Home at Last

Good morning everybody. At 14 and half months I have finally returned home to Italy. I actually arrived on Friday after a whirl wind tour through the combat theatre. We had to take a cargo helicopter out of COP Lowell to the main Forward Operating Base (FOB), then on to the nearest airbase. Everyone managed to hold onto their lunch on this flight, but from what I have heard, this was a rare occurence. We were fortunate to take a C-130 from the airbase to Bagram (BAF) which made the journey that much shorter but again we were fortunate. The group following us missed the manifest and had to carry on to BAF via helicopter. They all looked a bit green once they caught up to us. Then began the long wait. In the Army it is common to hurry up and wait. Well hurry up and wait we did. A week in BAF is akin to being stabbed to death by ducks. Thankfully we were able to get an earlier flight to Manas, the last stop before Aviano, Italy. Someday I would like to measure the distance from start to finish. The difficulty with this would be that I have no idea where I was. Kamu is most decidely not on the map.
So now I have been home for 2 days. It is certainly an adjustment, and I will write more about this in my future blogs. Needless to say, I am wide awake at 04.20 am and I don't have to go to work until 07.30. Today is going to be a long day. Thank you everyone for sending your well wishes. I hope to catch up with my correspondence before month's end. If you sent me a letter or care package, please know that I will be sending you a proper thank you very soon. My friends and family certainly made this most recent deployment bearable and I am eternally grateful for your love, prayers, and support. I wish you all the best in the days ahead. Take care and God speed.

2 down, 1 to go

Hello everybody. I have finally made it to the second air base on my trek back home. So, 2 down, 1 more to go. And once I get to Aviano, my journey home will be complete. It's been 15 months since I was home. The first couple days will be interesing, but enjoyable as I will be with Katie, and the wee furball, Stud. Thank you all for the well wishes over these past few weeks. I hope my next update will be from the comfort of my home, chillin on the back porch with Stud, and enjoying the Italian summer. Take care and best wishes.

Slow return to Normalcy

Good afternoon everyone. This weekend has seen a slow return to normalcy. I woke up at 0130zulu, worked out in the gym, and then got breakfast. The only missing parts were kissing Katie goodbye as I shuffle out the door, and with Stud burying his face into his food dish. At home Stud knows that I am a morning person and has been know to attack me if I am not up at the same time just so he can get food. Cats, what can you do. Today was a true garrison moment: a stupid detail needed to be done, and naturally it took all day. So although I am still in BAF and have not returned home, things are starting to revert to a pre-deployment routine. Hopefully I will get home soon and get back into that routine for real. Soon and very soon. Take care everyone, and best wishes.

Homeward Bound

Hello everybody. I wanted to post a new update: I have finally left COP Lowell and am now coolin my heels in Bagram Airfield. We still do not have a timeline, but no one has stayed in BAF for a long time. Course anything longer than a few hours seems like forever, but we are coping. So, very soon I will home. Once I get home, I will let you all know that I got there safe. Till that future happy day, take care and best wishes to you all. See ya soon. :)

Birthday Wishes

Hello Everybody. Thank you all for the birthday wishes that I received through email and Facebook. It means a great deal to get messages from friends and family while so far from home. There are few things better than a short email or note from family while deployed. I learned this important lesson during my first deployment in 2003. I have told the new Soldiers to do their best to keep in touch with family back home especially for those who are away from home for the first time. Summer camp does not count. I am hoping that my next update will be from an airbase, as I make my way home. Till that future day, I am still cooling my heels at COP Lowell. Hopefully someone will start a blog and carry the torch into the new year. To those family members from Apache Troop, just keep working on your boys and they might run with it. Or you can do what a family friend did for my wife and I: make a blog for us both then threaten bodily harm if we didn't update it. Yes Mhairi I am talking about you. :D Best wishes to you all. Take care and stay cool through the dog days of summer.

Exhaustion

Hello everybody. Another day down, and July marches on. It is nice to know that with each passing day our battalion is ever closer to going home.
A regular occurence in Army life is training. I have often joked that if I wasn't deployed, I was training. And for the most part that is true. Don't believe me, just ask Katie. Even though we are deployed, we still train. Training encompasses all sorts of things ie. weapons, first aid, commnications, and of course PT. Another type of training that we do that is very important is base defense. In the old days it was called "Stand To". It is affectionately know as 'Alamo drills' here at COP Lowell. Bagram Airfield we certainly are not. Well, we conducted the training the other day, did a pretty good job (after a year, I could do it in my sleep), and then returned to what we had been doing before. For me, that was taking a nap. As I walked back into the aid station, this is what I saw. Poor Soldier had gotten off guard only minutes before the drill, did the drill, then never got any farther the aid station since it lies halfway to his hooch. The Soldier managed to hold this position for 10 mins, before he slipped, realized he had passed out, then went to up his own bed. Apparently with all the training we do, we learn something that the Army never intended to us: how to sleep anywhere, at anytime, at the first opportunity. :)
Best wishes to all. Hope your summer is shapin up very nicely. Take care.

Happy Fourth of July!!

To everybody out there: **Happy Fourth of July!!** I hope your day is funfilled with lots of goings ons and plenty of partying. We here at COP Lowell will find a way to celebrate this awesome holiday, some way, some how. We will not be denied. ha ha
Best wishes to everyone back home. Hopefully someday soon we can have a barbecue and wiffle ball game in the back yard. Soon and very soon. Take care and best wishes.