Blog 12.7.2012-Leaving Benning

As Henry and I sit for briefings before flying out of the country, the SSG who is briefing us reminds us that we won't be home for the holidays, but heartfeltly thanks us for what we're doing. A LTC behind me calls her young daughter to say goodbye and gets to hear about upcoming Christmas preparations. With tears in her eyes she reassures her daughter that she hasn't hung up. I'm amazed at her composure; her voice doesn't break once despite her obvious upset. This is a hard time to go. It's time for me to go be Red Cross so people forget... or at least have something else about which to think. I'm in.

Arrival part 2

I made it!!! Glory be. 36 hours and 47 minutes from takeoff to landing... I'd like to go to sleep now, thank you very much.

Arrival

I'm a blog behind (I've got a leaving Benning blog written but not posted), but I've made it through the majority of my journey. There is one final leg to be completed in the near future (hopefully), but more about that later!

Blog 12.3.2012-Benning

I'm sitting on a bus at Fort Benning before 7 am (but I've been up since 4 so I'm pretty awake) and I've been asked to write 16 facts about my life that are easily recalled. This, of course, got me thinking about my life as a whole. I truly know some amazing people. I don't know to what I owe the privilege of this knowledge, but I am so grateful that I do. The fact that I can call some of these people my friends astounds me. I am so incredibly blessed. I don't know why it takes an early morning epiphany to get me thinking about this stuff, but I certainly am glad that my brain follows a somewhat random thought process from time to time. As for Benning itself... same old show. TSIRT, rules, CBT, SERE, AGSRP, CIF, medical, TSIRT again. Once again we don't go to the range. (Makes sense for non-combatants to skip it, right?) The one exciting update? They've "renovated" the barracks. What that means for me? Everything is exactly the same EXCEPT instead of bay communal showers we now have a bay with a couple shower curtains and walls! Some semblance of privacy! Just when I had gotten used to the bay... oh, well. I certainly wouldn't want to go back now!

Blog 11.27.2012-leaving LA/address

Here I sit again. Different airport, same deal. I'm currently waiting for the first flight of this trip at an itty bitty Louisiana airport. This also happens to be the first delayed flight of my trip. At least the elevator music is doing its job of keeping me awake. I'm about to head to Georgia for awhile and then to my final destination for a few months. This deployment is a bit more emotional for me than my prior three. Chalk it up to this being the first one I haven't specifically requested or to a simple wanting to be home for the holidays after being gone so often in the past few years. Either way, I miss people already but I know once I get there and into the groove that there won't be any time for mixed emotions. I'm sure I'll fall right back in love with it like I have every time. A bunch of people have asked me for my address thus far... here goes! Brittany Reynolds American Red Cross Bagram Air Base APO AE 09354 I don't know how long it usually takes, but the boxes I shipped to myself got there in less than a week. I'm reasonably confident that will not consistently be the case, particularly with the holidays coming up, but feel free to write! Signing out for some stimulating crochet work--already slipping back into my deployment old lady habits--oh boy!

#4

Word on the street is that I'll be heading back out in a couple of months. So, despite not going back to Iraq, I'll keep the home fires burnin' on this here blog.

As a real quick update on life outside of deployment: back in February I left Japan and have been at Fort Polk, LA ever since. What a difference!

Operation Proper Exit Link

Here are links to videos posted about the Operation Proper Exit that I wrote
about in May:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkrDP8jl81c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XE9NjPDHNo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKDyF411DIE

Just still so moving.