Mister, mister…

I went running this morning. 4 miles. Good time but it was pretty painful. I always hate getting back into shape. Why that doesn’t motivate me to stay in shape, I’m not sure.
We last went out on a mission on XX Nov. What is that, almost two weeks now. There’s not a lot to do. We sit in our living quarters and try to occupy our time a lot. I am sure that things were different two years ago but I really don’t see the excitement of being on CATA teams that go outside the wire. When I do go out on mission, it really isn’t all that exciting. The children we meet are use to US Forces being in the area and have come to view them as a source of free stuff.
“Mister, give me water.”
“Mister, give me football.”
“Mister, give me money.”
Not really all that interesting.
I talked with CPT Skatoff yesterday. I will be going back to Camp Adder as soon as SSG Larocque returns from BNOC which is suppose to be XX Dec. I’m rather happy about that. Camp Adder means more comfortable living conditions and gainful employment. I’ll have a real job to occupy my time on a daily basis. I suppose I should feel bad about leaving the team but I don’t. I feel that I’m spare parts. It is a benefit to the team to have an extra member. I would still rather be working in operations back at Headquarter which is what I’ll be doing after my return to Adder.
I am struggling a little bit with the fact that working at Camp Adder rather than going out on missions everyday carries with it far less bragging rights. I’ll be a ‘fobbit’. Someone who stays on the FOB and does not go outside the wire. Rationally, I’m fine with that. I will not spend my days walking around wearing 50 to 60 pounds of gear. When summer comes, I will not be stuck in vehicles the interior tempature of which reachs near the 200 degree mark. For the most part, I’ll live in a climate controlled environment, eat three squares a day, and generally be relatively comfortable. I’m pretty OK with that.
Emotionally, I would like to have exciting ‘war stories’ to tell friends and family when I get home. I would like other military members to be impressed when they hear where I was for my deployment. For the most part, they won’t be. Just as they are not impressed with my last deployment which I spent in Kuwait. Many even say that those who spend their entire deployment in Kuwait should not receive combat pay. The truth is, the work I am good at and enjoy the most is Operational planning and management. And that is what I’m going to do. I ought to be happy with that and worry less about how others will view my time in Iraq.
aloha