Winding Down

Well, time is winding down and I have passed my last milestone, New Year's Day. As of two days ago (4 Jan 2013), I have been gone for 1/2 year. I have missed Independence Day (the day I left), Labor Day, Courtney's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and my grandson's birthday. I leave Africa on his birthday. I have also missed my kids' school functions like Christmas concerts and sporting events. My two Labs probably think I have left for good. I'm sure they won't let me out of their sight for one second when I get back! I have really missed them, too. They don't get the Skype thing.

My replacement arrived tow days ago, which makes today 6 Jan 2013. He will be shadowing me all this week, then Saturday I hand the reigns over to him and become just a blur in the background, fading out more each day until 17 Jan when I get on the rotator for the long flight home.

I still have so much to wrap up before I leave. One operating instruction, one OER, one end-of-tour award, and one FITREP. Of course OERs are Army Officer Evaluation Report, FITREP is Navy Fitness Report, OPR is Air Force Officer Performance Report, and LOE is Air Force Letter of Evaluation, which isn't a letter at all.

I have enjoyed every challenge here, but I think the most rewarding aspect for me was getting to know the Marines and Navy. They were the most foreign to me when I arrived, so I spent a lot of time getting to know more about their services. I will never understand Navy rank. Navy doesn't even understand it! Not really, but they do have a hard time explaining it. Everyone is LS1, LS2, EN1, EN2, etc. That is not their rank, but their specialty. So when you call someone in the office, you say, "hey, EN1", not "Hey, Petty Officer". You call them that only if you don't know their specialty. Very strange, that.

I think the hardest part to approaching the end of any deployment is keeping your head in the game until you actually leave. Although I have not begun to count down the days, I find myself thinking more about home and what I will do with all the time off. I will have a total of 41 days or more! The only thing I know for sure is that I will finally build a bed frame. Diane and I have gone without one since about 2005, when we switched to a Queen size bed. I have wanted to make one for years, and now I will have the time.