a mobilized year

Thanks for all the well wishes I've been emailed recently and yes, everything is fine here. Just been busy on missions and preparing for our replacements. Related to that, I wanted to share a sign I saw that was posted in the area:

Centrally located in CSC Navistar, rustic 8 “room” condo, 2 years old, recently renovated, miles of beach front-like property (without water), over looking the famed Iraq-Kuwait border, just minutes away from local mini-mart, dining establishments, ping pong, free workout facility, free laundry service facility, physicians assistant office, and helicopter air pad. A/C & electric-most times, heat, free garbage pick-up & yard care, spacious foyer, furniture incl., wood floors, shatter resistant plastic windows w/ shudders, dent resistant siding, and cable accessible. Monthly community events and ethnic musical chants played at least 5 times daily. Quaint neighborhood w/security personnel incl., sorry no pets. Reason for moving—job transfer, available soon. Hurry, hot deal—I mean really hot. It won’t last!!! Showings upon request. Must move. No reasonable offer refused. If you find a similar condo at a cheaper price, we’ll beat it .

Seeing signs like this made me think about this last year. It's been a challenging one for most of our soldiers. Our soldiers have sacrificed and given a lot. You have reason to be proud of your fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands who are over here in our unit. They have done well. Our communications platoon has been formally recognized by many units as one of the best in the Iraq-Kuwait theatre. Our maintenance section has achieved one of the best equipment readiness ratings in the Iraq-Kuwait theatre. Our medics have not only trained U.S. and British soldiers and Iraqi nationals in the latest life saving techniques, they have received awards for rendering medical aid while under enemy fire. Our Tactical Operations Center crews have handled hundreds of IED strikes and small arms and RPG engagements with the enemy and directed our battalion’s gun truck crews to well over 5 million miles of gun truck missions all over Iraq. Our Admin and Logistics Operations Center crews have made sure that our battalion’s soldiers are promoted, awarded, and paid on time and have made sure that our gun truck crews got the latest equipment and safety devices as soon as they arrive in theatre. Our gun truck crews have shown on several occasions that they are the best in our battalion, including while under enemy fire. What’s impressed me most about our soldiers though is how we have come together as a team and helped one another out when times are tough. Every soldier has assisted the battalion by performing in a gun truck mission in Iraq. Every soldier has done what he could to ensure that our unit has achieved its mission. They have proved themselves over and over again to those over here with whom we work: the first sergeant and I have received many looks of surprise when we tell our active duty brethren from the various armed force branches that we are a national guard unit. We frequently get compliments on our soldiers' professional and expertise and our unit's willingness to go out of our way to assist and train others.

We don't have much longer to go. But, we're still focused on the mission and completing it successfully and safely before returning home.