Halfway there!

Remember when the catch phrase was “boots on the ground”? That still applies.  But most deployments at this stage of the war are for nine months – not a year like they used to be. However, my tour IS for a year. To put it in the proper terminology, my tour is for 365 boots on ground. Well, with little fanfare involved, I have crossed the halfway point. Today dawned as day 182 of my stay in Afghanistan. High noon represented the moment I crossed the meridian, the midway point, the hump, or whatever else I choose to call it. At precisely that hour I reached 4,380 hours and am now counting back down. As I write, I have 4,372 hours to go. That’s a little less than 182 and a half days remaining. If, in fact, 365 is a precise number with no hiccups then I can expect to be on a big airplane out of here come September 8^th.

Appropriately so, today was very uneventful. Being a Sunday, I was able to sleep in a couple of extra hours and then lounge with some fresh coffee in my room. Sundays, barring any emergencies, are my “reset” days. After some splendid coffee (Café Du Monde courtesy of my Mom), I put in a couple of hours at the gym. The weather has taken on a spring feel with a hint of humidity. With my workout complete I showered up and headed to the office to ensure there were no pressing issues. There weren’t. None came up either so I had no significant stress events that can come out of nowhere on this base.

But the day did not go off without any incidents. Just as I was about to get up and walk to supper the dreaded IDF alarm sounded. “Incoming! Incoming! Incoming!” Damn! My supper would have to wait. Perhaps this was a Taliban sponsored celebration of my deployment milestone? No it was just the Taliban being their normal, awful selves. I hate those guys. Stupid Taliban. Fortunately, their aim was bad as usual and the “All Clear” sounded soon afterward.  I celebrated my special day with a fine selection of Dragon DFAC delectable delights. Tomorrow it will be 181 days and counting down.