Well folks, I knew it was going to happen in the next year or so – I got orders recently for an upcoming deployment. It’s not a bad thing; the choice is 13 months in Iraq vs. 7 months in the Djibouti. You can probably imagine what I went for! It's nice to have choices - my grandfather was sent off in '42 and could return to the states only in victory, death or dismemberment! It is set to begin on June 23rd and I will be filling a Communications Officer billet but that is about all I know right now. The next several months will be spent finishing up projects at work and turning over my current duties. At home, of course, there will be lots to do. Not sure when my wife and I are going to tell the kids. I should be back right after Christmas.

I will have internet connectivity so I will be sure to keep up with my required posting (here not my school!) And I will be sure to send lots of pictures – maybe M may even bump up my attachment allowance!

I’ll give you more details as I know them. In the mean time, for those of you who don’t know where Djibouti even is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibouti

And here is a link to the public website for the command I will be attached to:

http://www.hoa.centcom.mil/

Dear Capt O,

Sorry to hear about your redeploy. It's got to be hard on both you and your family. It's a long period to be seperated from your kids. At least now we have phone and email to keep in touch. My former boss was 4 years old when her father came home from WWII and it was the first time they met. I look forward to hearing about life over there. Keep posting away.

I've been humming "Shake Djibuoti" to myself while typing this....

Darlene

My dad was three when he met my grandpa. I bet my grandmother was so glad to have her hubby back to help with little John jr. and his two sisters. As a side note, my grandparents went on to have 4 more kids!

So anyway, this won't be my longest deployment. In 2004 I was gone for 9 months to Iraq. Since then I've only been gone for 4 months (to 29 Palms to assist units going through training) which was last year. All in all, I've been lucky. Some folks have spent 3 years in Iraq totaled up! Kudos to them.

May God keep you! I was going to say we'll miss you, but thanks to that giant spider web in the sky, we'll always be in contact.

Yes, I would have picked the same, given your choices. I've already visited the two links you sent. It's nice to get a heads-up.

What more can you tell us about Djibuoti? It sure will be a long way from home regardless, and of course very difficult to be away from your loved ones.

Oh as far as posting, "my" boys always get preferential treatment.

Well, I have an update. The HOA deployment has been given to someone else. Why you ask? It seems that with so few cap'ns in the G-6 as it is, they are keeping as many folks around for the deployment in January of 2009. That, unfortunately, means a 13 month deployment. I guess I can't complain, there have been plenty of folks who have not only gone for 13+ months before, but have also gone back again! It comes down to, "I put the uniform on this morning, didn't I?"

The answer, of course, is yes - and proudly.

Oh dear... Well as you stated, "The answer, of course, is yes - and proudly." Guess that says it all!