A Hero of Mine

SPC Gardner- raise  your right hand and repeat after me.

“I, (state your name) (Shaun Gardner), do solemnly swear, that I will support and defend, the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith, and alleigiance to the same, and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulation, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, so help me God.”

On July 4^th, 2013 on FOB Walton Afghanistan, SPC Gardner repeated these words after I said them in front of our Battalion. It is an officer who always enlists and/or reenlists someone and SPC Gardner requested that I be that officer for him. This was my first reenlistment that I had ever conducted and it truly was an honor. I am not sure there will be another day where a reenlistment is done on July 4^th because typically, we have that day off! J Thankfully, he gave me about a month in advance in order for me to memorize the oath. It isn’t required by any means, but it feels more heartfelt that way. I practiced with SFC O’Neal and PFC Williams quite often that month and SPC Gardner and I practiced over and over again the day of and thankfully, we did great! I about stumbled on one of the lines, but I caught myself.

As we were standing in front of all these Soldiers taking this oath, my hand was shaking, and I was staring into his eyes and it hit me, right in the middle of the oath, that this is what a hero looks like. He is deployed to Afghanistan, away from his girlfriend, his family and friends and yet he is still taking an oath to serve additional years to our country. It is not easy over here. Do not get me wrong, we aren’t treated bad or anything like that, but it is hard to be away from families and just stuck here- but he has the strength, courage, and pride to say that he will continue to make this sacrifice for even more years than he has already given. Not many people can say they reenlisted a true here, on July 4^th, in Afghanistan and I am thankful I am blessed with this memory. Thank you, SPC Gardner, you are my hero!

 

 

Nature of the beast

My job is incredibly interesting, as I've stated several times in my little blog here. My counterpart, SFC O'Neal calls me a little city manager. It sure feels like it sometimes! If I were a betting woman, (which I'm not!) I would be able to bet that 5 out of the 7 mornings I go into work, there is someone waiting on me to help them, I have several missed calls and for sure countless emails. So, there isn't ever settling into the day or even the morning... It's waking up, putting the worn out uniform on, putting on my boots that are still too big for me, putting on the shades, cap and slinging my weapon around my shoulder.. And enjoying the 45 seconds of silence it takes to walk from my tent to work (and that's if there isn't anyone along the way)! 

Typically, I love my job. But on days like today, I struggled. One of these days, I'll try to document a typical day :) but, we have a water tank on the FOB that gives us running water to one of our main locations. Well, it has struggled to stay together the past few days. Pipes were busted, and then it was a pump. One of those problems where it is one thing after another. I have learned the mentality that it IS going to be okay. It'll get fixed, no sense in getting all upset over it. But most people don't see it that way. They want it fixed as soon as they get done complaining to me. The way I see it, we need to be thankful we have running water, period! It's not the only shower, it's just the most convenient shower. I understand convenience. I like it myself. But come on Soldier, we are in Afghanistan and it could always be worse. 

Sometimes, there are just more important things to be angry about. One of four showers having some problems just isn't one of them. First world problems in a third world country. So, stuff like this tends to get under my skin and naturally I'm the one that falls on sword because I am the representative for the contractors. It is the nature of the beast to assist with things that I see worthy, and even the ones I don't see why I have to jump through hoops to make happen. :) 

So, ahaha, magic! The showers are fixed now :) I took myself one, and put on a little bit of makeup because even in sunny Afghanistan, sometimes you have to make your own sunshine :) xoxo