Two trips for the purpose of one (but it's not waste)

There was once a time when it would have been cool to get the uniforms with the new camouflage pattern, termed "OCP" for Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern (another one of those acronyms within an acronym).

It was just before our deployment, and shortly after, when it would have been a mark of distinction -- a way of saying, "Yeah, we got the new OEF-only uniform cuz we're going to Afghanistan. We're awesome like that."

As it got pushed further and further back, though, it became less exciting -- it was more of a "we're getting it this late in the game because we suck" sort of thing. At some point, sometime after my R&R, I stopped caring about getting it.

By then, it was just more stuff to pack away and ship back to the U.S., where we wouldn't be able to wear it anyway. When I heard that we wouldn't have to draw it, it was a relief -- less stuff to haul back and forth between continents.

On September 16, we flew down to Kandahar to pack up unneeded stuff into our "redeployment" containers. This included our extra boots, extra uniforms, extreme cold weather gear, and things like that. The 58 of us who had already drawn the OCP packed up that part, also. It seemed like a done deal that we wouldn't wear it.

But then our brigade made the decision that we would have to get it. A few days after we'd gotten back to Tarin Kowt, I got a call that we would have to -- again -- return to Kandahar.

So for the second time in 10 days we rejoined our company and picked up our new uniforms on the 28th. Those who'd already packed their OCP had to pull it out and repack it. Customs had to come back and do a second inspection on the boxes of old ACU camos we had to pack.

It was a colossal waste.

My biggest question was, of course, "Why did we have to draw it?" We were less than a month and a half away from going home. What was so important that our brigade couldn't leave well enough alone?

Well, the biggest thing was that it had already been "paid for" in April. When the decision was made that all units leaving after August 1st would get it, the expectation was that it would arrive in May. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case -- it arrived in August.

At that point, my company command team tried a stalling tactic to see if our battalion would eventually back down. By saying that there was no properly-colored unit patch for us to wear, we'd hoped to delay things to the point it was irrelevant.

Alas, it didn't work.

However, upon checking things out, I discovered that this cannot be considered "waste." It's "a command decision." Unfortunately for us, cancelling our order and sending it all back to the U.S. would have cost just about as much as simply issuing it to us, so they went with "uniformity" over "convenience."

Whatever. I'll take the stuff, leave it untouched and unworn in its original package, and turn it in when I get home. Maybe one day it will get sent back to Afghanistan to complete a second round trip.

In any case, it will be less junk to sort through during my next move.