And so another week begins. By my count, this is week number 28. It doesn’t seem like such a long time when expressed in weeks. Given that 365 days breaks down into 52 weeks, 28 weeks down means I’m over halfway through the deployment. I guess the same math logic would hold true if I used days as the units. 28 out of 52 just sounds better.
I’m getting so close to R&R now. Normally, people take R&R right at the halfway mark. Everyone who is deployed for at least a year gets to take fifteen days of leave. The only rule is that it has to be taken all together and it can’t conflict with mission requirements. My leave will take place at the seven month mark. When it’s time for a soldier to take R&R, he’ll catch a flight to Kuwait. Once there, the Joe has to attend some mandatory briefings. Part of that includes getting a ticket booked to his home. The flight out of Kuwait is called an “R&R Bird” and goes to Atlanta. The ticket is provided to Joe so he can fly from there to home. It’s a roundtrip. Fortunately, Joe doesn’t have to pay – it’s all on Uncle Sam. Once the fifteen days is up Joe will fly back to Atlanta and from there to Kuwait. Normally, Joe is back with his unit within four days of leaving home. I get to experience all of this very soon.
What will I do on R&R? There’s so much I’d like to do but only so much time available. That means I certainly won’t do everything I want. It will be a chance to immerse myself among friends, family, and civilization. Just when I get used to being back it will be time to leave. My photo today shows the mileage to at least one stop I’ll be making (and I’m not referring to Baghdad). I’ll certainly be drinking a few Yuenglings too. I’m trying not to commit to anything though. I don’t want anyone to be disappointed. I’ll do what I can and see everyone possible.
I’m getting way ahead of myself too. I guess I’m just daydreaming about leave. That’s pretty much all I did today. I did some work too. My after-action review from the last mission was completed. I still had two of my team members up north at COB Speicher completing a mission. They flew back. After being away for three weeks they were very happy to be back. I picked them up at Catfish Air. When I dropped them off at their hooches I told them not to come into work the next day. My expectations of them were to get a lot of sleep. They had no problem with that.
R&R is coming up real soon. Did I mention that?
I’m getting so close to R&R now. Normally, people take R&R right at the halfway mark. Everyone who is deployed for at least a year gets to take fifteen days of leave. The only rule is that it has to be taken all together and it can’t conflict with mission requirements. My leave will take place at the seven month mark. When it’s time for a soldier to take R&R, he’ll catch a flight to Kuwait. Once there, the Joe has to attend some mandatory briefings. Part of that includes getting a ticket booked to his home. The flight out of Kuwait is called an “R&R Bird” and goes to Atlanta. The ticket is provided to Joe so he can fly from there to home. It’s a roundtrip. Fortunately, Joe doesn’t have to pay – it’s all on Uncle Sam. Once the fifteen days is up Joe will fly back to Atlanta and from there to Kuwait. Normally, Joe is back with his unit within four days of leaving home. I get to experience all of this very soon.
What will I do on R&R? There’s so much I’d like to do but only so much time available. That means I certainly won’t do everything I want. It will be a chance to immerse myself among friends, family, and civilization. Just when I get used to being back it will be time to leave. My photo today shows the mileage to at least one stop I’ll be making (and I’m not referring to Baghdad). I’ll certainly be drinking a few Yuenglings too. I’m trying not to commit to anything though. I don’t want anyone to be disappointed. I’ll do what I can and see everyone possible.
I’m getting way ahead of myself too. I guess I’m just daydreaming about leave. That’s pretty much all I did today. I did some work too. My after-action review from the last mission was completed. I still had two of my team members up north at COB Speicher completing a mission. They flew back. After being away for three weeks they were very happy to be back. I picked them up at Catfish Air. When I dropped them off at their hooches I told them not to come into work the next day. My expectations of them were to get a lot of sleep. They had no problem with that.
R&R is coming up real soon. Did I mention that?
No comments:
Post a Comment