For those that are really curious about where I'm working, check out this link. This is a pretty good blog post about Camp Arifjan and what a soldier needs here.
http://twowheelsburning.com/article/articleview/116/1/9/
It’s mid-November already. Time is rolling on past and for me right now….that’s a good thing. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to try and appreciate every day and not to be in a hurry to go from one day to the next. They pass fast enough as it is. However, during this deployment, I’ve got no problem with the days passing quickly.
The deployment’s not been too bad. I’ve got a pretty good job in a secure location and I work with some good people. However, I just cannot stand being away from my family. I knew it was going to be hard. Ang and I had some long talks about it, and how we’d coop. We’re doing well, but it sucks. I really don’t know how soldiers do this over and over again. I adore my wife. I love to be with my children. I know I’m doing the right thing here, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Anyway, September brings me that much closer to my 15 days of R&R. I’m scheduled to head back to the states on September 29th. I cannot wait!
It’s mid-November already. Time is rolling on past and for me right now….that’s a good thing. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to try and appreciate every day and not to be in a hurry to go from one day to the next. They pass fast enough as it is. However, during this deployment, I’ve got no problem with the days passing quickly.
The deployment’s not been too bad. I’ve got a pretty good job in a secure location and I work with some good people. However, I just cannot stand being away from my family. I knew it was going to be hard. Ang and I had some long talks about it, and how we’d coop. We’re doing well, but it sucks. I really don’t know how soldiers do this over and over again. I adore my wife. I love to be with my children. I know I’m doing the right thing here, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Anyway, September brings me that much closer to my 15 days of R&R. I’m scheduled to head back to the states on September 29th. I cannot wait!
SEPTEMBER
Talk about counting the days…..for a minute I thought I’d never get through September, but I did. I finished the English Channel Swim Channel on Labor Day. That was 30 days after I started. I am definitely a much better swimmer now. I can swim a mile in about 45-50 minutes. That swim took me 1 hour and 10 minutes in the beginning. But….I’m sure glad that’s done. It was a bear. I got the MWR worker on duty to take pics of me just as I finished. He got some good shots that I posted on Facebook. We got a nice blue tee-shirt for our efforts. J
That brings me to Facebook. Wow! I was a pretty big user before, and I taught classes on social networking for Coldwell Banker United and the Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS, but now I’m an avid user. 12 hours a day in front of a computer will do that to you. It’s been a great way from me to keep connected with everyone back home. I love the pictures and I love the commentary. Unfortunately, I’ve fallen in love with something else on Facebook. I’m totally addicted to Mafia Wars. It’s a game application on Facebook. I’m not a big video game person and I’ve never taken the time to do any online gaming. I guess I’ve just been too busy on other stuff. But I’ve gotten into this one….I just can’t seem to tear myself away from it. Thank goodness you run out of energy and stamina. You can only play for about 15-30 minutes at a time and then you have to wait 3-5 hours. Oh well, just something else to help pass the time.
I spent September working on getting our sections equipment drawn and a work station set-up in the G3 operations area. Because I was the day shift soldier and one of the people with the longest time left to serve back in the summer, I got designated the property book person. Basically, I get to sign for all the equipment for our section. This includes an up armored HMMMV with all the bells and whistles. (No weapon, yet.) I also get to sign for all the computer equipment, which includes 3 laptops, 5 monitors and all the accessories that go with. I’m now responsible for about $150,000 in equipment. Oh well, it could be much more. Anyway, we’re working on getting a work station set up of the Command Operations Information/Intelligence Center (COIC) floor. That’s a good thing. We’ll have a computer and work center for when we have more than 2 people working at time. This is usually when the whole section comes into down for exercises.
I’ve pretty much got the job down. I can still learn a whole lot more about space operations, but I’ve got the current operations job here with ARCENT pretty figure out. Mostly trying to figure out what else I can learn about the world of space and 3rd Army operations. MAJ Corey Gerving has been a good teacher. He’s also been a great work-out partner. Since we started working out together at the end of August, I find I’m pushing myself harder. Having somebody watch over you adds to the motivation!
