- Joined
- Jun 9, 1999
- Messages
- 4,729
Should have known my number would come up eventually. I know I've been quiet for the past few months (year?), so I'll fill in a little back story. In 2001 I enlisted in the Army as an intelligence analyst. I served four years on active duty, and due to pure chance never had to go anywhere more unpleasant than South Korea. I seperated from the Army in July of 2005 and began attending college here in Erie PA. As of July 2005, I had three years of Inactive Ready Reserve service remaining. Basically, the Army could call me back for three years. After taking that into consideration, I transferred from the Inactive Reserve force to the Active Reserve force and was assigned to a unit in Maryland. About a month ago, they called and told me that I would be recieving mobilization orders in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This mobilization could last as long as 18 months. They've finally gotten around to picking a report date; I'll be leaving on September 11th (how poetic).
At this point I don't know where I'll be going or what I'll be doing. All I know is that I have been assigned to an Aviation Battalion. There's a lot of variety in my military job; I may fly in a plane collecting intelligence, I may sit in a tent in the middle of a desert doing the same thing, or I may sit in a windowless building in Maryland analyzing the intelligence others have collected. Of these possibilities, I feel that flying is the most likely. I won't know for sure until they send me the actual orders.
I realize that I haven't been present much lately. I've been working my tail off trying to renovate the house my brother and I bought this past May. Like any 'simple' plan, this one took on a life of it's own and we've had more than our fair share of setbacks. So I haven't been able to check in as often as I'd like. It's almost done for real now, so I'll have pics to post soon. We should get it done just in time for me to leave. The Army has an impeccable sense of timing when it comes to disrupting soldiers' lives.
I'll post any additional information once it becomes available to me. I didn't post anything earlier because I didn't have a firm date. What they told me today sounds fairly concrete. I'm not looking forward to the next year and a half, but I'll survive them and come home free from the Army's clutches at last. I wanted to let you all know about this because although I don't post as much as I used to, the Cantina is still a special place to me. Hopefully I'll be able to check in fairly often while deployed and stay in touch. Knowing you guys (and gals) are always here means a lot. Thank you, and don't ever change.
At this point I don't know where I'll be going or what I'll be doing. All I know is that I have been assigned to an Aviation Battalion. There's a lot of variety in my military job; I may fly in a plane collecting intelligence, I may sit in a tent in the middle of a desert doing the same thing, or I may sit in a windowless building in Maryland analyzing the intelligence others have collected. Of these possibilities, I feel that flying is the most likely. I won't know for sure until they send me the actual orders.
I realize that I haven't been present much lately. I've been working my tail off trying to renovate the house my brother and I bought this past May. Like any 'simple' plan, this one took on a life of it's own and we've had more than our fair share of setbacks. So I haven't been able to check in as often as I'd like. It's almost done for real now, so I'll have pics to post soon. We should get it done just in time for me to leave. The Army has an impeccable sense of timing when it comes to disrupting soldiers' lives.
I'll post any additional information once it becomes available to me. I didn't post anything earlier because I didn't have a firm date. What they told me today sounds fairly concrete. I'm not looking forward to the next year and a half, but I'll survive them and come home free from the Army's clutches at last. I wanted to let you all know about this because although I don't post as much as I used to, the Cantina is still a special place to me. Hopefully I'll be able to check in fairly often while deployed and stay in touch. Knowing you guys (and gals) are always here means a lot. Thank you, and don't ever change.
) let us know. If you do get sent to the sandbox, watch your "six".
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