Here We Go!

I guess I should not be surprised that it is raining on our last day in Indiana.  While I was on leave my brother David tried to convince me that the weather issues were not Indiana's fault because the entire nation had been experiencing crazy weather all spring...I'm not buying it.  Today's weather is a well placed exclamation on the three months we have spent in this state never to be visited again.

Leave was great.  In some ways one week seemed very quick and way too short a period.  In other ways it seemed like it was much longer than a week, perhaps because it was so busy and we packed so much into the week that it felt more like two weeks.  It was hard to relax with the thousand and one thoughts going around in my noggin'.  With our advance team traveling across the globe toward Kunar, Bob graduating and heading off to LA, Sean getting ready for his Senior year in high school and Sara and Midori planning a wedding my already jumbled brain was overloaded.  Especially when you add in all the things that I didn't get done around the house and the thoughts of whether or not we have fully prepared for this mission.  Despite this, the time I spent with the family was glorious.  Being able to watch Bob graduate from Oregon State was a great moment.  Seeing mom along with brothers and sisters, neices, friends and former co-workers was the perfect way to spend the short time at home....I am truly blessed.

So today's biggest triumph was to finally get everything packed up and ready to load.  This whole packing thing has been a painful experience.  Especially for someone like me who is, perhaps, the worst packer in history.  I can screw up an overnight stay at my Mom's house, much less a nine months stay in Afghanistan.  While I was on leave I actually took some stuff home and left it for Midori to mail in flat rate boxes.  When I arrived back in Indiana I stared down the junk in my locker and it just would not disappear no matter how long I looked.  We are allowed to take two sea bags, a rucksack and a carry-on backpack.  Of course, included in the packing is our body armor, helmet, gas mask, and a few other required items that take up much of the space.  I was planning to make a trip to the post office to try and mail some more stuff when our Physician's Assistant, Doc Pillitiere, came by and said "Hey, I have a little space in the medical foot locker if you have any extra stuff you want to throw in there."  In a moment of weakness and unbridled joy, I hugged the man.  Now, that is out of character for me when it comes to work...there's no hugging in the Navy!  But he was my savior for the moment and, well, I forgot myself.  Of course even after using up every inch of space he offered, I was still strapped.  That is, until Petty Officer Croston made me the same offer for her admin trunk.  I was able to contain myself this time, so there was no hugging...but I took her up on her offer.  This afternoon we will load all the bags up in a truck and then wait until just after midnight to board buses to the airport as we make our way to the mission we have been training so hard for.

So, let's get this show on the road.  I have been training for this since last September...nine months of training for a nine month mission.  This is going to be a great ride!

The Longest Month

Hoorah! May is over.  Who knew May had forty-five days, which is what it felt like as the calendar refused to allow June to take over.  June marks a new beginning as the formal training finally comes to an end and we make our final preparations for heading over to Afghanistan.  I was so mixed up in my days towards the end that I seriously thought the month was over, only to be reminded that it was only the 27th.  Yesterday marked the final event in a ten day culminating exercise that put us through our paces in all the areas that we trained on ove the last two and a half months.  It was our final exam, and as expected, we aced it.  I don't know how many times over the past couple of days I have said "we are truly blessed."  For we have a great team and they continue to excel in every aspect of their jobs.  There is nothing for me to do but ride their coattails and watch them do great things.  One example is our female engagement team.  This is nothing more than the five females on the PRT that will have the opportunity to work with Afghan females mentoring them on education, business opportunities and family healthcare.  In the one event they participated in, they did so well that the trainers are going to make all the other PRTs watch the video of the event so they can see how to do it right.  The Security Force is the most well-disciplined and the most physically fit team out here.  They make great decisions and they care about the mission and about each other...truly blessed I am.

Now, if I may, let me speak about Indiana.  The next time I have to drive cross country and I take the northerly route, I am driving around Indiana.  I' sorry but I feel that strongly about it.  I will take a detour all the way around the state rather than drive through it.  At first I didn't want to blame Indiana for Camp Atterbury.  It isn't Indiana's fault that the National Guard made the choice to put it here. In fact I am pretty sure that every state has a version  of Camp Atterbury, so I was willing to let the state slide a bit.  But there is no excuse for the weather.  I can't believe how everyone always talks about the great Pacific Northwest and how it rains too much there.  I have spent most of my life in the Pacific Northwest and I will tell you I have never seen so much rain as I have seen in Indiana.  The large mud puddle that would often take up half the parking lot outside the barracks (I dubbed it Lake Kunar) has almost dried up after a few days of sunny weather.  But there is always the danger that it will come back again in a moment's notice.  With the rain comes the lightning and the thunder and the hail the size of golf balls.  All the COs had to leave a meeting early because tornadoes were touching down nearby and the building we were in was not well protected. Are you kidding me? Training events out on the firing ranges were repeatedly cancelled because of the lightning that was striking the ranges.  That was just Spring.  When I first arrived here in February it was 4 degrees and covered with hardpacked icy snow.  Indiana, no offense but I am done with you.

So, now we give some briefs, tie up loose ends and get ready for a well deserved seven days of leave before starting the real adventure. Last night a few of us had the opportunity to attend an Afghan dinner in celebration of the end of the exercise.  Over the past ten days we were interacting with Afghans who were role players in each of the exercise events.  They played every role from provincial governor to tea server to Taliban.  They were all there at the dinner so we were able to share a meal with them and converse with them outside a structured event.  It was a great evening and a nice way to wrap up things.  They even got me up dancing for about a minute (I am trying to keep it off Youtube).  We all sat on the floor and ate with our hands in the traditional Afghan style. Good company, good food....a good way to end the longest month.