Expat Memories

Yesterday I finally found something I was afraid I’d lost. I rediscovered Japan in a sense. I had about two hours between work and bedtime (10:00 AM). I decided to walk to the river. So I left the base and followed the road past the main train station. It’s interesting seeing how Japanese towns are put together. Lots of small two story houses packed closely together, narrow roads without sidewalks, frequent breaks in the clutter for small community gardens. When I arrived at the river I found there was a small park above the bank with walking trails running both directions. There were only a few old men in the park, some stretching, others chatting with one another. I took the opportunity to practice Tai Chi Chuan. That always relaxes me and generally puts me in a good mood. Tai Chi next to a river is even better.
After exercising I walked along one of the trails for perhaps a mile or two before deciding to head back toward base. On the way I began to rediscover memories. I love the way community gardens are interspersed among the ad-hoc urban sprawl. I wandered into a Buddhist shrine and took some photos. Stores I had forgotten like Sega World, Mos Burgers (home of the awesome yakiniku rice burger) and The Italian Tomato. As I walked and explored I had the feeling of coming home. I was not seeing things as a Giajin, I was seeing the familiar. As much as I stand out among the Japanese I still feel at ease here, at home. I also noticed when off base I automatically bow more and am more polite. Funny how quickly that returns.
So I continue to plug away on the night shift… the 14 hour night shift… but now I know what I need to do in my few free hours away from this office. I need to rediscover my one time home.

Circadian Rhythms

As I lay in my cot this morning I found myself wondering about the hours I’m working and how my body responds to it. Now mind you this morning was 4:30 PM as I woke to get ready for the night shift and a 14 hour day. I’ve not managed more than 6 hours sleep any night since I left the states. As I think back that is about the best I did when shipboard as well. It struck me that when I am working at my civilian job I need at least 7 hours to focus at work. This baffles me a bit. This job is much longer and more stressful than my other job. Why do I require less sleep? In fact why or how was I able to switch gears to nights without missing a beat? Odd.
The focus here at Op Tomodachi HQ is shifting, finally. What we all recognized at the working level is finally being voiced at the flag level… well at least an aspect of it is. The HA/DR mission here is evaporating as the Government of Japan has increased ability to distribute aid. We are still in the thick of it for the remediation of nuclear disaster though. So, what do you do with a growing organization when the main focus of your efforts begins to melt away like so many spent fuel rods. Well you invent a mission of course! We are beginning to focus on plans for worst case scenarios. Now, before you go off the deep end, please remember worst case by definition is a VERY unlikely event. It assumes all hell breaks loose. If we get asked tomorrow what contingency plans we have for the arrival of Godzilla it wouldn’t surprise me at all. What we are considering is, if some of the reactors go into full melt mode and spew nasty little isotopes, and the wind shifts and blows out of the N.E. for days what will we do about all the military personnel stationed on the Kanto Plain. This is probably useful from a planning standpoint but from experience we have never funded a worst case scenario plan. It’s rather like stocking you very own bomb shelter with enough food to outlast a Dr Strangelove scenario… interesting academic exercise but no, not gonna throw cold hard cash at that!

Not sure where this leaves me and my peers wondering about the end of this operation. It seems to me to be something of a “make work” plan to keep us gainfully employed while they decide when it is politically acceptable to admit that the Japanese don’t need us as much as we’d like to think they do. In the mean time I’ll continue plugging away in this zone where days loose shape and sleep seems unimportant.

