Finally Home

Made it home. No problems with the trip. The flights were uneventful. Holiday Inn was a luxurious experience compared to the last few months. Capped off with a nice meal at the Macaroni Grill and a trip home with lots of state troopers positioned along the highways to make sure it was safe. Unpacked some tonight, but other than that just distributed some small gifts and now enjoying a little high speed Internet. I was greeted by a goat, a dachshund and a large black and white mutt here at the farm. Other than that everything is pretty much normal. I am just enjoying the green and the relative cool (only in the 80s). Made it home. I definitely have a greater appreciation for those who serve much longer terms.

Home Soil

Arrived in the USA last night. The average US citizen still appreciates what the military does for them. Many are still appreciative of the job which we do. I have a new appreciation for those who are deployed for 12-15 months. No matter how we try to "Americanize" the forward bases, they are still nothing like living in the US. I didn't realize how nice a real bed is, how lovely a large shower is, and not having to walk 1/4 mile to get my breakfast. It is really sweet to be back on American soil. I pray that terrorist do not transform the US into a place like Iraq, but I fear that the terrorist will not leave the US alone for much longer, especially with the current administration.

Movement Home

Finished the first leg home. It was a long day. Flying in a C-130 is tiring. At least I got to have fun with the aircrew. It truely is much more fun being part of the "crew" then being self-loading baggage. They are a fun bunch and are still upbeat because they just got here. Luckily and "act of God" cut our trip by 1 1/2 hours, so that was a blessing in disguise. Less flight time, but earlier arrival at Quatar. Doesn't hurt that I am also travelling with one of our Chaplins. Safety has still been a blessing. We continue to look out for our wingmen as we travel. Tomorrow will be a very long day. I hope to sleep in. Not much else to do here, unless I drank beer. I will get cleaned up and then hit the hay.

I now have potential energy.

It is exciting. There are actually times and flights for my redeployment. I am no longer just waiting for flights and space. I pray that the weather holds, only 105 today. I pray that the airplanes all work the way they are supposed to. You try not to get too excited until you actually step foot at home again. It is still a long trip and a lot of hours on planes. But as I reflect to my early notes, nothing compared to the WWII veterans who endured week long ship rides across the Atlantic or the Pacific oceans. Or even going by prop only aircraft all the way home. I pray that the people that I leave behind here can do well, it was a little sad when I first got here and all the people you came to replace slowly left. Hopefully tomorrow I start movement.

Waiting

Sitting and waiting here. Not really anything that I can do useful except for be available. There is no real space for me here, so I just am kind of trying to be available and help out as best I can. It was going from a slow cruise to idle. I just need to keep looking around for opportunities. Not much else as almost everyone else has rotated out. "just keep swimming." At least I have a date and a time for return. Now just need to wait for that date.

Human Nature

It is funny. Yesterday a lost a friendly bet with a master Sargent. The loss cost me running a 5K on the treadmill. Not a big deal, but my old knees just don't like running that far, cycling is fine, a little butt numbing, but otherwise fine. I made it through the 5K without stopping, slowed down for 500m, but never stopped. Never needed oxygen, did not need 911 called or the AED. While I was running this there is a distance meter on the treadmill. It defaults to miles. I about fell off the treadmill, pushing buttons to change the miles to kilometers so that I could see my progress. I know that 3.1 miles is 5k, but I just wanted to see that number. I guess it is the same when we count how many surf and turfs we have enjoyed. (This was my 10th and hopefully the last in country, nothing bad about all the shrimp, crab legs or lobster tails and steak you can eat, but I want to go home.) All I could think of tonight was, how Kevin and Kristina would have loved this surf and turf, they cut the legs in half, so all you have to do is pull the meat out, dip it in butter and eat, no cracking, no pulling, just eating.... Overall a fairly good day, just up to 103 today. Nothing major, met the new deputy group commander and new group chief master Sargent. Probably the last blog for a while,until I get to the deed.

