Our last night in Kunar. Over the past week we have been sending the team out in small groups. Each day we have been walking up to the flight line to bid farewell to each group as they load their bags and climb on to the helicopter that will start them on their journey home. Yesterday the weather cancelled the flight delaying a group of seven another 24 hours. They were obviously frustrated and a bit anxious having to stay an extra day. But this afternoon their deliverance arrived and they were able to finally depart Kunar. So now there are five. Tonight we ate dinner together, as we usually do. Only today we were the minority in the dining facility. New faces filled the room, faces we no longer knew. We represented a remnant of a proud team that spent the last year together. This place has past us by so now it is time to give room to the new team and allow them to continue the work that we had been the stewards of the past nine months.
As each group left, I was struck by the emotions that I felt, or perhaps, the lack of emotions. Although I will never see most of the team, I do not feel sadness. Even though I am heading home, I do not feel elation or joy. All those emotions are inside, stored away until a time when I can reflect and allow them to be released. For now, although my duties have been turned over and I am Commanding Officer in name only for less than 24 hours, still I am focused. I cherish my four remaining teammates and the job is not done until we all embark our own helicopter and leave Kunar once and for all, a team only in our memories as each of us reflect on the year that was. I don't know if we did any good to help the cause. I would like to say we put a dent in the effort at hand and, perhaps, Afghanistan will have the strength to reach that ultimate goal of peace and stability.
