To Whom It May Concern

Contemplating The Sand Box

At this point in time, no one in the unit knows exactly when or MOB (mobilization) date is. I have talked to the company commander and our detachment acting first sergeant, and both say the same thing: Some high ranking person in the Pentagon knows and has yet to decide the information is on a 'need to know' basis for us.

Best guess goes as follows. Likely time frame for MOB to begin: sometime between July 15th and August 15th. When this happens, we will all meet at the armory and spend a day or two getting things ready there, then head to another armory to prep for traveling to either Fort Riley, Kansas, or to Fort Hood, Texas. Hopefully it's Riley, although I have never been to Hood, Riley is just closer to home and that tends to be more favorable.

At Fort Riley/Hood, we would 'gear up/train up' for deployment to the Sand Box, getting desert cammie uniforms and any other equipment/clothing we would need, then spending time learning about all the different situations that can occur in a hostile environment and how we can deal with those. Should the unit learn everything quickly we will be done with this in 60 days. If we have problems it will be 90 days. We will be done in 60 days, we are high speed/low drag, trust me on this one. If not, we would have never been able to do the previous mission that was just handed off to the 600th Transportation so we could go overseas.

So, I guess the question left to answer goes as follows: How do I feel about my impending deployment to the middle east? This is a complicated question. Do I enjoy the idea of being away from home, away from my sweetheart, having my wedding canceled, and being put into harm's way? Certainly those are not enjoyable thoughts to have. However, with 15 years in, I have never gone overseas, never been involved in any sort of deployment into a hostile environment, and to be perfectly honest, I may never have this chance again. Certainly I do not want anything bad to happen to me, but all the same, these are opportunities that will never come around again. You are only young once. Also, our unit is one of only like half a dozen or so transportation units in the nation that have not been deployed, this goes for reserve and full timers, so it was certainly our turn.

The money is good too, I've been trying to figure out just exactly how much an E-6 Staff Sergeant with 15 years in would make, but there are no real reliable ways to figure it out exactly. I know it's above 50K, but I've also heard some people say it's closer to 75,000, so who knows? I will find that out I'm sure before I go over, and from there I will work out a budget to take care of any bills that belly and I will incur while I'm gone, and still have enough to A) move to be with her when I get back B) put away about 10,000 for a downpayment when we decide to get a house C) pay off the truck D) pay off debts E) BUY MY SRT4!!!

This time will also be an excellent opportunity for our unit to bond and become a much more cohesive and mission capable group of soldiers, with experiences that we can someday tell children and grandchildren, and new members who join our unit. Our unit has a proud history dating back to WWI and WWII as infantry, and a lot of the NCO's within the unit are trained 11B Infantry, Ft. Benning children. I know this knowledge that those of us who have a primary MOS of 11B have will come in handy. Certainly I pray we never have to use it, but it's good to know we are skilled in those areas, and that will rub off on the younger troops who are merely 88M (transportation).

The biggest concern I have is being separated from my better half, from the one person who enriches my life so much. I'm already away from belly as we speak, and that's hard enough, but I am confident we will have a couple of months together before she heads off for her MOS school, likely to be in Pensacola, Florida. But the idea of being separated for a year is supremely difficult to ponder, and although I know it will be a one day at a time thing, it's still so hard to think about. If I didn't trust her so completely it would be harder, though. Thankfully we have come so far in the last year, trust has been earned, and that's a wonderful thing.

So, in to sum it up, I'm actually looking forward to this deployment, but it's tempered. Both by the thought of being away from belly, and also the dangers I will face. But I am am supremely confident in my own abilities and in the abilities of my unit as a whole, and that is enough to give me peace of mind. And I know that the one person I'd rather be with than any other in this world or the next, will be waiting for me to return : )

Current Lyrical Ramblings

The grass was greener, The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter, The nights of wonder
With friends surrounded, The dawn mist growing
The water flowing, The endless river

-High Hopes, Pink Floyd