En-Mic-Pees

According to my desktop tracker, I have less than 80 days left! Since getting to less than 100 days in mid-July I've been obsessed with tracking the time. It's not good for me; I have plenty to get done. Yet, seeing the numbers steadily decline on my tracking spreadsheet is a kind of guilty pleasure for me. It provides a framework to fit my remaining tasks around. Early in my tour, work was a giant, amorphous amoeba relentlessly filling all my time. Now, I can see how the story arc will finish, at least for me. I know what I'll be able to get done before I leave.

That is, when I actually leave. After getting below 100 days left in theater, we are supposed to start checking an online system, the Navy & Marine Corps Mobilization Processing System (NMCMPS, or, en-mic-pees), to see if demobilization orders have been cut. After logging in today I found out that 1) I don't have de-mob orders, 2) I don't have a de-mob detach date, and, most surprising, 3) I am not currently filling a requirement (see screen shot). Huh?

Another field mysteriously claims my Sourcing History End Date was yesterday, 31 July. I've since been told that date is a "glitch" in the system and that my billet's actual End Date is in 2009. (That means the system is supposed to replace me with another lucky reservist when my tour is up.) It further was explained to me that once my billet's end date was renewed to 2009, NMCMPS doesn't bother to update the field online. Hey, Ideamatics (the contractor who makes NMCMPS), that sounds like a bug to me.

About a month ago, the Navy informed me my replacement was chosen and that he would be arriving in Baghdad in early October. It was great news and put a spring in my step. However a few weeks ago, the Navy informed me that my replacement was found to be medically unqualified and that his mobilization was cancelled. Technically, it shouldn't matter; when my orders say de-mob, I de-mob, at least that's the theory.

It's too soon to start stressing about this but I'm watching it anyway. Hell hath no fury like an Individual Augmentee left twitching in the wind.

Oh, the weather is back to being hot, dusty, and generally crappy.