After an exhausting day, I find myself half way to Louisiana, bedding down at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

The whirlwind of events over the last 24 hours is leaving me dizzy and tired. At 1826 (6:26 pm) on the 1st I was initially informed I would be mobilizing to support disaster relief efforts in the gulf. After completing several urgent tasks, and quickly packing my bags, I was on the road for Lexington, Missouri shortly after midnight.

Arriving at the armory at 3:15 am I caroused around several sleeping bodies before locating one semi-conscious soul who was able to spout out, “0600 breakfast, 0630 formation; sleep wherever you find a spot.” With a large drill floor virtually unoccupied, I found a quiet corner of concrete and laid my head down with my pillow and blanket. At 4:30 am I discovered the pure misfortune in my selection of real estate; I was right next to the kitchen and the cooks were up making breakfast. After attempting to fight through the noise to get back to sleep again, I gave up at 5:00 am and arose to ready myself for the day.

Shortly after 8:30 we hit the road in our 15 vehicle convoy. Luck was on my side as I was assigned to ride in the GSA van, a quiet and dry trip compared to my fellow Soldiers. At 50 miles per hour with hourly rest halts; the normally 7 hour drive quickly turned into 14. We first encountered Gustov near the Arkansas state line, and fortunately dodged a bullet. Two vehicles in front of us, a HMMWV with trailer in tow attempted to stop at a red light. The fresh moisture on the brakes and the rain on the road caused her wheels to lock sending their vehicle into a full 360 degree spin, amazingly hitting nothing. After that incident, our pace slowed considerably as the weather quickly deteriorated.

Shortly after 10:00 pm we pulled into North Little Rock. After a couple of hours of “SRP (Soldier Readiness Processing)” and a brown bag meal, we settled into our dry and comfortable open bay barracks. As I finish this post, the clock now reads 1:22 am. I hope to find internet when we arrive at our command post in Alexandria, Louisiana. For now, I must sleep; the 5:30 am wake up will come much too soon!