My First Japanese Car

Another day in paradise... I took a walk after work yesterday. I made
my way out into the town outside Yokota. There wasn't much time.
Working 14 hour days doesn't leave you much free time. So I was off on
an unsuccessful quest for a Mos Burger. It was interesting wandering
back through Japanese neighborhoods after 14 years away. The thunk of
concrete tiles over the benjo ditches was a familiar sound as I strolled
along. This urban sprawl is quite different from Sasebo but still the
houses were familiar. They are all quite compact, looking almost
plastic. As I walked along I realized I knew what they looked like
inside as well. I wondered why I didn't feel more deeply connected.
Perhaps because the town is so different here. It's flat, not hilly.
No bays delineating it. It's a rather boring area in fact. Rather like
most Air Force bases in fact. Then I strode past an auto repair shop
and had to stop. There was a Diahatsu Minica parked inside. It looked
just like my first car in Japan back in 1986. I had to snap a photo,
which if anyone noticed would have seemed like a tourist snapping a shot
of a '78 Pinto I imagine. I wish I had the chance to wander around at
night and hit some bars. It would be interesting to see how many I'd be
booted politely out of for being gaijin.

Now I'm back in the J4 shop. I have no idea what my title is tonight.
It seems to change daily. I'm surprised how easily the shift to nights
has been. Tonight I am tasked with finding out inventory numbers on
dosimeters as related goodies. In military parlance I've been flicked
that booger. The challenge is that not everyone has 24 hour coverage
and frequently it is impossible to get good data on the night shift.
This has really been a learning experience for me. So, I sit here
running tasks to ground and wondering when the senior staff will
recognize their true temporary nature. I think they will milk this as
long as they can politically. It's rather sad.
The US Military has
done some wonderful things here and continues to. But we continue
trying to build this large and cumbersome command for an operation that
is winding down in scope. Still, we have delivered a significant amount
of HA/DR goods, cleared debris from the Sendai and Fukushima airports,
run search and rescue missions, surveyed the afloat debris field and and
are still clearing harbors of debris, all great and wonderful things.

Dinner for Breakfast

The only constant here at JSFJ (Joint Support Force Japan) is change. I
arrived thinking I'd be the Fuels Officer. That never materialized.
Instead I was instructed to improve (fix) communication between USFJ (US
Forces Japan) and C7F (US Navy 7th Fleet). That was not too difficult.
Got good communication channels open and wondered what my job was. I
was next told I was the JFMCC LNO - basically the Liaison Officer at
USFJ representing the fleet. That lasted for a day or two... bear with
me on this days just melt together when you're working 14+ hour shifts.
Anyway I arrived this morning at 06:30 and just before 10:00 was told to
go get some sleep. I am now the head of the Sustainment Cell on nights
in the J4 shop. Wow, I actually have some people working for me now.
Still no one to explain what exactly is expected though.

So the posturing and reorganizing continue as two commands try to merge
on the fly with a rapidly evolving HA/DR effort.

The navy folks I have been working with stand out. I've noticed we are
the only ones around here routinely laughing. It's not that we consider
this petty or worse, don't understand the gravity of it. I think it's
just because we are sailors, it is normal for us to make light of
serious situations.


This entire operation is a grand learning experience for me. The
politics are annoying. But, the dynamic of the evolving organization is
fascinating... knowing our mission is short lived while we evolve as if
it is for the long haul is a strange thing to watch. One of the Naval
Officers I have been hanging out observed that when we (the Navy) went
to OIF and OEF (Iraq/Afghanistan) we were not in a joint environment, we
were in an Army environment. This is a true joint environment. I think
the flags immediately above we are an Air Force one star and Navy one
star. I haven't seen a good org chart so I really can't explain it for
certain. Still, this is kind of weird. It is causing me to think hard
about my recall to the AF/PAK Hands program... which is apparently back
on.


One of the things the public at large does not understand is how
donations can't simply flow seamlessly into disaster stricken areas. It
is a complicated business to be sure. A steamship line just approached
us with a request to distribute 14 TEU's (7 ea. 40' ocean containers) of
supplies. The sent this request to the Host Nations Relation Officer at
one of our bases. This request should have gone directly to either the
Japanese government (GOJ) or to the JSDF (Japan Self Defense Forces -
Japan's Military). Those are the groups with the authority to accept
donations, especially from Japanese companies! What I don't think many
fully grasp is that the US is not the one deciding what should be
delivered where. That is a Japanese decision. This is not Ache
province after the Indian Ocean tsunami or Haiti after their quake.
This is a 1st world country where civil order is still well established
and a fully functioning government exists.


