The Army Reserve is Sending Me to Iraq
On Friday February 25, 2008 I got an email asking me to call my reserve boss. I figured he needed me to do something for him. Little did I know I was about to get the shock of my life! He informed me I was being involuntarily "cross-leveled" to a unit that needed a Signal Officer as part of getting ready to deploy to Iraq.
Since I haven't had anything to do with the Signal Corps since 1992 (That's when my son Sean was born and he'll be 16 in a few weeks) I was doubly surprised. As of March 12, 2008 I am the S6 (Signal Officer) for a Military Police unit. The unit is not very old and has not yet had anyone assigned to this slot (Army-speak for position) so I'm the first. I will have seven soldiers helping me support the unit's communication needs.
Before I actually leave for the Middle East I will spend roughly one month at each of two different locations in preparation for my deployment. I expect to be very busy while I'm gone, so the time will go by quickly. I think it will be harder on my family than on me. While I'm gone I will add content and pictures to this page, though nothing that will compromise security or my personal safety.
The first weekend in April I travelled to Pennsylvania to meet the members of my new unit. It was a long weekend, but it was worth the effort. I've been attending a variety of Signal Officer training at Ft. Gordon as I prepare for my new job and the deployment. Interestingly, I will actually get to make two trips to Iraq! One will be a short trip to see how things are going to we can better prepare; the second will be the actual deployment.
Other biographical type stuff about me
Passing my multi-engine checkride
