Typically, there is one person in the advance party who
ends up responsible for the living quarters.
This person is the one who keeps track of the empty or soon to be empty
rooms and the assigning of rooms/room keys.
That same person is usually the point of contact for maintenance issues
- the one you go to when the air conditioner doesn't work (yes, we have A/C) or
if the electricity is fritzzy or if there is a leak, etc.
If you were living in someplace like NYC or Boston, they
would be called the Super and their full-time job would be taking care of the
building and the tenants' needs. In the
Army, that person is usually called the Mayor.
So, when me and about a hundred of my 101st CAB buddies
arrived in Bagram a calendar line or two worth of days ago, it was late at
night and we were still lagging with time-zone differences - we just wanted to
know where we could stow our stuff and hit the rack - preferably in whatever
space we were going to be staying in for the duration as we had been in transit
for several days and wanted to be able to finally fully unpack and get settled;
we were looking for the Mayor.
When we found out Staff Sergeant Swisher, whose real job
is the Battalion Safety NCOIC, was the one with room assignments and keys, we
swarmed around him like, well, ants - crawling over each other in an effort to
get a room and a bed.
It was about 0100 local time (that's one o'clock in the
morning to you civilian types) so it was dark out and, in typical Army fashion,
a bit of controlled chaos (initially, maybe not so controlled) with Soldiers
from various units within the 101st CAB hooking-up with their respective chains
of command and trying to sort out where who was going where.
Each Soldier also had at least three large, heavy bags
they were trying to keep their eyes on as well so there was an obstacle course
of piled duffle bags and ruck sacks.
Oh, did I mention each of the buildings "yards"
consist of baby-fist-sized gravel? The
100+ Soldiers walking around in combat boots on the rough stones added a
constant grumbling white noise that sounded like someone crunching Styrofoam in
your ear, which contributed to the general confusion by making it difficult to
hear what anyone was saying even if they were right next to you.
After a bit more controlling of the chaos by First
Sergeants and a lot of work on SSG Swisher's part, almost everyone eventually
got a place to sleep for the night - even if it wasn't where they were going to
be permanently - just in time for the next wave of Soldiers to arrive, bags in
hand, tired and looking for their room and rack so the whole process started
once again.
The "next" day (really just later the same
day) SSG Swisher went door-by-door giving Soldiers their permanent assigned
rooms and keys so they could finally unpack for real.
Over the next few days and up to today, I have seen SSG
Swisher almost everywhere: assigning rooms and keys; cleaning out rooms so
Soldiers would have a place to stay; meeting with electricians and air
conditioner mechanics so Soldiers would have lights and A/C and; in his office
doing his "real" job - the Mayor gig is an additional responsibility
he has to his normal duties.
One of the things that impressed me that first night and
since then, is how SSG Swisher, a 15-year veteran who has been to Iraq nine
times (and is married with five kids), maintained a cool demeanor and a
constant attitude of service - ensuring all Soldiers were taken care of by going
the extra mile and working all and very long hours.
In fact, if you were to ask me to describe SSG Swisher in
just one word, it would be: "Super."
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