Bowl Games?

We become conditioned to the expectation that work slows around the New Year. And why should it not? After all, with the holidays, family, celebrations, and College Football it is only natural that life slows for a couple of weeks. Expectations remain unfulfilled in Bagram. The arrival of 2014 did not equate to a chance to kick back and watch football - much less catch a breather. Instead our work tempo increased dramatically. New Year's Day was even busier than a normal day and included two separate briefings to the Commanding General. There hasn't been a day of 2014 yet that I have not worked at least 15 hours. I've come to believe that everyone had a New Year's Resolution to work longer hours. If that be the case, everyone in my Chain-of-Command is making their resolution come true. While I do appreciate having a sense of urgency, I also like to couple it with a sense of purpose. Right now the furious pace of 2014 has only been accompanied by the former. The work we are pursuing is no different than what we were doing right up to the end of 2013. The increase of tempo could be attributed to the Bilateral Security Agrement, which still remains unsigned. But I won't speculate. I just know that College Football Bowl Season came and went and I barely had time to notice.

It's fair to say that the time difference makes an impact on watching football. Afghanistan is 9.5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time Zone. The premium bowl games didn't even kick off until the wee hours of the morning. For most of us that meant squeezing in the second or third quarter with a cup of coffee before running back to work. Now the same madness is spilling over into the NFL playoffs. AFN shows repeats of the games later in the week but that just isn't the same. Yes, missing bowl games and NFL playoffs are yet another sacrifice of being deployed. I haven't seen a single college or pro game from start to finish this entire season (I made the effort for the Army-Navy game but gave up in the third quarter).

I look forward to having my expectations for the holidays come true again. For now they have to wait. Bagram is very high-maintenance and she is extremely jealous of her time.