Reflections on my summer spent

Summer is over and so is my “transition time” from my deployment. I’ve now been home for five months and the entire family is settling into a routine.

Foremost, both of our kids are now in school.

Our baby boy reported for duty at his first day of Pre-K yesterday and I think he was handling it better than my wife and me. No tears, no fits, no second looks as he went straight for the building blocks and introduced himself to his new school mates. Same for my daughter, who has now entered the 2nd grade and is as concerned with recess as she is with her spelling list.

Watching both of my kids climb into the mini-van with their school bags got me to thinking of the timeless ritual so many of us took part in during our first days back to school: reporting on “what we did this summer”.

Now in my case, I spent this summer becoming a member of my household again and relearning all of the things that a year in Iraq had erase from your psyche. But mainly, I spent my summer getting reacquainted with my wife and kids.

One example of this was when we all went to the town of Turin, GA (a few miles down the road from our house) for their annual Tractor Pull and Parade. Mara and the kids had went last summer while I was away and the kids had a great time looking at tractors of all sizes, so it was a done deal that we would all go again as a family this year.

The festival was held outside and consisted of actual local farmers using their tractors to pull this enormous sled contraption weighed down with cement blocks as far and as fast as they could.

I’m sure many of you are chuckling at the idea of attending such an event and certain images are filling your heads.

I won’t lie to you; there was a certain degree of “Hee Haw” included throughout the event. And I did find myself suppressing a laugh when a young lady took a seat in front of me and I noticed that she had a terrible sun burn, complete with peeling skin and blisters, right on the top of her back. I almost laughed when I realized that this girl, who was enthralled with the tractor pulling competition, was suffering literally from a “red neck”.

But I’ll tell you this, there were many things I did NOT see at the tractor pull: such as, I did NOT see any alcoholic beverages, I did NOT see anyone using foul language, I did NOT see any trouble makers, and I did NOT see the local police (who were well represented throughout the crowd) have to get involved in any way.

In fact, what I did see throughout this event was a lot of multi-generational families enjoying themselves and spending time together in a very wholesome atmosphere. Families that took part in a picnic style lunch as the events progressed.

Now, I might just be playing deviled eggs’ advocate here, but I can’t think of a more nourishing setting than a picnic for me and my family to spent time together and make up for lost time.

If you had asked me a year ago if I would have enjoyed going to a tractor pull, chances are I probably would have said “no”. But then again, a year ago, I was in Iraq and away from my family, so finding any event that will allow me to spend time with them in a clean and fun environment is a God send. Now if you ask me a year from now if I would enjoy going to a tractor pull, there’s no doubt in my mind that I will be saying “yes” (just be sure to bring some SPF 15 for your neck).

Still There?

Hello....anyone there?

Finally at Home!

Finally, I have completed my year long tour and I am safely back with my wife and kids in Atlanta.

I flew into Atlanta Wednesday afternoon and members of our church were waiting for me at the gate to "escort" me through the airport and ensure that Mara and the kids and I got linked up. They then carried my bags to our car for us.

As we drove into our neighborhood, little did I know that Mara had made some secret plans with our neighbors. There were at least 30 neighbors waiting for us waving flags and cheering me home. Quite frankly, I was speechless.

All is well now and I'm not going back to work for the next 2 weeks.

I'll continue to post on my blog as I rest up and regain some energy.

Almost Home

In 24 hours my plane will be touching down in Atlanta and I'll finally be home. My year long deployment is all but over and I must say I feel relieved.

I'm still at Fort Bliss but all of my redeployment tasks (like turning in gear and filling out forms) is done, so all I have to do now is wait until tomorrow morning to get on a plane and fly home.

Although it feels like I have left Iraq behind me, it seems to have followed me here.

I learned yesterday that one of my friends in Iraq was killed by an IED.

His name was Phil and he was a fellow contracting officer.

Phil and I first met when I was attending the Naval Post Graduate School and we were both surprised when we ran into each other again in Iraq. Phil was a Navy officer and was very well respected within our command.

Phil was traveling outside of the IZ to oversee construction of a new Iraqi Justice Facility. Phil's convoy was hit by an IED and he and two others were killed.

I spent time with Phil just 2 days before I left Iraq and its very hard to beleive that he is now dead.

Phil was dedicated to our mission in Iraq and I am proud to say that I served along side of him.

Although Phil almost made it to his home in the US, I'd like to think that has been welcomed Home as the Hero that he is.

Although my deployment in Iraq has come to an end, the mission there goes on.

In Kuwait

Hello from Kuwait! Although it is not the nicest looking place on the Earth, at least its not Iraq.

I flew into Kuwait yesterday afternoon and I'll hang out here until I catch a flight to the states this weekend. In the mean time, I've been cooling my heals by reading, catching up on some sleep, and "de-compressing" as much as I can before I get home.

The Army has gotten a lot smarter over the past 18 years. When Desert Storm was finished, they couldn't get us home fast enough. Although that sounds great, there was a lot of "culture shock" for us to deal with that I think led to a lot of "issues" for many. Now the Army is not in such a rush to get us back and that might seem cruel to some, but actually it has its benefits. Soldiers are able to take their time getting adjusted and can get re-assimilated back into "the real world" better.

Next Stop: Fort Bliss, Texas.

Last Day in the IZ!

Well, this is it. Late tonight, I will be leaving the IZ and making my way to the Baghdad International Airport to begin my journey home. I will keep you all updated on my progress through this blog and then will make at least one final post once I'm home with my final thoughts on this past year.

SEE YOU SOON!

Bittersweet Farewell

With less than a week left "in country", I've been face with the bittersweet task of saying farewell to my fellow soldiers and co-workers. You may think it would be easy to say goodbye to Iraq, and that may very well be true, but I can assure you that it is not at all easy to say goodbye with the good people that have become my friends over the past year.

Two days ago, my office put together a farewell ceremony for me that included a slide show entitled "The Story of Bill". A civilian co-worker of mine named Anne narrated this entire presentation from memory and based it mainly off of my blog. Everyone got a big laugh when my "half moustache" was projected onto the big screen.

As Anne went through all the highlights of my year over year, I started to realize just how many significant events have occurred while I've been deployed. I have worked so many great professionals (military, DoD civilians, contractors, and local nationals) and have found the work to be equally challenging and rewarding. Its hard for me to put to words how much I appreciated the fact that Anne and the rest of my office forced me to sit down and realized how much I have grown in the past year.

After Anne was done, several people got up and presented me with tokens of their appreciation and humbled me with their praise. The event was capped off when my lieutenant presented me with a beautifully engraved Iraqi knife mounted on a plaque to cormenerate my time here. The knive has a handle made of camel bone and silver and will be proudly displayed in my office back in Atlanta.

Like I said...its hard to put into words how appreciated these people made me feel.