Coming off Memorial weekend, some men seem refreshed and ready to continue the per-deployment phases. I, on the other hand, just want to go back to bed. It was going to be a short week, so I anticipated that every day would be saturated with an extensive outline of events. After a good physical training session at the local YMCA, the squad received the brief of the day. Our first objective was to make way to the Evergreen Theatre for more deployment briefings.

This brief intriguing and essential for deployment success. Some topics that were discussed: laws of war, rules of engagement, new developments and political arena and other important issues. Retrospectively , the information disseminated could be readily incorporated into daily combat situations.

The next day’s task was to conduct a 12-mile road march within four hours. A breeze, right? In the past month, we had completed two other road marches. Those road marches dealt a devastating and shocking result on some guys’ feet, but nobody quit, and we finished ahead of time given by our Platoon Sergeant.

Going on these road marches is substantially similar to the way. Going on these road marches is substantially similar to the way I strategize while running a marathon. Breathing, hydration and excretion of kinetic energy play important roles in success.

The first part of the road march, everyone showed evidence of good momentum. When we hit mile six at 1:40:00, I finally sensed that I needed to start focusing on the mental aspect of the road march. On the way back I knew that I either needed to divulge myself in dialogue or concentrated on the happy thoughts. I elected talking to one of my buddies; it helped immensely.

June 1, 2006

The one thing that I never look forward to is ceremonies, because every ceremony means rehearsal and standing around. General Dubik gave an awesome emotional speech; you could hear him choke up in between presenting this speech. To me that meant there was a real man standing in front of a sharing with us how he really felt about the man he served.

The farewell ceremony put the deployment further into perspective, drawing the deployment date closer on the calendar. The way I see it now, I need to take care of my household priorities, which means spending more time doing what I’ve put off when I get lazy. Instead of saying, “I’ll do it tomorrow,” I need to get it done now. Soon, time will be up, and I’ll be knee- deep in combat again doing what I signed up for- fighting the bad guys next to my brothers.

I finally find time to relax, slowly closing my eyes, taking a minute to enjoy the refreshing breeze and ever evading sun. Suddenly, the ground rumbles from artillery rounds crashing violently to the earth, seemingly a short distance away, as well as long sporadically firing. I quickly glanced over at my friend, Bill Sanders, fishing on the deck, and sarcastically say, “Bill, this is good training; might as well get used to it where we are going.” Bill responds with a chuckle, “Yep, good times.” Fishing over by the artillery range is always fun. To me it’s what you do before you leave that resonates with you while in during difficult times on the tour. Now that we’ve concluded and finalize all the per- deployment phases, I find myself divulging in everything from fishing, playing basketball, taking all my dogs and eating like a champ. Spending quality time with family, that is where my focus is these last couple pre-deployment days.

During the week while getting lunch I ran into my commander, Captain Curt Roland. We had a brief but enlightening conversation. He gave me the direct end state of our new mission, “Remember Hardt, we’re not going over to just kill or capture terrorists, but also train Iraqi forces, so we can start handing over Provinces to the Iraqis.” This answer was in response to me saying that I just wanted to take out as many terrorists that I possibly could.

I sometimes can be ignorant and close-minded. I am proud to have a commander who has complete direction and can make rational decisions rather than an emotional decision. You don’t always get a chance to talk to the commander because he is busy, but when you do, you can see why he’s in charge. The man beams with confidence and determination, which directly affects and empowers the men who fight under him.

General George S. Patton had some good quotes about war that ring true at this time.

“No sane man is unafraid in battle, but discipline produces in him a form of vicarious courage.” The tour will challenge every man in different ways. We will all miss our families, friend’s daily luxuries, and most of all the purity of freedom. Let the long journey began.