As most of you know, I just got back to Iraq from 18 days of R&R. Granted, I wasn't excited about coming back to a warzone, what with a wife and daughter that I love more than anything back home, but I figured I was leaving one family for another. The whole time I was home for R&R, I was worried about "my boys" here in Baghdad...

I was part of this unit when it was first formed as part of a modular, 3-year "life-cycle" unit, and many of my soldiers were there at the very beginning, as well. I've watched them grow in experience and maturity, and there is no other group of guys I would rather have backing me up if and when I have to go "outside the wire", except maybe some of the Attack Aviation (I love those crazy Apache flyboys!) units that support us when things get really hairy...

I found out barely a week after I got back and got my mindset back "in the game" that I was moving out, making space for a newly-promoted Staff Sergeant (E6). I have had two years of rated Squad Leader time, to include the combat tour here, and the "new" guy only has Team Leader (E5) time, so they are looking to give him a shot at a squad of his own. Career progression, yeah, I get it, but I sure as hell don't like it.

I had fully expected to deploy with my "family", to stick it out through the tough times, celebrate the good times (albeit sans booze, thanks to Genral Order #1), and bring them home to their respective families... I guess that will remain nothing more than an idealist's dream now.

I basically had 24 hours to pack up and be ready to move into my new digs at a US/Iraqi army shared compound, still in the middle of Baghdad, far enough for my new CO not to let me take a stroll down the street and check on my boys, but close enough that I can hear it if anything starts cooking over in the old neighborhood.

I work as a liaison between the Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police, and Iraqi Highway Patrol that are tasked with the same sector of Baghdad as my battalion, to make sure that if something happens, they get their people (jurisdictions and sub-sectors) moving to find out the 5 W's, so I can report back to BN HQ. That's the "exciting" version of what I do.

The "realistic" version of my work day is more like, "12 hours of boredom and not much else". Yeah, I have free internet (it's nothing like my Cox broadband back home, ugh!), the interpreters are cool and bring us food that their Mrs. 's cook, but other than that, I'd rather be out getting shot at with my boys.

My wife and family are happy as pigs in slop that I am no longer "on the patrol schedule", that my new job is "safer" than what I was doing before, and I can understand, but I'm still really upset about it. Bottom line, I'm finishing my tour behind a desk, listening to ya-la-la-la-la music for 12 hours a day, and really basically hating life.

I really hated saying goodbye to two families within the span of a week and a half. One will always be there at home for me, and the other will always be, well...

"...We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother..."

GrandpaNoob,

I can't say I have any idea how you feel, 'cause having never served in the military I've never experienced that brotherhood. Nor can I even begin to grasp what it is like for you and your loved ones.

What I can say is that "your boys" will be fine. I am sure that you imparted to them all the wisdom, knowledge, and tactics that you have and trained them well as they matured. They will be the ones teaching the new squad leader how things get done. And as a leader of any type, that is the best you can hope for, that you leave the people you were leading better, smarter, wiser than they were when you arrived.

I can also say, and I know O have said this before and that I speak for everyone who will read this:

I think I'm with your wife and kids on this one. I feel better knowing your not
out in the thick of it :-)

I do understand where you are coming from, man. But I can't help but be on the side of your family. You did the really tough stuff already... Find some comfort knowing how much happier your family is back home. I am sure it makes them feel SOOO much better. Your job is your job. That is how the military goes. Even if it is a job you don't like, it is still an important one. It HAS to be for them to pull a vet like you out of the position you were in. I'm sure your boys understand as well.

That's how it works, GPN. You learn in the trenches, you graduate to leading in the trenches, and eventually they give you a dry spot to sit and you guide those who are leading in the trenches. It's a step up. I was never happier than sharing a hooch with my soldiers in the mud but I was eventually kicked upstairs to use what I learned to train others. It's then that you realize the "pogues" are the ones that keep control of the battlefield.

You'll get your chance again when you are Plat Daddy and then Top, use this opportunity to learn every damn thing you can and you'll be that much more proficient in the future. That is part of what is called the grooming process. It is actually a tribute to your expertise that the powers that be selected you to be a front line representative of the United States Army.

BTW, lunch is on you next time. You get to pick the location.

Thanks for your service GrandpaNoob. Come home safe.

E

I know, steps up towards "bigger and better things" will eventually take me away from the battlefield and from the comraderie of being "in the suck" with my boys...

I guess it could be equated to watching your kid(s) head off to college, moving out of the house... You know you taught them well, but you still can't help but worry about them...

I was hoping that I could have ended up at least working in the TAC, where I can radio them, watch them on UAV feed, kinda like the angel over their shoulder... Not that I'm an angel by any stretch, just saying...

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita BTW, lunch is on you next time. You get to pick the location.

You make your way down to Manhattan, and you're on! The Little Apple Brewing Company serves your brand of suds , and they grill up one mean steak...

Gramps.......think what you feel now, then what you'll feel like when your out as a civil.......talk about anxiety.......just bring it back home when the jobs' done...."Airborne"