We ran a couple more 5Ks. Seems like we have one every couple of weeks. The weather has had an interesting impact on us this month however. All through the summer, we had dry wind out of the north (Iraq) and 110+ degree heat. We’d run at 5a-6a in the morning when it’d usually be 90-100 degrees. You got used to it. Ran a 5K in that weather early in the month. I ran it in 22:30. Feeling pretty good about myself. A week later, the wind shifted and began coming in off the Arabian Gulf to the east. That brings humidity, which if you’re not used to it is brutal. 50-75% humidity when you’re used to 10% makes if feel like its 150 degrees. We ran a 5K in this kind of weather that morning and I didn’t hydrate properly. I started out like I always do….really fast. About halfway through, it hit me. I couldn’t cool down. I felt like my head was on fire. At the 4K mark, I was toast. I was light headed and struggling. I soldiered through. I finished in 22:47. Realized as I was drinking water and hydrating afterwards that the humidity had such a huge impact. It didn’t just hit me though. One of the really fast runners collapsed at the finish and had to have medical attention. Gotta remember that. The humidity will be in Florida when I get home for R&R.
Talk about counting the days…..for a minute I thought I’d never get through September, but I did. I finished the English Channel Swim Channel on Labor Day. That was 30 days after I started. I am definitely a much better swimmer now. I can swim a mile in about 45-50 minutes. That swim took me 1 hour and 10 minutes in the beginning. But….I’m sure glad that’s done. It was a bear. I got the MWR worker on duty to take pics of me just as I finished. He got some good shots that I posted on Facebook. We got a nice blue tee-shirt for our efforts. J
That brings me to Facebook. Wow! I was a pretty big user before, and I taught classes on social networking for Coldwell Banker United and the Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS, but now I’m an avid user. 12 hours a day in front of a computer will do that to you. It’s been a great way from me to keep connected with everyone back home. I love the pictures and I love the commentary. Unfortunately, I’ve fallen in love with something else on Facebook. I’m totally addicted to Mafia Wars. It’s a game application on Facebook. I’m not a big video game person and I’ve never taken the time to do any online gaming. I guess I’ve just been too busy on other stuff. But I’ve gotten into this one….I just can’t seem to tear myself away from it. Thank goodness you run out of energy and stamina. You can only play for about 15-30 minutes at a time and then you have to wait 3-5 hours. Oh well, just something else to help pass the time.
I spent September working on getting our sections equipment drawn and a work station set-up in the G3 operations area. Because I was the day shift soldier and one of the people with the longest time left to serve back in the summer, I got designated the property book person. Basically, I get to sign for all the equipment for our section. This includes an up armored HMMMV with all the bells and whistles. (No weapon, yet.) I also get to sign for all the computer equipment, which includes 3 laptops, 5 monitors and all the accessories that go with. I’m now responsible for about $150,000 in equipment. Oh well, it could be much more. Anyway, we’re working on getting a work station set up of the Command Operations Information/Intelligence Center (COIC) floor. That’s a good thing. We’ll have a computer and work center for when we have more than 2 people working at time. This is usually when the whole section comes into down for exercises.
I’ve pretty much got the job down. I can still learn a whole lot more about space operations, but I’ve got the current operations job here with ARCENT pretty figure out. Mostly trying to figure out what else I can learn about the world of space and 3rd Army operations. MAJ Corey Gerving has been a good teacher. He’s also been a great work-out partner. Since we started working out together at the end of August, I find I’m pushing myself harder. Having somebody watch over you adds to the motivation!
We ran a couple more 5Ks. Seems like we have one every couple of weeks. The weather has had an interesting impact on us this month however. All through the summer, we had dry wind out of the north (Iraq) and 110+ degree heat. We’d run at 5a-6a in the morning when it’d usually be 90-100 degrees. You got used to it. Ran a 5K in that weather early in the month. I ran it in 22:30. Feeling pretty good about myself. A week later, the wind shifted and began coming in off the Arabian Gulf to the east. That brings humidity, which if you’re not used to it is brutal. 50-75% humidity when you’re used to 10% makes if feel like its 150 degrees. We ran a 5K in this kind of weather that morning and I didn’t hydrate properly. I started out like I always do….really fast. About halfway through, it hit me. I couldn’t cool down. I felt like my head was on fire. At the 4K mark, I was toast. I was light headed and struggling. I soldiered through. I finished in 22:47. Realized as I was drinking water and hydrating afterwards that the humidity had such a huge impact. It didn’t just hit me though. One of the really fast runners collapsed at the finish and had to have medical attention. Gotta remember that. The humidity will be in Florida when I get home for R&R.
