Going to War

We've been at this since September 12th, 2001. I'm GI Mark. I'm an Army Lieutenant stationed at Fort Richardson Alaska (North to the Future!) where we feature bears, big trucks, and and problems with DUI. I work as a Fire Support Officer, coordinating lethal fires between the guys on the ground and the guns in the rear. In my off time I eat fish, drink beer, and go to the gym. I have a TV that could be at home in a cinema, but I mostly watch the Food Network, West Wing, and NetFlix. I think "Steel Rain" is the greatest slogan ever.

I work 12-14 hour days minimum because in less than 3 weeks, we're leaving the frigid north for eastern Afghanistan.

We've been at this since September 12, 2001, but now it's my turn to drop shells on the terrorists, shit in a box, bathe less, and everything else that comes with a good counterinsurgency. The rhetorical flourish and groundbreaking citizen-journalism of the first wave of Americans to hit the ground is done.

I'm the 4th phase, the guys who mop up the jerks who are left because they didn't get the message that freedom rocks and America never gives up. We're the Counterinsurgency Janitors, and America has kinda lost interest in us. This mop up role means that we're going into a real fight against real enemies, but it's not an ordinary fight. Most of the unit has already deployed before in the War on Terror. We've been training for years.

I'm not just leaving my stuff behind. My family and friends are already distant because we're 4 hours and 4000 miles apart. My girlfriend is halfway around the world on her own deployment to Kuwait, where she has all the boredom, tedium, and distance of a deployment with none of the excitement. I'll get to see her next in September.

And yet, I love my job.