Visitor

I'm glad that nearly every day we get to meet people that we otherwise would not have met. I got the opportunity to be involved in the planning for a visit from the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. He came to this region and made a visit here to see the troops as well as visit the Air Force Theater Hospital. Of course the entourage that follows him is huge and the personal security detail is much larger than the one that follows me around but it is cool to watch the process of planning a visit like this, making the itinery work for us and him, and making the security arrangements as simple and detailed as possible. He gave a 20 minute talk to nearly 500 troops then he spent time taking photos with everyone. My part was to ensure that the aircraft/helos arrived with no impact on the combat missions that were currently ongoing and that his motorcade made it from the flightline to the venue for his speech. I also had to work with the PSD (see above) to make sure that the flightline had no unauthorized people in the area. It is was a challenge since the flightline area is under construction and the contractors are ... local nationals or TCNs, third country nationals. So I had to get them away from the area without letting them know why. A little bit touchy since they are under contract to do something for the Air Force but I had to get them to stop work without breaking the long-term contract. But once the Secretary got to the speaking venue, my job was over, so I got to relax in the back of the venue and talk to his staff. As he was leaving, I was talking to his staffer and he came over to ask him a question, shook my hand and asked if I wanted a picture with him. So it was kinda cool to get a picture with him. Then off he goes into his car to continue his motorcade to the hospital. I went back to the office and grabbed my gear and left for my hooch. I was wiped out. That is that.