R&R
I left Camp Arifjan via bus on a Tuesday morning at 6.00am. I told Angela that since I was going back to the states I’d get back the 8 hours I’d lost and hopefully be at the Ft. Walton Beach airport sometime Tuesday afternoon. Boy was I off! I arrived at Ali Al Saleem Air Base around 8.30am. We had a 9.00am briefing where we signed in and then were told to return at 12.30pm to go into customs. I had some lunch, got my watch fixed. While wandering around, I met my friend, LTC Keith Farley, from all the way back at the first mobilization station, Camp McCrady. He was headed home to Annapolis, MD for his R&R at the same time. We reported for the 12.30pm formation. We then entered “lock down” until we got on the plane. We went through another briefing and then proceeded with our bags through Navy customs. This was painful! We had to take every single thing out of all of our bags for inspection. I had two bags (I took a bunch of stuff I didn’t need home for good) and a carry on. It took me about 1 ½ hours to get through all the scans and searches. We then sat in a little holding area where we could eat and watch TV. We finally boarded a bus for the airport about 5.00pm. The next stop was at the water point / holding area that they have between Ali Al Saleem and the Kuwait International Airport. I wrote about this back in the beginning. We sat there for about two hours. I’m still not sure what purpose this place has. Why couldn’t we sit back in the nice air conditioned holding area at Ali? Why stand out in a sandy parking lot with nothing but water for two hours. Anyway, we finally boarded the bus and headed to the airport. We climbed on the plane about 7.00pm. (Are you starting to see why the trip takes so long?) We took off about 7.30pm. The first leg was 5 hours to Leipzig, Germany. Coming through in May, it was only 2 ½ hours from Shannon, Ireland. Why the longer route? I was stressing by this time. I’d had no contact with Angela since the day before. I found a pay internet point and emailed her to give her a status update. (Internet was free in Shannon, Ireland.) She had been worried. I’d finally gotten my itinerary for my connection to Ft. Walton Beach by that time. I told her I wouldn’t be in until sometime Wed. We took off from Germany about an hour after we’d arrived. Really tired by this time. No first class seating this time through. I sat with Keith and we had a seat between us, but it’s still not very comfortable. Slept fitfully. Landed in Atlanta at about 6.30am Atlanta time. That’s 2.30pm Kuwait time the next day after I’d left. Went through customs and the Delta ticket line they’d had set-up for us. Got my connection ticket moved up to 10.30am. Yippee! Said good bye to Keith and headed to my gate. Starting to actually get excited now. I met a nice guy on the flight to Ft. Walton Beach to talk to. Helped to pass the time and settle my nerves. I’d been dreaming about this day since June. I can’t believe it’s here. I arrived in Ft. Walton Beach at about 10.30am central time. Walked briskly off the plane and through the gate terminals. Not a big airport. J As I came down the escalator to bag claim, Trey and Audrey saw me. Trey came sprinting to me and leapt into my arms. I cannot properly describe the joy in that moment, though Ang did a pretty good job catching it on camera. Audrey, interestingly enough was a little more hesitant, but after she saw me pick up Trey, she came to me. I got a huge twin huge. Kissed Ang and hugged everyone. Couldn’t stop smiling. One of the most unbelievable feelings in my life to see my family after such a long time. I didn’t lose that smile the whole time I was home.
I won’t go through all the details of my R&R here, just the highlights. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I’d resolved to just live each day one at a time and not be in any hurry to get somewhere or do something. I’d conditioned myself to have to expectations and make no demands. I just wanted to savor every moment. I did just that. The trip actually lasted longer than I thought it would. We get exactly 15 days from midnight the day we arrive at our home airport till midnight of the day we arrive in the Atlanta airport to return. Thank goodness they don’t charge us for traveling!