The New Face of Empire
It struck me as I walked to work this morning that Empire has a whole
new face. Now, mind you I already knew that but what was different this
morning was how the thought resonated as I was making my way to USFJ -
US Forces Japan. Here I am in a sovereign country. By nominal per
capita GDP they rank 17th or 18th globally. That is pretty significant.
Anyway, here I am walking and thinking... how many countries have a
combined military HQ for a foreign military located near their capitol?
Chine did at one point, recall the Boxer Rebellion? India did before
that pesky Gandhi guy screwed it all up. My point being this should not
be acceptable by a sovereign government. If they are sovereign what is
the need of a large foreign military presence?

So America, face the facts, we are an Empire and have been one since the
close of the Spanish American War of 1898. Just because we don't call
Japan, Kuwait, Germany, Iraq, England, Spain, Italy, Columbia, South
Korea, Afghanistan and a host of others colonies does not change the
reality on the ground. If you are pro colonialism feel free to revel in
it. If you believe in self determination organize... but then again if
you believe in self determination it probably best to get your own house
in order first.

The Great Balance

It’s the end of my 4th day, there are snow flurries blowing outside. I just finished another 14 hour shift and for the 2nd day the wi-fi is down. It’s quite frustrating as I only have access to my new military e-mail and FB while at work. It isn’t much for keeping in touch. So I’ll jot down a few thoughts and then hit my cot. There are a small number of Supply Corps officers in the J4 shop. We all get along quite well and all seem to have the same impression of an organization not yet formed. This is an odd business. This is not Haiti or Indonesia. In those countries you can take more liberties in how you execute humanitarian assistance operations. This is a 1st world country. This is Japan. The Japanese have been quite cautious in the amount of aid and degree of assistance they have allowed foreigners to provide. I am not being critical of them. This is appropriate. As they are able to organize and take over distribution efforts it is in their best interest to do so. They are not a country to accept freebies simply because they are offered. Things are improving, roads are being cleared, food is being delivered, gasoline supplies are building, and most important the nuclear reactors are slowly being gotten under control. As these improvements are made the amount of assistance should begin to decrease. I believe this is how the Japanese military views it. That is how I would view it. Unfortunately life is more complicated than that. This beast I am part of, this growing HQ Command, seems poised to keep expanding. That is counter intuitive… except when viewed from a political (within the US military) standpoint. Someone commented yesterday that you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a flag officer in the command cell. I have the impression that they want to jump into the effort to say “I was there to help those poor Japanese, look what great and wonderful things I did!” WTF?

I see the size of this HQ as being balanced quite delicately. On the one hand you have a great deal of bureaucratic inertia pushing for the command to expand and remain for a significant period. On the other hand you have an uncertain funding stream that, should it evaporate, will significantly hamper the Military’s ability to operate throughout the remainder of the fiscal year. I watch as this organization continues to expand and solidify. I also hear increasing cautions about the financial exposure. It is interesting watching this unfold from the inside. Politics make for a fascinating side show.

What Strange Beast is This?

Wow, I’m pretty damn tired. When I think of it I didn’t sleep much the night the tsunami hit Hawaii, then there was the red-eye flight home last Monday. Tuesday night I was up past midnight entering orders. Wednesday was an anxious night waiting for orders approval and Thursday began a 30 hour trip from LA to Japan via the ROK. I imagine many of my friends and family have visions of me working in a destroyed landscape looking like something out of a bad Hollywood sci-fi movie. The reality is much more mundane. Yokota is a drab Air Force Base just East of Tokyo. It’s surrounded by the Japanese equivalent of suburbs. The houses here are much smaller and closer together than stateside. The weather this time of year is best described as dreary, temps in the 30’s to 50’s with days of drizzle. I’d love to report what the locals think of this tragic occurrence but I haven’t made it off the base yet. Hell in truth I may not ever make it off base if the tempo continues at the current pace.

