KAF at 1500 - Saturday
Afternoon has arrived and I have almost completely out-processed here at the USACE compound on KAF. Tomorrow morning I will finish up with a few forms to sign and several more official goodbyes. I turned in all of my gear required for such here; I have more to take back to the USACE Deployment Center (UDC) in Winchester, Virginia. It feels amazing to turn in your battle gear, including the bullet-proof vest (it's a misnomer for sure), Kevlar helmet, and gas mask (not sure why we get these anymore; at least not here anyway). I also turned in, and cleared from the system (that's the procedure), my personal locator beacon (PLB). The rest of the gear I am carrying to UDC includes rain gear, first aid items, a fleece jacket, and other small items.
Talk about scary feeling looking back, I learned when clearing my PLB that my equipment had not been registered properly for use in the event of a personnel emergency requiring extraction. If I would have needed to use it, it would have worked fine. However, if I had activated it, the command staff in this region would have been alerted that one of their PLBs was emitting although USACE would have ultimately disregarded the signal believing it would have been a missing or stolen PLB - and not one registered to JL Summerlin. As it happened, I never needed the PLB, but thank God I never needed it!
All of a year's work is culminating in about two hours from now at our end-of-tour awards ceremony. Three other USACE personnel, Army civilians like me, are leaving theater tomorrow with me. It is amazing to me how different our deployment experiences can be. Those here on KAF enjoy living in the lap of luxury, comparatively speaking, while others at outlying FOBs, well that is something far less than luxurious I can tell you. Even so, I would never want this experience to have occurred anywhere else than FOB Smart. No doubt though, it is truly an honor and, for me anyway, a privilege to serve here for USACE; especially to be forward-deployed and to serve the needs of PRT Zabul.
I wish that my nephew, Leyton Summerlin, were able to attend this evening, but I do understand that his work, and the needs of the United States Army, will always take precedence over my wishes, and his work today includes flying north to his new "home" where he'll live for another seven or eight months. It was wonderful seeing him again this morning and the last three days here.
My son, Kaesen, made me a birthday card and his mother photographed it and sent it to me while I slept last night. His card was the first thing I saw this morning when I woke. I have been looking at it all day - I downloaded it to my personal phone. This son amazes me to no end. He is such a miracle for me, and his mother, and I love him beyond measure. Turning 40 is nothing familiar, but it feels just like the last 39 or so birthdays - just another day marking another glorious year of living life well.
Forty years ago my parents welcomed me into this life of mine. It has been a blink of an eye for many of these years. So much has changed and yet so much is still the same. I hope the next 40 are equally as blessed and fruitful.
143, Kaesen.
Good night and good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment