June 4th marked the 365 day mark of Uncle Sam’s Vacation! When I started this journey, June 4th of 2018 felt like an eternity coming.
As I approach my last week in Afghanistan I’m finishing up last minute work and tying up all my loose ends. The part that is surprising me the most is I am having a hard time giving up my responsibilities. I find myself still caring too much about my work and not turning it over, which is not good for anyone. Each day I try to spend less and less time in the office just to ensure I don’t do more than I should and allow my replacement the time he needs to learn while I’m still here to answer questions. My replacement and I have had a strange turnover. He came here to replace someone else, but my actual replacement didn’t seem to have what it takes to do this job, so they sent him somewhere else. This means the person taking my job has been here for a month and we’ve had a turnover much longer than necessary. Now I am just waiting for our NATO Civilian to come back from leave, and then I. CAN. LEAVE! I was asked to stay until his return to make sure there was some continuity in the office.
I’ve taken this deployment in stages and broken it up in small pieces. I did the best I could to always count up and never down. #countingnotcounting Before I did my first marathon my dad told me never count down. When you’re approaching mile marker 26 the following point two miles can feel over whelming. Instead he told me to think about the 26 miles I just ran not the less than a quarter mile remaining. This is good advice for this deployment as well. As of today I’ve made it well over 365 days, yet the month I have left until I get home seems so long even though it’s such a small portion of this entire journey. Before my I left my dad said don’t forget about the elephant. You can’t eat such a large animal in one giant bite; it takes many small bites and lots of little elephant pieces.
The best part of this deployment has been spending time with the Navy again and wearing a uniform proudly. Most days I was in an Army uniform, but having my Navy friends here made even wearing an Army uniform bearable. Most Saturdays we, the Navy, would get together for dinner and enjoy our fellow sailor’s company. For my last Saturday we did my favorite, Afghan food and Cards Against Humanity.
Our “rug guy” Arian “smuggled” food in for us. Since it is Ramadan there are a lot of religious rules around when food can be prepared and eaten. I’m not sure how he managed it, but he brought in some super delicious food. We were even honored to have him stay and break his fast with us. It was really special and meant a lot!
We had a few extras for this Navy night since it was my last Saturday here. I may have had to apologize to them since they were all new to Card Against Humanity. Although they were all good sports and had fun with the these dirt Sailors!
So just a few more small bites and this deployment elephant will be gone. Then onto the next one! #ironman2018 I was honored to be presented with a patch from my Navy friends saying Death Before DNF. I decided I’m bringing this patch with me and will have it on my person during the entire Ironman! Afghanistan is where I did the majority of my training. Afghanistan certainly represents a Death Before DNF time in my life. If I was able to get through this year, there is no reason I can’t finish my Ironman….There is no DNF in my future!
Darchelle's Vacation with Uncle Sam 