I am an augmentee to a Joint Headquarters. Now before you read my impression of what this means realize most big contingency operations are triggered by military action. Those are not surprises and units have time to prep for them. This was a massive natural disaster in a 1st world country. There was no “ramp up” time to prepare so my comments are not meant to disparage the command, just to illustrate what it’s like to jump into this fray.
I’ll be honest the 30 hours of travel time and three room changes in 8 hours had be kinda hating life my first day here. I arrived to find no one knew what I was supposed to do, who I was supposed to work for, where I was supposed to sit, etc., etc. So, I nosed around a bit and found the J4 Shop (logistics shop). I was under the impression I was here to assist in fuels management. Apparently not so. I found there were issues getting sufficient reporting from the fleet. As a HQ Command in an HA/DR operation tracking the quantity/location of supplies (for the victims) is pretty high visibility. I was tasked to try and fix that. I found there was not much of a well organized command structure. This happened because the first priority was SAR and relief supplies. Unfortunately, by initially ignoring structure, nearly a week into this op things were dysfunctional. So I felt quite discouraged that first day. Here I was far from my family, going to miss my son’s black belt test and for what? Were we doing any good? Jet lag and lack of sleep factored in as well.

Day two went better. I began to get a better picture of what was going on. I decided to start organizing the Supply section of J4. By that evening I sent an e-mail to all the Supply Officers assigned to this Op and suggested some things we could do to get better organized and become more interchangeable. I prefaced it by noting I might be way off base and overly affected by jet lag. I still had major issues with the lack of organizational structure. So, don’t like it? Change it! By this point I was being asked to sign up on the watch bill by the night shift leader in J4 (I’d been working days). I ignored that and took advantage of the lack of structure.

Now unless you have served on a large battle staff you have no idea what it’s like. I had some taste from my days on other HQ staffs and naval exercises I’ve been part of. This was different though. This is a staff trying to address a real world unfolding tragedy. The HQ is the coordinating agent of the effort. It doesn’t go to the stricken area. It coordinates the efforts and removes roadblocks for the units and people who are going forward. To accomplish this it requires a great deal of information. This information is then digested in a series of meetings and decisions are made. It is a very unwieldy beast. This HQ is still morphing and isn’t sure what it will become just yet. This makes for a very uncertain environment. You just work what comes your way and hold on for the ride.

Stasis… When are they going to perfect that for travel!?

The view as we approached Narita was unremarkable. A thick haze and some cloud cover obscured the land. For a while all I could spot were enormous white caps in the Pacific. As we dropped altitude small hillocks and farms came into view. Narita is out in the sticks. Clearing passport control found I was the only gaijin on the flight. Narita looks quite shabby now days. I think the last time I flew through here was in 1986 so that isn’t surprising. There is a mall in this airport as well. At the moment it’s packed. Many people sitting around killing time waiting for flights. Cloth masks are commonly worn in Japan when people are ill. It’s a polite way to avoid spreading germs. Today though, they are more common than ever and by people who appear to be fine. I suspect it is an effort to limit what they breathe in rather than out. I think the unease I feel on this trip is simply anxiety over the unknown. When I go on vacations I may not know what a place will be like but I control my own destiny. Travel for uncle doesn’t work that way.
Funny side note… leading up to 2009 I was getting increasingly queasy when I flew. It was the landings that would get me. Just before touch down the butterflies would hit and a slight feeling of dread. I found it odd because it was new for me to feel that way. Was it too many 3rd world airline flights fishtailing down the runway? I really can’t say. Then my deployment to Afghanistan came along and all that changed. I felt nothing upon landing, not even the butterflies from the temporary weightlessness just before touchdown, nothing. That was beginning to change ever so slightly after I came to realize how much that deployment shut off emotions, especially fear. It’s been a deep dive inside my head to get at those mechanics. Now here I am. The prep time, less than 48 hours was a period of intense focus. Now the trip, the loneliness of not knowing when I’ll see my family again… granted it’s a short deployment but not knowing if it’s for 30, 45 or 60 days still has an impact. 30 days is one round of bills, anything over that gets much more complicated. I recognize between the lack of fear and intense focus I am back in my element. Odd perhaps. I have a civilian job and so much going on at home. Why is it that this is such a welcome breath of air (only slightly irradiated perhaps). The answer to that is to be found in more internal spelunking I suppose… digging back into my own psyche. Sometimes that is the most nerve wracking trip of all.

