I knew this was going to be a rough day all along so I thought I was prepared. In some ways I was, in others I wasn't. The first leg went fine, I took a flight from San Diego to Seattle. I found the USO after lugging two fifty pound seabags, plus another slightly smaller duffel bag and laptop half way across the airport. I had a good five or six hours to cool off before getting my tickets for a military flight to Japan so I grabbed some food and relaxed.
Now the problems started happening, first I had airport officials telling me I didn't belong on the flight even though I had orders and a flight itinerary to back up my claim. After a long discussion with several of them and just short of me starting to make some calls to officers in the middle of the night, they decided I really was on the flight. Then I got stuck behind someone trying to get an x-box through security. Mental note, not a good idea to stick that much metal in a carry on bag. It was driving the airport security nuts. Once I got to the right gate I still had a few hours to wait since the flight did not leave until around 1am.
The military flights have definitely improved from years past. They no longer use military cargo planes with bucket seats. The flights are chartered from commercial airlines and they leave the middle seats empty. We made a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska, so I can check that one off my list of states to visit. It was cold, enough said on that subject. From Anchorage we went on to Yokota Air Force Base in Japan.
After a fairly quick processing at the base where we had our orders and/or passports checked, we picked up our bags and boarded a set of buses depending on our destination. I boarded the bus bound for Yokosuka and waited while everyone was accounted for. The ride to the naval base took forever, evidently there was a holiday on the day we arrived so traffic was a nightmare. Not that traffic is ever all that light in Japanese cities on any day. My sponsor, the current Assistant Supply Officer was there to greet me when we finally arrived at the base. It had been a long day unfortunately it wasn't over yet.
When you have an overseas post like that, do you have the same passport as a civilian? Is there anything in there that marks you are military personnel?
ReplyDeleteYou have several different options available when you travel overseas. First your orders can serve the same purpose as a passport. If you want to travel to another country or are bringing family members, then you need a passport.
ReplyDeleteThere are two types of passports available to military personnel, any US citizen can get a civilian passport, that is what I did and I had to get it expedited for an extra charge. There is also a military passport. It is free of charge but takes a while to obtain and can only be used for official military travel.