Welp, Hurricane Sandy blew through. And I guess the remnants are going to continue blowing through for a few more days, but the exciting parts are over. We got heavy rain, a little hail, and winds gusting up to 45 mph, which is nothing. A few years back, my alma mater famously posted the following: "Warning: Strong winds are predicted for today, with gusts of up to 60 mph. Please exercise caution when walking between buildings." That's right, my school doesn't close classes unless the local government closes down the roads.

There have been brief power outages and some down branches, but I haven't seen any entire trees down. So no big deal up here. But boy was that a doozy downstate. I don't envy NYC the repairs. I mourn their dead, too, although some of those people brought their fates upon themselves. It's not like this was a surprise storm, so if you choose not to evacuate, you bear quite a bit of responsibility for your own fate.

It also brought back some unpleasant memories. The day Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, I was assigned as Assistant to the Squadron Duty NCO. There was a TV in the duty hut, so whoever was not on rounds could watch whatever the wanted– usually sports or a movie. We were glued to the Weather Channel all day and night, and people kept stopping by to get updates. About 30% of the squadron's total strength was in a detachment based just outside New Orleans, so we all knew people being affected. And then the very next day we were tasked to fly all available assets down to NOLA and help with rescues. Sadly, I didn't get to go– whenever a unit deploys, some people stay behind as "rear party" and keep the lights on at the base. I was just senior enough that my shop head trusted be to work alone in the rear, so I got the short straw and was one of the 25 people that stayed behind.

That was also the month I picked up corporal. Being awarded a rank requires a formation, and normally its the whole squadron. And getting corporal is a really big deal, it's the transition from "junior enlisted" to "non-commissioned officer". My formation consisted of a captain read the warrant (instead of the CO, a Lt. Col), a random sergeant to pin me (instead of a person of my choice), and two Marines standing at attention to be the witnesses. Even so, that was 20% of the total personnel still in the state. So it goes.

Posted by: Boviate at 07:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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