Merry Christmas dear friends!
2011 has been a year of surprises for our family. We are enduring enjoying another year in Fort Campbell, KY. The kids are growing by leaps and bounds and we are shifting into big kid mode as the toddler years will soon be a memory. We manage to bike ride together with Seth in a trailer behind dad or mom’s bike. I’m sure he will soon be peddling on his own.
About the surprises--- In July, Dave was given roughly 30 days’ notice that he would be deploying to Iraq. Let’s hear about this from the soldier’s perspective, written before his return home—
July 8 2011, Happy Birthday to me! I am going about my day at work when I get a call, “Sergeant Dickson, you might want to check your email if you haven’t already…” It was reminiscent of the days our parents’ generation would get a “letter in the mail” from Uncle Sam. It was very similar. How similar? “SGT Dickson, you will report for training at Fort Benning, GA prior to deploying in support of military operations in Iraq.”
I arrived 6 AUG, received my full wartime issue, and one week later, I was in Kuwait. Three days after that, we were in Iraq, dispersed between 3 different posts throughout the country. We were a hodge-podge of a unit drawn from just about every hospital in the Army’s inventory. Up to this point, we didn’t know who was in charge, what we were doing, or even where in Iraq we would be.
My contingent ended up in Baghdad. Irony of ironies-- our little group was patch-worked together to relieve the 86th Combat Support Hospital who had been there a year. The 86th is based out of Fort Campbell, KY. So yes, they called me up from the hospital in Fort Campbell so that the Fort Campbell CSH (pronounced “cash”) could go back home where I just came from. There was a bit of an overlap and, needless to say, I saw many familiar faces. It was somewhat of an old home event.
I served in Iraq as the NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge/ the guy they call “Sarge”) of the operating room. We were about 1/3 the size of the unit we replaced. Our primary purpose here was rather historical. Never before has the military turned over control of operations to civilians. With the governments of the US and Iraq unable to come to an agreement regarding our continued presence here, the 40,000 of us Soldiers are leaving. In our place will be civilians hired by the Department of State. I cannot say enough good things about them as they are rebuilding Iraq and acting more as unarmed ambassadors in one of the greatest goodwill gestures on which the United States has ever embarked.
We are the Bridge Medics. Our job is to get the place in tip-top shape and facilitate the transfer of operations from military to civilian control. As of now, we are at the point where the civilians have been trained up, are acclimated to providing the same world-class care our guys would get in the states, but in a more austere environment, and are essentially running the place. We are acting in an advisory role like if there is a hang up with the field sterilizers or how to get our system to gel with theirs.
We were initially a bit out of our element. Instead of lots of war-wounded we were seeing a lot of civilian contractors who needed everything from appendixes removed to open-heart surgery. It wasn’t to last though, and eventually we received our first war-wounded. My Soldiers did their jobs expertly, and we proved we were just as proficient as any CSH who routinely work under these conditions.
As Dave explained, the US troops’ mission in Iraq was declared to be finished at the end of this year, making our separation time 4 months instead of 12. We are both happy and surprised to have him back home before Christmas. He conspired with a family friend and arranged yet one more surprise when he revealed himself in full dress blues during a routine family trip to a frozen yogurt shop.
While in Iraq, Dave (who hit the big 4-0 this year) was cursed blessed with a roommate with a passion for fitness. He ran Dave through the ringer at least daily which helped him along the road to going in front of the promotion board in preparation for that one last promotion that he hopes to squeeze in before retirement in 2015.
Olivia, 12 ½ , is happy to be in the Young Women’s group at church and also keeps busy being on the middle school’s newspaper staff, choir class and National Junior Honor Society. She looks forward to Art Club next semester and can only dream of the day that drama classes are offered at school (though there is plenty of that at home.)
Paul, almost 11, has shown a significant marginal increase in responsibility, keeping better track of homework assignments as a 5th grader. He is active in Cub Scouts and will soon earn his Webelo badge and become an 11 year old Boy Scout. He’s a great reader and mathematician, and of course he wouldn’t be his father’s son if he didn’t love computer and video games.
Girl Scouts has been a new adventure for Faith, 7 ½. She has kept very busy visiting local places of interest and making new friends. We will soon be juggling boxes of Thin Mints and Tagalogs. Faith loves playing outside with neighborhood friends, and she is a big help in taking care of Dozer and Tiger.
Seth, 3 ½, still likes his pacifier for nap time and mom isn’t too eager to take it away. Being the baby of the family and still growing into his own, he surely changed the most while Dave was gone. He happily plays with toy cars and enjoys pretend play with any figurines available—Toy Story, Smurfs, Christmas tree ornaments.
As for me, time flies as I try to keep up with the day to day tasks of motherhood and homemaking. As for my photography, the business aspect set on the back burner this year, but I enjoyed a special critique class with a wonderful photographer that I admire. I hope to pick up the big camera a bit more this year and not rely so much on the camera phone (mine really is terrible.) I love watching the kids grow and Olivia is becoming not only my daughter but my friend. I am reminding myself to cherish my one on one time with little Seth before he embarks on a pre-school adventure next year.
The giving and receiving of Christmas cards is one of my favorite things about the season. I love to take a few moments to reflect on each of the families that have been a blessing for us to know and associate with. May you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
With love,
Clair
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