News Flash! Four Hundred and Twenty People Move As They Please.

Craziness happened over the last few days with the moving of the people from the West Side LSA to the East Side LSA. It started off slowly and to the plan but as the time ticked away panic set in and the move became a monster. It was like the preverbal snowball rolling down hill.

I will also say the the Camp Management did explain the process several times and in several ways to the Managers and Supervisors in our daily meetings. However, the Managwers and Supervisors dropped the ball in the proper explination to the general workers. Like most problems there was a breakdown in communication and people, in fear, began to do what they wanted.

The first to move were to be all of the Wymore DFAC workers. There were over seventy of them and they were to have the first tents so that we did not have to bus them from one side to the other twice a day. That move went well and on schedule Monday.

The next to move were to be the Laundry and some of the laborers that have been building the Camp. This was to make it easier for them to the job site and begin work each day. Along with them also were the females from that were going to have two specific tents and because their old tents would be needed on the East side. All of this went off pretty well ad without incident but during this time people started thinking about themselves.

See the ultimate plan is to have people diveded by the Departments they are in. This would help for accountability purposes in an emergency. Like I said this is the final plan. Some Supervisors began to talk to their people about this and some even decided to get their people moved over early to avoid the rush and whatknot, this is where the problem started. People started to se one and two people leave their tent for the new tents.

Me and the other Supervisor in my tent continued to tell the men that we were to move on Thursday and to stay put. Each night we would spend time explaining what was happening and each night the thoughts that they would not have room, or their space on the East side set in deeper.

Tuesday night began the exedus from the West Side LSA. In the wee hours of the night multiple people began to move into tents claiming their ground. Everyone going where they wanted, no plan now in place. As the day began to break, people really realized that the move was on and that thye needed to also gather and go. This is where the Camp Management made a mistake. Instead of stopping everyone and regrouping they stated that evryone should just move.

They had basically thrown in the towel and because no one was listening they opened the flood gate and relied on the people to do the right thing. Wrong, as I saw yesterday, when you do this the worst of people, at least here comes out. We ran out of room quick and about ten percent of the people are still on the West side as they could not get their belongings out and over. There were also several thefts of property as the confusion created opportunity to steal.

In the mid afternoon I went to the West side to check my stuff. I had some belongings sent from my parents and Catherine in my foot locker but some others were not. I wanted to assure that I was organized and that my stuff was secured. What I found was three more people had moved out. When they did so they just left everything they did not want to bring with them laying around. They had also left the front and back doors open. Mattresses just lieing on the floor, not a care about anyone elses things.

I packed verything that I had at that time in to two foot lockers. One I would place in my storage and one for me when I found a bed. Rolled up my sheets and pillows and took what I could get into the SUV, leaving my bed and matresses and the shelves I had built. There was nothing else I could do at this point and I had no where to actually go. The last three guys were still working. Including Chandel, and there stuff I left alon in the tent.

By the time of our 1800 meeting things had gotten so bad that the Camp Manager tasked ech MAanager and Supervisor to go do tent inspections. We were to count beds and mattresses and consolidate as we could. I was amazed. Most tents had nobody on top bunks. People had themselves spread out like they had never been before. Some tents now only having half of the people that they should have. There was even one tent that was "Expat" only. People just were being so selfish.

All of this came to a head during the tent inspections when apparently a man that had moved into a tent was thrown out by some of the other men, the "Expat" tent, for not being an Expat. This put the Camp Manager over the top. He called a All hands Meeting right on the spot. Clearing all of the tents even of those that were still sleeping. In my opinion the was to little, too late. Trying to fix something like this, now, was too much. The frenzy in my opinion has caused the momentum that we had in the initial stages of the New LSA was gone.

Today, I will guess will be a day of organization and consoldation. We will attempt to fit the remaining beds and people here on the West side. We will try to get everyone space to live until the rest of the Camp is built. Everyone will have space, how much we will see. It is too bad that this happened how it did but I saw how human nature can be. Each group of ideas coming together into something of it's own. Seeing people at their worst out of fear of not getting what they feel they should get. Taking advantage of opportunity, to steal and segregate. It is a shame.

I ended up last night in a bed of a man that is on R&R. It is only temporary and today I will look for additional space to move my mattress and bed over. My Department will facilitate the rest of the move of beds, matresses and any luggage that may need to come. We will try to squeeze everyone in.

People, when left to their own divises will fail you most often. We are frail and broken and doomed to sin and the nature of this world. We become selfish and criminal if given opportuinity ajnd doing what is right is distant second to what we think is best. Not all people are bad, but many are, or will do things for self preservation if the circumstances are correct.

Lord, I pray for peace and protection over this Camp. May we all be able to come through this and come together after today.