My plane touched down in Kuwait City in the afternoon of September 30th. The date is significant in several ways. First and most importantly it means that by military regulations I am entitled to tax free income for the entire month of September. This despite only being in a “conflict area” for only one day. Of note, the military has been know to prosecute even high ranking flag officers (generals, admirals) for taking advantage of this loophole too frequently to conduct “inspections” in theatre conveniently spanning 2 months (i.e. the last few days of September, and the first few days of October).
Second and arguably equally important, the countdown to the end of my deployment has started. This deployment will only be five months long for me this time. I hope to return before my wife’s birthday in early March, 2010. I previously deployed to Iraq for seven months in 2008 albeit in a significantly different role (more on that in future postings). At least my family is now surrounded by extended family in the mid-west rather than being isolated on the island of Guam.
Finally it marks my second separation from my wife and children. My wife and I have been married for nearly five years and have three children ages 4, 2, and 3 months old. I am hoping that the separation is easier on my children at a younger age or at least that they will be more prone to forget my absence as they grow older (thereby staving off abandonment issue –psychiatrist speaking here). Leaving my wife with three children under age five may seem cruel to some but we came to this decision mutually knowing that an even longer deployment was virtually certain at a later date.
I will spend less than a week in Kuwait while awaiting further transportation to Kandahar, Afghanistan where I will serve as the head medical officer for a Naval Construction (Seabee) regiment. The regiment has been in theatre for one month already. In this blog I hope to present a picture of a typical deployment to a combat zone, and to address diverse issues pertaining to the military. Expect several posts per week (provided of course that I have reliable internet access). I will try to post pictures as well.
Second and arguably equally important, the countdown to the end of my deployment has started. This deployment will only be five months long for me this time. I hope to return before my wife’s birthday in early March, 2010. I previously deployed to Iraq for seven months in 2008 albeit in a significantly different role (more on that in future postings). At least my family is now surrounded by extended family in the mid-west rather than being isolated on the island of Guam.
Finally it marks my second separation from my wife and children. My wife and I have been married for nearly five years and have three children ages 4, 2, and 3 months old. I am hoping that the separation is easier on my children at a younger age or at least that they will be more prone to forget my absence as they grow older (thereby staving off abandonment issue –psychiatrist speaking here). Leaving my wife with three children under age five may seem cruel to some but we came to this decision mutually knowing that an even longer deployment was virtually certain at a later date.
I will spend less than a week in Kuwait while awaiting further transportation to Kandahar, Afghanistan where I will serve as the head medical officer for a Naval Construction (Seabee) regiment. The regiment has been in theatre for one month already. In this blog I hope to present a picture of a typical deployment to a combat zone, and to address diverse issues pertaining to the military. Expect several posts per week (provided of course that I have reliable internet access). I will try to post pictures as well.
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