Home!!

Hey everybody, I'm home. I know this is the one thing that most folks tell me not to do, but that's how it is.

Several things have struck me with incredible clarity now that I'm here. First and foremost is just how quiet this place is. No generators are going in the background, no constant noise of armored vehicles moving, nothing. It's odd. Second, after living for months with what I consider to be a minimum of possessions, I'm struck with how much stuff we have accumulated and simply do not need at all. I'm tossing a lot of my own stuff out, just to be rid of the extra crap I know I'll never use again. Naturally this did not happen overnight, nor will it be solved overnight, but I can make progress regularly, I think. The more stuff I have, the more I must work to maintain it all. I don't like that. I also don't like to think of all the Army stuff I have in the garage, which THEY GAVE ME and I have never used. All I know is I just have to be rid of the majority of this stuff. This is the best one: the Army issues us all equipment, then tells us we're not allowed to utilize it in the manner it was designed to be utilized. Case in point is the black fleece jacket. Each of us in the Brigade received one as part of RFI. Yet, at both Atterbury and Stewart, First Army's standard was that we were only allowed to show ACU pattern as outerwear. I understand that as a means of teaching things to new soldiers. However, we're not new. Furthermore, the Army's cold weather clothing system is not all ACU pattern on the outside. So I'm confused, since we were issued equipment that the rest of the Army wears as outerwear, but we weren't, simply because we were mobilizing? But once we got to Iraq, we were allowed to wear it. The point is, we have way too much stuff.

Lastly, I'm struck by how strange it is to have nothing to do. That's not to say I am bored, but if I don't want to do anything, I have no requirements to do so, which is nice.

The trip here went smoothly, I spend maybe only 48 hours in transit, total, which is good. Half of that was in the sky, the rest of waiting, naturally.

So, arrived home safely and am happy, happy, happy to be home for a while.

Enjoy!