Half

13.1 Miles is half of a marathon
2 Quarts is half of a gallon of milk
Fifty Cents is a rapper, and also half of a dollar

What's the point? Today is the half-way mark for the deployment, or more specifically, today is the half way mark for what is commonly called "boots on ground". For those of us who have a one year commitment to the cause, this is our midway point. That would be 182.5 days out of 365. There are plenty of active duty folks who are playing the not so fun 15 month game, but there are also tons of others who get to do the whole six month “mini-deployment” schedule. If I was one of the lucky Air Force or Marines fortunate enough to get a gig like that, I'd be packing my bags and getting on a plane today. What's even more disheartening is that there are short-tour people who arrived after me and will leave before me. No matter. As long as we all go home in one piece, then life is good.

So, let’s recap the last 6 months of this fun filled deployment. It started out with a short lay over in Kuwait where we dodged sand storms, shot at camels (not on purpose), and acclimated (which is a fancy word for sweating your rear off). From there, we took a not so enjoyable plane ride up to Baghdad and were dropped off at the abandoned soccer field of our FOB (which was just cratered prior to us arriving by bad guy incoming rockets). We spent the next month or so dodging mortar barrages, learning our jobs, and if our sweat glands didn’t learn how to acclimate in Kuwait, they got a crash course in how to work double-time here in Baghdad. I made some trips out and about which earned me the role of designated driver and makeshift PSD (personal security detail) for the myriad of field grade officers in my team. And because someone saw that my rifle looked different from everyone else’s, they made me the quick reaction force commander to somehow defend the fort less we get run over by insurgents (lucky me). I made a few trips along the way to the borders, from the south near the gulf, to the west, and to the north west. I’ve chucked rocks (and cats) into Syria, snapped pictures of Iran from a helicopter and have even peed in the Persian Gulf. I’ve ridden in every form of utility rotary aircraft here (save the Osprey because it’s too new) and I’ve done more convoys than I can shake a stick at. I’ve spent a total of 26 days sleeping outside the “wire”, although 7 of them were for my pass. I’ve made friends with 1 dog, 2 cats, 1 mouse, a lizard, and countless blood thirsty mosquitoes. I’ve lived in two different trailers, had two different room mates, and have spent more time in body armor and in a bunker than I would have liked. I’ve eaten Pizza Hut in Qatar, real eggs in Rabea’a (I can only assume that they were from a chicken), had meals with the Iraqis in Baghdad (still alive too), and have most likely consumed a five gallon tub of Baskin Robin’s ice cream by myself over the course of my stint here. I’ve run over 275 miles (on average) on the treadmill and running track, lost 10 lbs of blubber, and gained 10 lbs of ice cream. I’ve received more boxes than I can count, enough letters to fill a boot box, and have written over 96 blog entries.

I’ve come a long way, and like I wrote before, today is the day I summit the mountain of this deployment. From here I can take a good look at the past six months and see all that I’ve done to get me where I am today. I can also gaze wantonly on the completion of my deployment that lies at the end of the downward path in front of me. This makes me ecstatic, especially when I know that my mid tour leave is only 2 months away.

So, if well begun is half done, then half way done is pretty sweet.