The first week was mostly settling in and trying to rest. I took great pleasure in driving the kids to school and picking them up at the bus stop. Ang organized a little party of close friends the
first Friday I was home. Big cook-out by the pool at Kim Houdashelt’s Mom’s community. So many people to talk to. So little time. I did the best I could, but enjoyed every minute of it, until we had a little drama. Audrey slipped on a very slippery section of the pool deck by this manmade waterfall. She fell head first into the rocks in the waterfall. Split her head clean open. Ang and Kim rushed her to Sacred Heart Hospital’s ER, while Ritch Houdashelt and I held down the fort. Drama, drama. They returned hours later. Audrey with a nice doctor’s glue job and ice cream! She was the center of attention. The weekend consisted of the kid’s soccer game, which Audrey wasn’t allowed to play, because of the injury. The poor team had only 5 players and they needed 5. They all had to play the whole game. I was so proud of Trey. He played his heart out. We moved them up to U-8 this year, so at 6, he and Audrey are two of the youngest. He held his own, taking quite a few shots on goal. After soccer, as promised, we took them camping. We went to the Grayton Beach State Park just down the road. We did the beach that evening, set-up camp, grilled out, and had marshmallows and smores. That night….the kids slept like rocks while Ang and I chased off marauding raccoons again and again. The next morning exhausted Mom and Dad took the kids kayaking on the dune lakes. Beautiful. We also discovered at breakfast a place to get the world’s best Omelets. Red Bar in Grayton Beach. We then had raw oysters (at least I did) for lunch, and took the rest of the afternoon rest. (Ang and I needed it.)
The second week was pretty busy. The kids had school and Ang had just started her new job. She’s working part-time for an engineering company to try and build their business in the Panhandle. I worked around the house doing little chores. Wednesday I went to Audrey and
Trey’s school in uniform. We had lunch with them and then I talked to their 1st grade class about what I do over in Kuwait. It was fun and the class was great. They asked a lot of really good questions. Thursday, it was time to head to New Orleans for our cruise. Ang had booked just the two of us on a cruise to Cozumel. Our good neighbor, Linda Cournow in conjunction with my parents, came to take care of the kids for us. Just a little couple time. We cruised out of New Orleans on Saturday and returned home on Sunday. What a nice trip. I hadn’t realized how easy it was to get to New Orleans much less to take a cruise. It was a little over 4 hours to the port in downtown New Orleans from our house. Not bad! We had an amazing time. I love my wife so much. I love spending time with her. I love seeing her happy.
I left Camp Arifjan via bus on a Tuesday morning at 6.00am. I told Angela that since I was going back to the states I’d get back the 8 hours I’d lost and hopefully be at the Ft. Walton Beach airport sometime Tuesday afternoon. Boy was I off! I arrived at Ali Al Saleem Air Base around 8.30am. We had a 9.00am briefing where we signed in and then were told to return at 12.30pm to go into customs. I had some lunch, got my watch fixed. While wandering around, I met my friend, LTC Keith Farley, from all the way back at the first mobilization station, Camp McCrady. He was headed home to Annapolis, MD for his R&R at the same time. We reported for the 12.30pm formation. We then entered “lock down” until we got on the plane. We went through another briefing and then proceeded with our bags through Navy customs. This was painful! We had to take every single thing out of all of our bags for inspection. I had two bags (I took a bunch of stuff I didn’t need home for good) and a carry on. It took me about 1 ½ hours to get through all the scans and searches. We then sat in a little holding area where we could eat and watch TV. We finally boarded a bus for the airport about 5.00pm. The next stop was at the water point / holding area that they have between Ali Al Saleem and the Kuwait International Airport. I wrote about this back in the beginning. We sat there for about two hours. I’m still not sure what purpose this place has. Why couldn’t we sit back in the nice air conditioned holding area at Ali? Why stand out in a sandy parking lot with nothing but water for two hours. Anyway, we finally boarded the bus and headed to the airport. We climbed on the plane about 7.00pm. (Are you starting to see why the trip takes so long?) We took off about 7.30pm. The first leg was 5 hours to Leipzig, Germany. Coming through in May, it was only 2 ½ hours from Shannon, Ireland. Why the longer route? I was stressing by this time. I’d had no contact with Angela since the day before. I found a pay internet point and emailed her to give her a status update. (Internet was free in Shannon, Ireland.) She had been worried. I’d finally gotten