Date: 2015-02-25
To: ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂShakedown InspectionÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ
Miles today: 0.0

28 Days and all I seem to do is pack and unpack my backpack! It is interesting that I seem to be automatically doing things that I did while in the Army prior to deployments. Good training, I guess. However, it has occurred to me that most somewhat organized people do the same...it seems like it is just second nature. Prior to a deployment movement in the Army we would assemble at a Continental United States (CONUS) Replacement Center or CRC. In this case this would be Camp Living Room...much to my wife¢s dismay and chagrin. Once we had arrived and checked-in the very next morning at O-dark 30 it would be off to the Central Issue Facility which is known as CIF. This would make my current CIF the Local Outfitter. The problem is this time I am paying for everything BUT at least I can pick and choose what I want and what I don¢t want. Unlike the Army where I was ISSUED stuff...VERY HEAVY stuff I might add. The next item on the agenda would be several days of Soldier Readiness Processing or better known as the SRP...Now with the folks at the SRP it did not matter if you were prepared or not. The SRP personnel very politely and with smiles on their faces would go about collecting all of the correctly assembled and nicely arranged packets of information and then they would proceed to shred them before your very eyes only to just start this painstaking process all over again and of course with you needing the information that was now in crumbs at the bottom of the crosscut shredder bin!...Job security, I guess...So, this would be sort of like...now I¢m stretching this a bit...getting maps, GPS, address books, journals, prescription medications, glasses, permits and the like, all in proper order. Now, as a Soldier, I was only authorized 4 duffle bags: one personal duffle bag and 3 duffel bags for Army issue equipment and Army issue clothing. This equipment was known as Table of Allowances 50 or TA-50 and the other as Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment...Yep, you got it, OCIE. To top it off each duffel bag could weigh no more than 70 pounds! I am here to tell you that it takes real creative packing to pack body armor, better known as SAPI Plates...The Small Arms Protective Insert into a duffel bag and remain under the 70 pounds... You see SAPI Plates are very heavy ceramic trauma plates designed to stop bullets and shrapnel from penetrating your body...A nice to have item.... In one of my deployments I was deployed for 2 years...Everything I would need and everything that I was issued for the 2 years had to fit into those 4 duffel bags and my 1 carry-on bag that met the commercial airline standards and size. Oh, and, my weapon. This would be akin to my 1 backpack and figuring out what will fit; what I absolutely need, and how much it weighs. Ah, but, wait there¢s more...it can¢t be simple, trust me it gets complex, very complex... You see, before a Soldier can pack-out they first must go through a shakedown inspection and then and only then can all the stuff that has been acquired be packed. Now the shakedown process is where you place in front of you everything, yep, that¢s right, everything that is going with you both issued and non-issued stuff. After the shakedown process is completed everything will be taken away from you and locked-up only to be returned to you upon arrival at your final destination no matter how long it takes to get there... So, each issued item is called out. You pick the item up; hold it high in the air until a proctor tells you that it has been checked off. Then you may pack it into one of your 4 duffel bags. This is currently like our living room floor right now. I have everything displayed all over the living room rug and I have been practicing packing and unpacking my backpack just as I practiced packing and unpacking my 1 carry-on and the 4 duffel bags prior to the pack-out shakedown inspection. Now at this point in my evolution to AT Thru-hiker my wife has become extremely interested in the progress I have been making with my shakedown process...The packing and unpacking then repacking of my backpack seems to intrigue her. She is so intrigued that she is silently inspecting every move I make.   I am of the belief that this activity is to insure a clean living room when my task is completed. This is illustrated by the simple question and then a statement: ¢When will this mess be cleaned up? Soon I hope!¢