Crawling Toward Japan

I’m sitting on the floor of terminal 102 at LAX. There is nowhere else to sit. It’s about 50 minutes to go before boarding time. It’s been a very interesting week. Monday I arrived back in LA after drilling with my unit on Oahu for four days. I was there when the earthquake hit Japan and when the remnants of the tsunami relocated a house on Hawaii to a spot across the bay… actually, in the bay, would be more accurate. When I first heard a big quake struck Japan I wasn’t too worried. I guessed it was probably on Hokkaido and damage would be sparse. When I checked the TV and saw what was actually happening I was astounded. The flood of water was unbelievable. The tsunami was simply erasing large swaths of land taking boats, cars, buildings and everything else with it. The realization that is hit within 35 minutes of the quake was sobering. To me it meant many people would have been unable to escape in time.
But that was all last weekend. Then Tuesday morning I was asked to query my sailors and see who would be available to mobilize for 30 days at Pearl Harbor to help with Pacific Command’s tracking of the disaster as well as any assistance the US might provide. I collected the info and sent a few updates with a promise of a final update after I got home around 8:00 PM. I had listed my name as a volunteer for this on the first update. By that night things had changed a bit I was called and asked if I’d be willing to go to Yokota. I said absolutely I’d be willing. Hell I lived in Japan for nearly 7 years. How could I respond any other way? Then I was asked if I could depart the following day! After talking it over we settled on a Thursday or Friday departure. I needed to pick up some additional uniforms as mine and spread between LA and Oahu. When I got off the phone I called in sick for Wednesday knowing I would be far too busy getting ready for the trip. The following morning I was up and heading off to Pt Hueneme to pick up the new uniforms, I’d been told I’d need. I had effectively avoided getting the new digital blue camo but it looked like I’d have to suck it up now. After spending $500 and getting almost all the way home I realized I had forgotten collar insignia. Damn, that meant another trip to base. More time wasted. I was also checking on the status of my orders. I had finished inputting them half past midnight the night before. By the time evening rolled around my orders were still in routing and we had company over for dinner. I had been planning to sew on all my insignia but that would have to wait for morning.
That brings us to today. I finally had approved orders around 9:30. I also discovered the correct uniform is Khaki. That is one I have. So I waited anxiously to find out when my flight might depart. I called the travel office only to be told they were working on it and would make sure I had adequate notice, 2 hours. I asked for clarification and was told they would make sure I had at least two hours between the tickets being issues and my flight. OK, so that won’t work. I pointed out that international flights requite a 2 hour show time and I leave up to an hour from the airport. Well by 1 PM I finally received tickets. I had a 10:50PM departure… good news. So it was back to base to return the uniforms, deposit some checks into my account and tie up a few remaining loose ends. And now here, wondering what lay ahead.
I write this update from Inchon Airport. I had a 5 hour layover here on my way to Narita. I am in my last hour of that. When I arrive at Narita I am to find the military desk in terminal 1 and get specifics for the bus ride to Yokota. I may well be spending another 5 hours there waiting on that. Then it will be about a three hour ride to base and I report aboard. Finally at that point I may have the opportunity to find out some specifics of this job, this mission.
Until the I patiently wait around airports missing my family and wondering what loose ends I still need to tie up. Thank god for the internet. At least I can pay bills from abroad. Life continues.