Pre-deployment Proceedings

            Greetings all, and welcome to my blog.  I hope you will enjoy walking through these next 6 months with me.  I’ve never been much of a ‘Churchillian’, so please don’t anticipate any Nobel Prize winning entries.  However, what you will be reading constitutes my best effort to document deployment experiences.  While serving a 2-year church mission in Argentina, I managed to journal at least a 1-page entry every day.  It was a promise I made to myself, and huge accomplishment I am grateful for.  Oft times I have returned to those writings.  My goal for this blog is to make weekly entries.  So with that, here goes….

            Today I sit in my Norfolk, Va hotel room awaiting the arrival of 0600hs Wednesday, 15 May, to catch the first leg of my flight.  I depart Norfolk Naval Base on a military contract flight to Ireland, then to Manas, Kyrgyzstan where I will retrieve armor and chemical warfare gear, and then off to Bagram AB, Afghanistan.  Long story short, it’s a whole lot of hurry up and wait.

            The last 2 months have been an absolute whirlwind.  I could have never imagined the amount of work and time it takes to be “deployment ready”.  Between the countless hours of computer and in-class training, coupled with what seemed like endless appointments, I must have spent at least 150 hours prepping.  But, if it were easy, it wouldn’t be the Air Force way.  The part I struggled with most was letting go of my work responsibilities and handing them of to my co-workers.  I’ll chalk that one up to my OCD nature.

How futile the attempt would be for me to put into words the emotional and mental stress of the past 2 months.  I can already hear my Army buddy, Luke Craven, expressing his opinion about Air Force “deployments”, and my last comment.  Love you, brother.  Regardless, it’s never easy to leave loved ones behind.  I’m just grateful to have such a wonderful and supportive superhero wife.  She is truly my rock.  My parents and parents-in-law have also been nothing but spectacular.  Words cannot express how thankful I am to have such a strong support network.  If you are reading this blog, you’re included in that group. 

Leaving my wife and kids behind was certainly difficult.  It’s hard for the kids to conceptualize how long daddy will be gone.  5 minutes on time-out seems like an eternity, so 6 months isn’t even something they are able to comprehend.  We are hoping internet access will be adequate to Skype or Facetime.  Notwithstanding, I’m going to miss them like crazy.

The brightest occurrence to this point took place while on my flight from Salt Lake City to Norfolk.  During pre-takeoff proceedings, one of the flight attendants (retired AF) announced I was en route to Afghanistan.  The plane immediately erupted in cheers.    For that brief moment, nothing else mattered.  I was on my way…..I was going out to serve my country…..I was willing to write a blank check to the United States of America for an amount up to and including my life.  What a privilege it is to serve.