End of Cycle - Heat Stroke induced thoughts.

I've just finished a 3 day cycle of Augmentee duty, where I check ID's and allow people on base, or refuse entrance. I've had to wake at 0400 to be there by 0500, arm up at 0530, and be on post by 0600. I then work a gate with one other person until relieved, usually around 1800, 13 hours later. Sometimes the work is slow, and we can take turns on break, an hour at a time, but on some gates, and at particular times, it is so busy that we need extra help from the patrols to keep the traffic flowing.

I worked September 1st,& 5-7th. thru the 6th, I've been at gates on Maxwell, and there have been quite a few evacuees from the Mississippi area. They are all affiliated in one way or another to the military, and many of them here with just what they could fit in their cars. They've turned an entire hangar into Kennels for the evacuee's pets. Many active duty permanent party families are "Adopting" and evacuee family, so that they don't have to sleep in the gym.

I was pretty flippant about the hurricane before it hit, thinking that it would be another Ivan at worst, but more likely a George, which did minor damage in 1999 to the Biloxi area. After seeing the damage caused by the hurricane in Biloxi and New Orleans, I count myself really lucky that it didn't turn towards us. We wouldn't have been hit by the surge, but the winds would have really messed things up.