Murphy’s Law Backfires

About a month ago, Ed sent an email informing me that he was thinking about “volunteering” to stay behind to make sure the unit’s connex (shipping container) got out ok. Needless to say, that announcement did not go over well. In fact, I would say that was probably the low point of his deployment. Through subsequent conversations, it became less clear if he was truly “volunteering” or if he was being volunteered. Regardless of how much choice he had, the result is, he is still in Kuwait while the rest of his unit prepares to be feted by the governor and dismissed this afternoon.

One of the things that has held Ed and I together over the years is a shared cynicism. I.e. we both expected that since he stayed behind, all would go smoothly, thus demonstrating that there was no reason for him to have delayed his return. Whereas, according to our philosophy, if he had come home on time with the rest of his unit, everything would have gone to hell. Well, somehow the fates got a little confused this time. He stayed behind and everything has gone to hell.

I received a call from Ed this morning just as I left the house to walk to work. He needed me to pass along a message First Sergeant (there is a long confusing story as to why he could call me and not the First Sergeant – it has everything to do with area codes – suffice to say, I have the right one and the First Sergeant does not). He asked me to let the First Sergeant know, “The connex has disappeared in Balad. It made it to the staging yard, but now nobody knows where it is. They think the battery on the RF tag (an electronic tracking device that sends out a signal allowing an individual connex to be found in the sea of connexes -ed) may have died.”

As requested, I called the First Sergeant and gave him the message. I hadn’t gotten more than the first sentence out when he broke into laughter.

Apparently Ed is correct, guys do laugh at their friends' misfortunes.

It seems that the same thing happened to another public affairs unit (thus the decision to leave Ed behind). Their equipment finally showed up about 10 months later.

On the plus side, Ed will not be in Kuwait for another 10 months, even if the connex doesn’t show up. It would “take an act of Congress” to keep him deployed longer than 400 days. Which means, at the latest, he will be out of Kuwait and heading back to the states in about 10 days.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on Ed’s Iraq adventure as it unfolds and hopefully draws to an end. Soon.

Update 5/24. The connex has been found. Eddy should fly home no later than next Saturday, May 31.