Full Time

It's been two and a half weeks since leaving my job at Cornell and working full time at the Reserve Center - and things have been moving at 100 mph.

For now I am an Army of One - to borrow our old recruiting slogan. I spent the first few days getting organized, getting connectivity to the internet, and working my notes from the last two months into something that I could work with. I made phone calls to the various chains of command that will support the units deployment, basically saying, "here I am, what can you do for me?" Despite the enormous bureaucracy that is the Army, there are many in it who were willing to help me get answers.

My "research" led me to Fort Dix, New Jersey, a likely location for the unit to mob (short for mobilize or mobilization). The MUIC (Mobilizing Unit Inprocessing Center) provided further contacts, information, and a lot of answers. Naturally, with the answers come more questions. As I provide answers to my bosses other people in this bureaucracy chime in with questions of me. It is a cycle that builds on itself and grows larger with each exchange.

Sorting and staying on top of everything has quickly become overwhelming. I didn't volunteer to do this because I wanted to be overwhelmed. I also didn't volunteer because I'm stupid, either. Rather than let this situation go too far I called for more help and within a week or two I will have a small staff working for me. And none too soon.

Do not feel sorry for me. I asked for this. In all honesty, I love being this busy and throwing myself full on into this.