NMPS individual augmentee purgatory

I am writing this a little late however I need to address the Individual augmentation process while dealing with NMPS in San Diego. After arriving at the San Diego airport and being the squared away sailor I am, I broke out my orders and they recommended reporting to the USO for transportation to 32nd st Naval Station. I picked up my bags and carried them from one end of the airport to the other, finally arriving at the USO I immediately signed in and got a drink after my trek. They told me the van would be leaving momentarily and that it was only ten dollars, a bargain compared to what a cab would cost. I hopped in the van and we pulled away, just as I thought we were leaving the airport he continued back into the airport, we trolled the airport until he found a couple of other passengers needing rides. I guessed none of these guys where in the military or going to the Naval station due to the fact they all had long hair. Of course these guys couldn’t get on base so even though I was the first on the van I got the cheap tour of San Diego as the driver dropped these clowns off first. Lesson learned, take a cab, the Navy pays for it anyways, better yet rent a car it will help, there is a lot of walking and bumming rides if you don’t have one, NMPS says you will not get reimbursed but if I had to do it over again I would rent a car.

Bring some civilian clothes you can go out in San Diego, some guys even stayed at the Navy lodge with their wives and kids, not sure if they will get reimbursed or not, the BOQ has a block of rooms reserved so you will not have to make your own reservation. You will bring to much stuff so expect to mail shit home, I wore my desert flight suit even though our orders said they were not authorized, if I had to do it again I would not bring any khakis. You will get four sets of Army camo if you are going to Iraq or Afghanistan, plus two sets of boots and some other things. I arrived with half a sea bag of shit and a small duffle bag , after sending most of that home, I still left with two full sea bags and my duffle bag, I am still sending shit home, once you get to your Army base they give you more stuff than you can imagine.

NMPS is a trip, they are virtually worthless, they do not give a shit about you all they want to do is get you out of there. You will redo all medical screening you have already done a month ago, ensure you know where all your medical stuff is in your records, especially your shots I don’t think they know how to read and they will just make shit up and send you for things you don’t need. Do all your NKO courses including driving for life if you are going to FT Dix, otherwise you will be sitting in a computer lab finishing that stuff up during your down time. Do not expect any admin support, true story an O6 coming from his Commodore tour asked to use a phone, he was denied by one of the Petty Officers, after being shot down by this Petty Officer he told me how just a couple of weeks ago he could pick up a phone and request a 100 million dollar airplane be brought to him and it would arrive, now he is not even allowed to make a phone call. Do not try to suggest better ways of doing business they will just put you in the penalty box and make the whole process that much more miserable. One of our guys had so many good ideas he was sent to the OIC’s office and told to quit making waves. The way to get through NMPS is to show up with your shit in one sock, smile and comply with all directions, if you do that you should be done after a couple of days and you will have a couple of days off.