my itinerary for my connection to Ft. Walton Beach by that time. I told her I wouldn’t be in until sometime Wed. We took off from Germany about an hour after we’d arrived. Really tired by this time. No first class seating this time through. I sat with Keith and we had a seat between us, but it’s still not very comfortable. Slept fitfully. Landed in Atlanta at about 6.30am Atlanta time. That’s 2.30pm Kuwait time the next day after I’d left. Went through customs and the Delta ticket line they’d had set-up for us. Got my connection ticket moved up to 10.30am. Yippee! Said good bye to Keith and headed to my gate. Starting to actually get excited now. I met a nice guy on the flight to Ft. Walton Beach to talk to. Helped to pass the time and settle my nerves. I’d been dreaming about this day since June. I can’t believe it’s here. I arrived in Ft. Walton Beach at about 10.30am central time. Walked briskly off the plane and through the gate terminals. Not a big airport. J As I came down the escalator to bag claim, Trey and Audrey saw me. Trey came sprinting to me and leapt into my arms. I cannot properly describe the joy in that moment, though Ang did a pretty good job catching it on camera. Audrey, interestingly enough was a little more hesitant, but after she saw me pick up Trey, she came to me. I got a huge twin huge. Kissed Ang and hugged everyone. Couldn’t stop smiling. One of the most unbelievable feelings in my life to see my family after such a long time. I didn’t lose that smile the whole time I was home.
I won’t go through all the details of my R&R here, just the highlights. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I’d resolved to just live each day one at a time and not be in any hurry to get somewhere or do something. I’d conditioned myself to have to expectations and make no demands. I just wanted to savor every moment. I did just that. The trip actually lasted longer than I thought it would. We get exactly 15 days from midnight the day we arrive at our home airport till midnight of the day we arrive in the Atlanta airport to return. Thank goodness they don’t charge us for traveling!
The first week was mostly settling in and trying to rest. I took great pleasure in driving the kids to school and picking them up at the bus stop. Ang organized a little party of close friends the
first Friday I was home. Big cook-out by the pool at Kim Houdashelt’s Mom’s community. So many people to talk to. So little time. I did the best I could, but enjoyed every minute of it, until we had a little drama. Audrey slipped on a very slippery section of the pool deck by this manmade waterfall. She fell head first into the rocks in the waterfall. Split her head clean open. Ang and Kim rushed her to Sacred Heart Hospital’s ER, while Ritch Houdashelt and I held down the fort. Drama, drama. They returned hours later. Audrey with a nice doctor’s glue job and ice cream! She was the center of attention. The weekend consisted of the kid’s soccer game, which Audrey wasn’t allowed to play, because of the injury. The poor team had only 5 players and they needed 5. They all had to play the whole game. I was so proud of Trey. He played his heart out. We moved them up to U-8 this year, so at 6, he and Audrey are two of the youngest. He held his own, taking quite a few shots on goal. After soccer, as promised, we took them camping. We went to the Grayton Beach State Park just down the road. We did the beach that evening, set-up camp, grilled out, and had marshmallows and smores. That night….the kids slept like rocks while Ang and I chased off marauding raccoons again and again. The next morning exhausted Mom and Dad took the kids kayaking on the dune lakes. Beautiful. We also discovered at breakfast a place to get the world’s best Omelets. Red Bar in Grayton Beach. We then had raw oysters (at least I did) for lunch, and took the rest of the afternoon rest. (Ang and I needed it.)The second week was pretty busy. The kids had school and Ang had just started her new job. She’s working part-time for an engineering company to try and build their business in the Panhandle. I worked around the house doing little chores. Wednesday I went to Audrey and
Trey’s school in uniform. We had lunch with them and then I talked to their 1st grade class about what I do over in Kuwait. It was fun and the class was great. They asked a lot of really good questions. Thursday, it was time to head to New Orleans for our cruise. Ang had booked just the two of us on a cruise to Cozumel. Our good neighbor, Linda Cournow in conjunction with my parents, came to take care of the kids for us. Just a little couple time. We cruised out of New Orleans on Saturday and returned home on Sunday. What a nice trip. I hadn’t realized how easy it was to get to New Orleans much less to take a cruise. It was a little over 4 hours to the port in downtown New Orleans from our house. Not bad! We had an amazing time. I love my wife so much. I love spending time with her. I love seeing her happy.
