Tango in the Day - (Korea) Day 71

The long day was just too much for our KATUSA, he passed out
for a bit in our control room while waiting for the final meeting to end

Work call this morning was at 0600 for an early morning meeting. We setup for the meeting and were busy non stop until about 0800 when SPC Roy looked at the clock and stated that it seems like we'd been there for so long, but it's not even our normal work call time yet. That kind of foreshadowed how the rest of the day was going to go.

SPC Roy and I then had to get in full battle rattle for a trip to "Tango". Full battle rattle included our helmets, body armor, camelback, and gas mask. I had spent a while last night trying to get everything ready since it was all still in bags. I had so many pouches and crap I didn't know what was what, so I ended up bringing a lot more than I needed to (no need to wear the groin protector portion of the body armor to Tango). Once we were set we took off with our sergeant, a couple other sergeants from our admin office, and our major in our office. SPC Roy drove a van with us all in it along with some supplies.

Tango is an underground bunker located to the south of our post. If North Korea were to attack and somehow the general and our office survived the initial attack from their long range artillery, everyone would move to this bunker and the war would be run from there. There are a couple of training exercises each year that simulates this. My job stays pretty much the same though…setup meetings, just in a different conference room under a mountain. We went there today to make sure the office was supplied and to check it out. The place is pretty amazing since it's all under a mountain. Lots and lots of concrete! I wonder how long it took them to make that place! Whenever we go to Tango we have to be in full battle rattle. We don't have to wear it when we are inside (except for the gas mask, it has to be on us at all times), but if we ever go outside we have to put everything back on.

We returned to Yongsan and I had to make a run to the military clothing store. I had to purchase "cat eyes" for my helmet. This is a small band that wraps around the helmet and has two small glow in the dark squares on the back. This is so your fellow soldiers can see you in the dark. Not only could I not find mine, I also had to get my name & blood type stitched on it. I also had to get my rank sewn onto my helmet cover. Since I was there I bought some extra name tags along with US ARMY tags for my uniform. These tags are much bolder & sturdier than the issued ones. They do not wrinkle up like the issued ones, they are stiff and stay straight which looks a lot nicer.

When we got back we setup for another meeting and then during the down time I helped SPC Roy do some SkillPorts. We only have two computers that we can use, and Special K was on the other one. I could have got a lot done with my SkillPorts and my school. We had to wait for a late meeting to finish before we could leave. The meeting was scheduled to end at 1830, but didn't end until more like 1845. So by the time we cleaned up that and setup for a meeting tomorrow morning I didn't get back to my room until 1930. It doesn't get any better either, work call tomorrow is 0345 with another late meeting.

So I now will be doing my homework and going to bed to take a quick nap before starting work tomorrow.