The Kwaj Drafter is going back to Kwajatraz!

[AlphaSigOU]

If any of 'youse guys' follow Facebook you may already know the news; for those that don't I've been medically cleared to do some more time at Kwajatraz Federal Penitentiary - ahem - the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Basically doing the same thing as a design drafter (for the past six years) but I am adding the additional duty of configuration auditor to my job. Estimating my RNLTD (report no later than date) for Saturday, August 29 (Friday, August 28 for you mainlanders on the other side of the International Date Line).

Looking forward to the freshest sushi and sashimi, getting bored to death with watching AFN (Armed Forces Network) and suffering through the 'PDR Purge' and sucking down expired beer at the Snake Pit. It's for a minimum two-year tour, with extension to the end of the contract at the end of February 2018.

And I swear to God I'll pistol-whip the next guy who tells me I'm going to Gilligan's Island!

P.S. For those pushing me to start an overseas CAP squadron on Kwaj, CAPR 35-4 only allows it for USAF installations overseas. So... Army, Navy and Marine installations get the shaft. (Unless I can swing a waiver and get enough interest.) I'm still keeping my active membership in CAP, even though I'm going to be largely inactive while on the rock. 

[PHall]

If any of 'youse guys' follow Facebook you may already know the news; for those that don't I've been medically cleared to do some more time at Kwajatraz Federal Penitentiary - ahem - the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Basically doing the same thing as a design drafter (for the past six years) but I am adding the additional duty of configuration auditor to my job. Estimating my RNLTD (report no later than date) for Saturday, August 29 (Friday, August 28 for you mainlanders on the other side of the International Date Line).

Looking forward to the freshest sushi and sashimi, getting bored to death with watching AFN (Armed Forces Network) and suffering through the 'PDR Purge' and sucking down expired beer at the Snake Pit. It's for a minimum two-year tour, with extension to the end of the contract at the end of February 2018.

And I swear to God I'll pistol-whip the next guy who tells me I'm going to Gilligan's Island!

P.S. For those pushing me to start an overseas CAP squadron on Kwaj, CAPR 35-4 only allows it for USAF installations overseas. So... Army, Navy and Marine installations get the shaft. (Unless I can swing a waiver and get enough interest.) I'm still keeping my active membership in CAP, even though I'm going to be largely inactive while on the rock.

Overseas Squadrons are CADET Squadrons only.  So, how many dependant kids are on Kwaj??? 

[LSThiker]

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan
The Skipper too,
The millionaire and his wife,
The movie star
The professor and Mary Ann,
Here on Gilligans Isle.

[AlphaSigOU]

Overseas Squadrons are CADET Squadrons only.  So, how many dependant kids are on Kwaj???

Probably less than 200.

[Paul_AK]

getting bored to death with watching AFN (Armed Forces Network)

Who doesn't love the constant barrage of safety and recruitment advertisements?

[PHall]

getting bored to death with watching AFN (Armed Forces Network)

Who doesn't love the constant barrage of safety and recruitment advertisements?

Something has to take the place of the "normal" ads.

[Ohioguard]

Enjoy your new tour.  Look forward to your updates.  Enjoy your time at the Vets Hall.


JCW

[dwb]

Who doesn't love the constant barrage of safety and recruitment advertisements?

What? CAP has a TV channel?

[PHall]

Who doesn't love the constant barrage of safety and recruitment advertisements?

What? CAP has a TV channel?

Dan, you've obviously never had the "pleasure" of having AFRTS as your sole source of TV and radio.
Consider yourself lucky!

[dwb]

Phil, I'm one of those weirdos who doesn't watch TV.

Or rather, watches only very rarely. Like when the Super Bowl is on or something.

[lordmonar]

getting bored to death with watching AFN (Armed Forces Network)

Who doesn't love the constant barrage of safety and recruitment advertisements?

The OPSEC, the "you are an ambassador" , the "So you are moving overseas?", the "Total Force, AD, Reserve, National Guard and DoD Civilians....One team".  And my personal favorite......"The Commissary Surcharge is not a tax"...particularly the one where she breaks out into a song and dance number......think Family Guy opening titles.....with a fat old lady.....shudder.

[AlphaSigOU]

And just to add insult to injury... let's talk about AFN's coverage of the Stupor Bowl:

The Big Game (as we all know, the NFL trademarked the term 'Super Bowl') is a humongous moneymaker for the network carrying the broadcast and the NFL for the airing of snazzy new commercials. Since the Super Bowl's licensing (AFN gets it for free or a very reduced amount) does not cover commercials, we're plastered with big-time military public service announcements and empty-headed platitudes by politicians, celebrities and others of that ilk thanking the military for their service where the commercials are inserted. Sure, we might get a special aired a couple of days later showing the commercials, but in the olden days we used to get video tapes full of commercials mailed to us by family and friends to offset the sensory deprivation caused by the lack of Madison Avenue commercialism. (It's much easier these days with the advent of YouTube...)

On Kwaj, the Super Bowl is aired around 1100 on Monday, making it a breakfast/brunch event. Our weekends are Sundays and Mondays, to sync up with business back in the other side of the international date line.

[Paul_AK]

getting bored to death with watching AFN (Armed Forces Network)

Who doesn't love the constant barrage of safety and recruitment advertisements?

The OPSEC, the "you are an ambassador" , the "So you are moving overseas?", the "Total Force, AD, Reserve, National Guard and DoD Civilians....One team".  And my personal favorite......"The Commissary Surcharge is not a tax"...particularly the one where she breaks out into a song and dance number......think Family Guy opening titles.....with a fat old lady.....shudder.

My all time favorite is the Airman's Creed ad which involved troops from different AFSCs in the middle of a dramatized version of their respective jobs before dramatically turning to the camera reciting a sentence with intensity. +10 Motivation

[raivo]

Ahh, the Kwaj. I have a few friends who launched ICBMS towards there.

[MSG Mac]

AFRTS is one of the reasons that on most overseas bases AFEES's biggest sales are on DVD players and discs.

[TheSkyHornet]

I have a buddy/former co-worker who was stationed at Kwaj in the 90s and absolutely loved it, despite the isolation. Personally, I'd love to tour micronesia and some of the other Pacific islands, just to see them once, yanno.

Safe travels and avoid the typhoons, good sir.