We are losing track of the days right now. It may sound cliché to say that but it’s true. We’ve been working 18 hour days for several days in a row. Since the weather never changes, the temperature never changes, our attire never changes, our surroundings never change (except when we fly to another FOB), and our smell never changes (we all stink and are blissfully unaware), every day is the same as the one preceding – same as the one to follow. The calendar is changing but it doesn’t seem so. It’s a different day of the week but daily I overhear the question, “What day is today?” Every one of us has become as parts of a machine that just continually cycle through the exact repetitions. I guess that isn’t completely true. We do deviate from the cycle. Yet, inexorably, we are drawn back to it out of sheer necessity – our work demands it, the mission requires our focus. What day is it today?
Oh yeah, it was Tuesday. A blur it was. The units are working haphazardly at the things we’re asking them to do. It can be very frustrating. The worst part is that we have to inspect, re-inspect, and re-inspect again. All the while we’re telling them what needs to be fixed. It’s goddamn hot, unforgiving. My team and I take breaks in any AC we can find. Then we walk the several hundred meters it takes just to get to their equipment and containers. Next we walk the two or three hundred meters it takes to look at all their stuff. Sweat pours from everywhere. Slowly we make progress but it can be a maddening process. Today I must’ve walked about ten miles. Every time the sweat dries it makes my uniform stiffer, crunchier, and smellier. I worked today from 0700 until 0200. I estimate that I consumed about eight liters or water. That’s on top of three meals and all the fluids they included.
What’s at the end of the tunnel? I mean, my team and I are having fun. We’re doing this with smiles on our faces. We laugh a lot and make light of almost every inconvenience. So what is it that makes it easy to stay motivated? The units we’re helping right now are going home. The soldiers in these battalions have been here for fifteen months. They’ve endured incredible hardship, pain, and suffering that is inherent with combat. Their blood has stained the Iraqi soil. Some of them never made it this far. When we spend time with them we see the family they’ve become. For the rest of their lives they will never have to wonder if they have what it takes. They do and much more. They leave Iraq with their heads held high, their morale high, and their belief in one another beyond reproach. Ask any one of them if they’d be willing to do it again and you’d get a resounding yes. That doesn’t mean they aren’t ready to go home – they are. They’ve earned it. My team is the green light. We’re the enablers. I can’t think of a better way to serve these soldiers. Yeah our work might suck but you won’t catch any of my team shirking. At the end of the tunnel is the light every Joe has been dreaming of for fifteen long months – home. My team makes it happen.
I dream about home too.
Oh yeah, it was Tuesday. A blur it was. The units are working haphazardly at the things we’re asking them to do. It can be very frustrating. The worst part is that we have to inspect, re-inspect, and re-inspect again. All the while we’re telling them what needs to be fixed. It’s goddamn hot, unforgiving. My team and I take breaks in any AC we can find. Then we walk the several hundred meters it takes just to get to their equipment and containers. Next we walk the two or three hundred meters it takes to look at all their stuff. Sweat pours from everywhere. Slowly we make progress but it can be a maddening process. Today I must’ve walked about ten miles. Every time the sweat dries it makes my uniform stiffer, crunchier, and smellier. I worked today from 0700 until 0200. I estimate that I consumed about eight liters or water. That’s on top of three meals and all the fluids they included.
What’s at the end of the tunnel? I mean, my team and I are having fun. We’re doing this with smiles on our faces. We laugh a lot and make light of almost every inconvenience. So what is it that makes it easy to stay motivated? The units we’re helping right now are going home. The soldiers in these battalions have been here for fifteen months. They’ve endured incredible hardship, pain, and suffering that is inherent with combat. Their blood has stained the Iraqi soil. Some of them never made it this far. When we spend time with them we see the family they’ve become. For the rest of their lives they will never have to wonder if they have what it takes. They do and much more. They leave Iraq with their heads held high, their morale high, and their belief in one another beyond reproach. Ask any one of them if they’d be willing to do it again and you’d get a resounding yes. That doesn’t mean they aren’t ready to go home – they are. They’ve earned it. My team is the green light. We’re the enablers. I can’t think of a better way to serve these soldiers. Yeah our work might suck but you won’t catch any of my team shirking. At the end of the tunnel is the light every Joe has been dreaming of for fifteen long months – home. My team makes it happen.
I dream about home too.
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