One Mountain After Another

I promised that I would keep writing while being garrisoned at Ft. Campbell, so I am holding true to that. While I have nothing in particular that I would like to say, I think that it's nice to keep everyone updated on what's going on with the 101st Airborne Division and Sergeant Gratsch.

We've been back on American soil for a little over 4 months now, and I must say that it has been rather nice. I am not a fan of garrison life simply because there is not much action; we just go to work and do random training events, and eventually we find out when we are leaving again. We found out in March that we'd be heading back for another trial with destiny in March or April 2010. This will be my last big hoorah, because by the time we get back my time in the Army will be over. During the next few months, and probably the rest of the year, the training will be heavy, and the reward will be small. Such is the life we volunteered to live.

I'm pretty sure that I've fully transitioned back to the pseudo regular life that I had before I left for war. I had trouble sleeping upon my return, and I had a few weird dreams, but other than that everything seems to be fine. What's not fine is the constant struggle I have with myself in trying to live the semblance of a regular civilian life I have developed such a strong appetite for. I have a wonderful girl in my life named Jill, and I want nothing more than to spend as much time as possible with her. I've never felt so strongly about anyone or anything in my life as I do for her. She saved me from my darkest hour in the worst possible situation, in the worst possible place in this world, and I can never repay her. All I can do is devote as much of myself as I can to her. Each weekend I see her is like living little slices of the life that I want so badly. I just keep walking, keep climbing over mountains, hoping to find the one that doesn't have another one after it. Flatland; back to normality. No more wars. Sometime I will put my boots in the closet and that will be that.

We've been working diligently to turn the helicopters we were given back into war ready fighting machines. Slowly but surely we are turning water to wine, and it will be another twenty-four off to war.

There's really nothing else to write about. The heavy training starts soon, along with the concern of who, what, when where, why and how. I feel like an old vet now for some reason...I'm not the new guy anymore. I'm in the knowing, and there are many new soldiers who need training and who need to learn the Army way. I'm the old, tough son of a you-know-what at 27 years old. Someone has to take the torch when I'm ready to pass it, so we need to make sure that it's left in good hands. The war does not end with me. And someday I'll be sitting on some dusty porch somewhere reminiscing about wearing stripes in America's Army.

Cheers,

-J