise and my responses probably won't rate very high on the cool meter.
On 9/11, Kim, "Do you see what's happening?" Me, "No I'm watching MTV." In August 2008, Ops-O, "Russia invaded Georgia. You're going to Turkey tomorrow." Me, "Do what now?" And on March 17th I think I just said "wow" or "ok" when told large parts of the Pacific Fleet staff were moving forward, myself included, to become part of the new Joint Support Force.
Always nice to get asked I supposed. Sometimes you'd like a say.
Knowing how things go I didn't really expect them to find us airlift for a few days, but sure enough within 36 hours we were stuffed into a Hawaiian Air National Guard KC-135 (vintage 1962) and pushed to Yokota Air Base, west of Tokyo, where US Forces Japan, the staff we would combine with, is headquartered.
At the Hickam passenger terminal I ran into an Auburn ROTC classmate I hadn't seen in fifteen years. We traded names of people we had kept up with over the years and he mentioned a classmate he ran into in Diego Garcia a couple of years ago. Fast forward a nine hour plane ride, in processing and getting shuttled into an update brief on Fukushima reactor status (now about 2 am our time) and the briefer is the aforementioned classmate. It rarely doesn't happen like that anymore.
Joint Support Force was chartered with two major tasks: Radiological Consequence Management - what is going on with the reactors and how does it affect our forces and American Citizens and Humanitarian Aide - in support of the Japanese Government and under the lead of USAID helping the People of Japan.
The work was mostly drudgery, with twelve hour shifts and no days off, but in the process we got to watch very skilled leadership conduct a complex operation involving widespread natural disaster with radiological fallout. There is no other organization on earth that can pull from within its own ranks both nuclear engineers and US Marines to work on a host of very diverse and yet interrelated problems. Our logistical might, pace of execution and expertise in defining and adjusting to complex situations is fantastic. From the pure frustration of slinging power point and email you at least know that down the line great things are happening.
The Japanese are amazing people. Their perseverance, smarts and work ethic are something to behold. Breathtaking how fast they began to get things fixed.
As the situation at the nuclear power plant began to stabilize the bosses began to trickle us back home. I was on the first wave out and within 24 hours of notification we were lounging at the American Airlines club in Narita waiting for our flight home. Glad I went, good to be home.
Not too much in the way of pictures.
Posted under the overwing hatch in the KC-135. We thought this was pretty ironic.
Flags in front of US Forces Japan - Japanese, American and United Nations
Nobody does vending machines like the Japanese
I had completely put off buying the new Navy Working Uniform, but this forced a frantic purchase. Of course the inventory of winter parkas was hardly robust at the Pearl Harbor exchange so I borrowed one from the 5' 6" guy in the office. Better than going cold.
Potassium Iodine pills. We were issued these in the event winds shifted to the north and brought contamination to our area. These pills protect the thyroid, which is extremely sensitive to radioactivity, by filling it with iodine and keeping out the radioactive iodine (I-131) present in fission reactions (so I'm told). As with nearly everything the nuclear guys were saying you have to push the I BELIEVE button.
It was cherry blossom season in Japan
On the way home we flew right over Niihau, the smallest of the inhabitated Hawaiian Islands. It is privately owned, visitors are not routinely allowed, only Hawaiian is spoken and there is no power grid. Pretty interesting. Link HERE. Can you imagine owning a Hawaiian Island?
Nothing ever beats a homecoming. Family plus Nancy came straight over from Andy's first baseball game.
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