We returned on Monday and so began the last of my R&R. We spent some good quality time with my parents. We had some great dinners and talked a lot. For the first time, I began to get apprehensive about leaving. Can’t believe I have to leave all this and go back to a war zone. Kind of surreal. Thursday was my last full day. We kept the kids out of school and had a kid’s day. Ang had to work half the day, so it was a whole lot of Daddy time. We rode bikes. We went to Fudpuckers (one of Audrey and Trey’s favorite restaurants) for lunch and saw the alligators. We played Putt Putt. We went 
bowling, where Ang met us. We bowled and then watched the kids play video games and air hockey. I didn’t realize they were so good at air hockey. We went home and then went to the swimming pool. We went home and changed again and headed to Baytown Wharf for dinner. We got there just in time to sit on the deck of the BBQ joint to watch the sunset as we had dinner. Perfect day, perfect evening. We finished up with letting the kids play on the playground to burn off the very last of their energy. Home finally to put the kids to bed and finish backing. Last night at home. Time just wouldn’t stand still for me.The next day Ang and I drove the kids to school and dropped them off. There were hugs all around, but no drama. They really don’t like the emotion of good byes, especially Audrey. I got hugs and kisses and then they ran off with their friends. The next part was much tougher. Ang 
took me to the airport this time. The last time we couldn’t do it, and our friend John Schroeder took me. We thought we would give it a shot. We did really well until it was time to go through security. Too much. A quick hug and a kiss and we had to move on. I just don’t’ know how military folks do this for deployment after deployment. It’s so hard to leave.
Anyway, on to another trip across the pond. I wasn’t near as apprehensive this time, because I knew what I was headed back to. I met up with Keith Farley in Atlanta and we talked about that. It’s a bit easier when you know where you’re going. So, I went from Fort Walton Beach in the morning to Atlanta. We sat in the Atlanta airport until 7.00pm eastern time for the flight. Unfortunate surprise…no 1st class seating going in this time. Same set-up as coming out. We did fly through Shannon, Ireland just like last time to going in. That’s a much better way to go. We arrived Kuwait at 6.00pm on Saturday. We then went to the dirt parking lot and waited for 2+ hours, for what I’ll probably never know. That wait made sure I missed the last bus to Camp Arifjan that night. I had to wait around Ali Al Saleem from 1.00am till the next bus at 6.00am. Not fun. I caught the bus and finally arrived at Camp Arifjan at about 8.00am.
MY WIFE
I am a very lucky man. My wife, Angela, is an amazing woman. I talk from time to time about “soldiering on” and developing “battle rhythm”. Ang has done both of these things without any military training. She’s incredibly smart and gorgeous. She’s an amazing mother, sister and friend to everyone. But, what I’ve come to realize during this deployment is she’s tough as nails. She seems to have not missed a beat. I know me being go has been tough, because she’s got double duty, but the kids are thriving. Our home is just like it was when I left. They’re in the same routine. It’s amazing. So, on top of taking on single parenthood, my incredible wife has started working again. She’s working 10 hours week marketing for an engineering firm. Oh yeah, she’s also teaching a class each Sunday at church, volunteering with the PTA at the kid’s school and she’s taken over my coaching duties with the kid’s soccer team. But wait there’s more. She calls me the other day to tell me she’s just been hired to teach once a week at Northwest Florida Junior College. Amazing! She has such incredible energy and such a positive spirit. I know this has been tough on her, but she “soldiers on” and makes the best of it. I’m truly very blessed. I love you babe!