Blog Today

Just a short note today. Probably will be my last entry for a few days. I am beginning the process of movement. It is funny, this process should be fairly practiced and routine, but it is always a little stressful. The new group is coming in and so the old group needs to move out. It is called overlap. I have packed up 80% of all my stuff and will be living out of my luggage for a few days. Don't really know what a "few days" is, but it is like everything else in the military, or for that matter moving any large group of people, - hurry up and wait. I will probably lose this Internet connection. I may get to pick one up in the "deed" but depending upon the speed of my movement it could be days to hours. At this point, as one of the master sargents put it "you have low motility"

For All things there is a time

I am slowly cleaning my areas and gathering up all my stuff. It is amazing, I came here with 2 bags and I have sent home a full trunk and another small box. I still think that I have more stuff than when I came here. This is just the physical things. I know that I will be leaving behind a group of friends, as my last commander put it, "war buddies." We will always have a unique shared experience which is not describable in any amount of words. Things happen, don't really know why God lets them happen, but they do. Everyone deals with the things in their own unique way. One of my war buddies told me yesterday, I know why we get snippy with each other at the end of the deployment, because is makes it a little bit easier to part company. It's funny, I know we are in a war zone, and there is death and destruction all around us, but we all will miss the people, not the situation. But, if not for the situation, we would not have met these people and bonded to them. It is kind of like college, only different. Our first Sargent keeps telling us "short-timers" to minimize our footprint, so that when the new folks come in, there will be plenty of room to welcome them in, so we pack and get in redeployment mode, we live out of our suitcases for the next 1-2 weeks.

Fragile Tranqility

It's amazing how fragile the status quo can be. I often take it for granted that things are just going to sail along without too many bumps in the road. Then out of left field there it is something tragic which changes everything. Only a split second and things are very different. People who you know are struggling, others who you thought would be weak find strength. Everyone pulls together and gets the job done. It is odd how these things bring out the best and worst in people. I honestly don't know how they do it without God. I know I wouldn't do very well if I didn't have that Rock, that Horizon which I can fix my gaze upon and know that the destination is sure and definite. The bumps and the waves they may get big and temporarily block my view, but I realize that my faith keeps me going in the same direction where I know that Rock lies.

Saturday again.

Another uneventful Saturday. A little reading. A little e-mail. Almost had to say goodbye to friends, but the weather kept them from leaving. The new people are getting the realization that the jobs are theirs, no backup. No one else to help. Everyone pitches in and helps, but until you actually have to do it yourself it really isn't your task. Prayerfully hoping that my hand off will be good so when I am gone, my replacement will be able to do a good job and continue the mission. Time is short.

Sun and Sand

Well it was nice to not see lots of dust today. Actually saw the sky. It was grey, but not rainy at all. It got up to 95 today. Not much else happening today. Anther Steak and crab leg night. Had the change of command ceremony. It means that my time here is almost done. Packing stuff up and cleaning stuff up. Getting ready for the next group to come in.

Wee

Days are going by fast now. Seems like there isn't much time to get things done. People are now starting to rotate out and that means big change. It is funny looking at it from this side, how tired and disoriented you are when you get here. No matter how much you are prepared, it is a lot of adapting just to move that many hours difference in the body. Let alone being from totally different climates and such. The dust and the sand have really kicked up. Lots of irritated noses and sinuses. You have to be deliberately careful so that you don't do a careless thing and get hurt. Best piece of advice I have gotten so far, keep your mind in the game until you are safely at home on your own couch, until then your still at war.

New Faces

Today we have new faces. They are all excited. It is good to have new excited people, they add energy to the group. They really seem tired after all the travelling all that way. I guess I probably felt that way when I got here. It seems like a distant memory. Everything has a purpose. It is funny how all that travel just taxes your body. Some do much better than others. It is amazing when people are more out of shape, or had small problems at home, it gets much worse when they have 24-48 hours of stress on their body. I am tired, was up lots last night. It is time for bed.

Amazing Patriots

It never ceases to amaze me how some men and women are patriots no matter what the circumstances are. If they are being shot at or blown up, or just sitting at a computer supporting others some are really happy to do their part because that is who they are. Of course there are some who are the exact opposite, but most are here because they want to do their part. They are not perfect, and they do occasionally get a bad attitude about their job, but then they pull out of it and are still glad that they can do their part. I just pray that I can be a good witness for others around me.

Another week completed

Another week has gone by. Doesn't seem to be any faster or slower than any other. I try to keep a good attitude and also keep concentrating on the mission here. I guess it is just a small part of trying to keep my morale up. It is hard when you are not really keeping up the clinical skills that you normally practice due to a much slower pace. It has been good and relaxing, and definitely less taxing. The stress is different than at home. At home there is more work stress, here it is more non-work stress. Living conditions are not like at home. Food is not like at home. The people have been great, but they just aren't family. Having to walk about 5 miles a day for just food, bathing, toileting, and getting to work, is definitely more healthy, but makes the day a little more time consuming. That is OK, cause there is nothing else to do, but eat, sleep, work, work out and play a little.