took me to the airport this time. The last time we couldn’t do it, and our friend John Schroeder took me. We thought we would give it a shot. We did really well until it was time to go through security. Too much. A quick hug and a kiss and we had to move on. I just don’t’ know how military folks do this for deployment after deployment. It’s so hard to leave.Anyway, on to another trip across the pond. I wasn’t near as apprehensive this time, because I knew what I was headed back to. I met up with Keith Farley in Atlanta and we talked about that. It’s a bit easier when you know where you’re going. So, I went from Fort Walton Beach in the morning to Atlanta. We sat in the Atlanta airport until 7.00pm eastern time for the flight. Unfortunate surprise…no 1st class seating going in this time. Same set-up as coming out. We did fly through Shannon, Ireland just like last time to going in. That’s a much better way to go. We arrived Kuwait at 6.00pm on Saturday. We then went to the dirt parking lot and waited for 2+ hours, for what I’ll probably never know. That wait made sure I missed the last bus to Camp Arifjan that night. I had to wait around Ali Al Saleem from 1.00am till the next bus at 6.00am. Not fun. I caught the bus and finally arrived at Camp Arifjan at about 8.00am.
MY WIFE
I am a very lucky man. My wife, Angela, is an amazing woman. I talk from time to time about “soldiering on” and developing “battle rhythm”. Ang has done both of these things without any military training. She’s incredibly smart and gorgeous. She’s an amazing mother, sister and friend to everyone. But, what I’ve come to realize during this deployment is she’s tough as nails. She seems to have not missed a beat. I know me being go has been tough, because she’s got double duty, but the kids are thriving. Our home is just like it was when I left. They’re in the same routine. It’s amazing. So, on top of taking on single parenthood, my incredible wife has started working again. She’s working 10 hours week marketing for an engineering firm. Oh yeah, she’s also teaching a class each Sunday at church, volunteering with the PTA at the kid’s school and she’s taken over my coaching duties with the kid’s soccer team. But wait there’s more. She calls me the other day to tell me she’s just been hired to teach once a week at Northwest Florida Junior College. Amazing! She has such incredible energy and such a positive spirit. I know this has been tough on her, but she “soldiers on” and makes the best of it. I’m truly very blessed. I love you babe!
OCTOBER
I was back at Camp Arifjan on a Sunday morning, and right back to work Sunday evening. I’m working night shift now, so I slept all day and went in. Corey got me up to snuff. I really hadn’t missed much. The war kept on going. Everybody kept on doing their jobs. That’s one of the amazing things about this place. It goes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. People just keep rotating in and out, but things just keep rolling on. USARCENT is a big logistical machine. It just keeps cranking stuff out and taking stuff in. There is no stop. There is no day off. There is not rest for this people machine. It just goes and goes like the Energizer Bunny. Pretty amazing to watch.
Corey’s replacement is here. MAJ Larry Kimbrell. Jim Schultz and I know Larry from back at Ft. McPherson in May. We went through a space class with Larry the week before we deployed. Good guy. Air Force officer that switched over to the Army. I bit quieter than
I was back at Camp Arifjan on a Sunday morning, and right back to work Sunday evening. I’m working night shift now, so I slept all day and went in. Corey got me up to snuff. I really hadn’t missed much. The war kept on going. Everybody kept on doing their jobs. That’s one of the amazing things about this place. It goes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. People just keep rotating in and out, but things just keep rolling on. USARCENT is a big logistical machine. It just keeps cranking stuff out and taking stuff in. There is no stop. There is no day off. There is not rest for this people machine. It just goes and goes like the Energizer Bunny. Pretty amazing to watch.
Corey’s replacement is here. MAJ Larry Kimbrell. Jim Schultz and I know Larry from back at Ft. McPherson in May. We went through a space class with Larry the week before we deployed. Good guy. Air Force officer that switched over to the Army. I bit quieter than
Corey. J Corey’s been taking him to the gym and introducing him to our work-out. Larry seems into it. I hope he keeps it up. I know he’ll l be impressed with the results when he’s done
in 6 months.
Me, I’m working out by myself again. I’m night shift, so I work out around midnight. It’s really quiet. There are about 5 people in the gym when I’m there, which in some way is nice, because I don’t have to wait for something I want to work-out on to come available. I’ve pretty much
Me, I’m working out by myself again. I’m night shift, so I work out around midnight. It’s really quiet. There are about 5 people in the gym when I’m there, which in some way is nice, because I don’t have to wait for something I want to work-out on to come available. I’ve pretty much
got the place to myself. Night shift is much quieter than day shift, as you can imagine. Only the current ops people have night shift duties. All the planners, primary staff, etc. work during the day. I don’t like it. I’m a people person. Day shift is much more difficult, because you’ve got to constantly be on your toes, but there are people. I link interacting. I like networking. I like talking. J You can talk to people during night shift, but it’s always the same people. Not thrilled with being on night shift, but everybody’s got to take their turn. I’ll soldier through. There’s just 4 months or so left.
I’ve worked out a soft date with LTC Zellmann for rotating back to the states to out-process at Ft. McPherson and move towards demobilization. The date is the 1st of March, give or take a week. I told him I’m would be flexible and work around when our replacements are coming through to make sure he/she is trained, but I’ve got to be careful that I make sure to have enough time to go through demobilization and burn up any leave that I need to take. We’ll see.
I’ve worked out a soft date with LTC Zellmann for rotating back to the states to out-process at Ft. McPherson and move towards demobilization. The date is the 1st of March, give or take a week. I told him I’m would be flexible and work around when our replacements are coming through to make sure he/she is trained, but I’ve got to be careful that I make sure to have enough time to go through demobilization and burn up any leave that I need to take. We’ll see.
THE HOLIDAYS
My goal right now is just to make it through November and December. It’s going to be tough not being home for the holidays. I’m missing Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years with my family. The kids love Halloween. We go to Baytowne Wharf every year. All the shops give out the candy. It’s nice and secure with tons of other kids. They have a ball and we get to walk around with our adult beverages. The end of the night they have a show and then fireworks. I’m not a huge fan of Halloween, but I love how we do it in Destin. Thanksgiving Ang and the kids are going to Bowling Green to celebrate with my family. Lots of turkey, lots of BSing, lots of football. I’m going to miss everyone. Christmas is special because the kids really are into it right now. They’re going to Myrtle Beach this year to be with Ang’s family. No Christmas day golf with Randy for me. They’ll have fun with their Nana. New Year’s is one of my favorite holidays. I love the newness. I love the thought of starting out the New Year fresh. We always have a blast on New Years and then lie around and recover watching football and cooking good food on New Year’s Day. I’m curious to what it’ll be like here.
Oh well, everything’s just a new experience. That’s all I’ve got for now. See you all again after the holidays! Happy Halloween. Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year!
My goal right now is just to make it through November and December. It’s going to be tough not being home for the holidays. I’m missing Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years with my family. The kids love Halloween. We go to Baytowne Wharf every year. All the shops give out the candy. It’s nice and secure with tons of other kids. They have a ball and we get to walk around with our adult beverages. The end of the night they have a show and then fireworks. I’m not a huge fan of Halloween, but I love how we do it in Destin. Thanksgiving Ang and the kids are going to Bowling Green to celebrate with my family. Lots of turkey, lots of BSing, lots of football. I’m going to miss everyone. Christmas is special because the kids really are into it right now. They’re going to Myrtle Beach this year to be with Ang’s family. No Christmas day golf with Randy for me. They’ll have fun with their Nana. New Year’s is one of my favorite holidays. I love the newness. I love the thought of starting out the New Year fresh. We always have a blast on New Years and then lie around and recover watching football and cooking good food on New Year’s Day. I’m curious to what it’ll be like here.
Oh well, everything’s just a new experience. That’s all I’ve got for now. See you all again after the holidays! Happy Halloween. Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year!
