Election Day in Iraq

Jon sent this great report today:

"Today is the day the Sunni's have been waiting for. All their hopes are pinned on high voter turnouts so they can regain the political pre-eminence in areas with Sunni majority populations (about five provinces that since the last election in 2005 have been controlled by minority parties, in three of the provinces that has been Kurds, one of them Shia). This has the potential to be a pretty historic day, on which a truly representative election (it is expected that over 90% of Iraqis will vote) occurs that will solidify Iraq as a representative democracy. The only irony in the whole thing is that it could not be scheduled to take place on Bush's watch (so technically the "credit" goes to the current administration). As of the closing of the polls there have not been any reported attacks on polling sights thoughout Iraq. Jarhedjon"

The Replacement Has Arrived

We are getting so close to the end of this deployment. Jon's replacement has arrived and the transition has begun. I just got this from him.

"My replacement is here, so that's good news, I'll have at least a week to turn over my responsibilities, which is hugely magnanimous compared to what I had last time--and the reality is I need the time much less this time due to job function than I did last time. Murphy's law, I guess--the time you have is inversely proportionate to the time you need. Oh well. Another sign that my departure is looming ever nearer. Most problematic will be that after I finish my "driver's seat" part of the turn over and transition to the "passenger seat" phase of the turnover (where I simply advise if asked), I won't have preferred access to a NIPR computer (for contact with you) or a SIPR computer (to finish up tasks related to finalizing my mission here). The good thing is that time available to complete these minor tasks will be fairly extensive, and I can accomplish them when (I'm guessing) my counterpart is not using the computer. Though this may be late at night or early in the morning, it should not be a big deal, as I'll have few demands on my time, so will be capable of flexibility. Semper Fi, JarHedJon"

Hot H2O

"One of these days pretty soon I'm going to be "evicted" from my wet CHU for the incoming high ranking folks, and moved to the transient tents with the "common" masses. The real blessing in the wet CHU these last three months has been that the arrival of the MEF dramatically exceeded the hot water capacity of the shower facilities (and I was not affected). KBR (the contractor) says by contract they only have to provide one toilet and one shower for every thirty people, which is just not enough, particularly when the hot water heaters (each shower facility has eight showers) for each unit are half the size of the average residential hot water heater. Basically, about 80% of the MEF have been taking cold showers for the last 90 days. With my own shower in a wet CHU, I at least have had hot showers (though my water heater is very limited, I have to turn off the water while soaping down, or I run out of hot water in my wet CHU, too). Moving to the transient tent, I'll have to stand in line for a shower, and when I get there, it'll be cold. To be honest, I am not looking forward to this, but I don't mind bearing the same hardships that all the other troops have been enduring for the last 90 days. I AM very thankful for the hot water showers, and do not take them for granted. Semper Fi, JarHedJon"

A New US President

We have a new president of the United States of America and Jon had a perspective that I asked if I could share with you all.

"It is dramatic to see the differences between the US election process and population involvement and response vice the Iraq election process and population response. I don't recall there being one politically motivated death in the US, and now that it's all over, we're gearing up for the party of this new century. Here there is much distrust, anger, doubt, and fear. There have been and continue to be acts of violence. The lack of respect for each other, the lack of tolerance, and the absence of the understanding of the impact on the international community's perspective of them (corrupt, prejudiced, indiscriminately violent, undiscerning and feudal). Much has been surmounted through education, the effects of globalization on quality of life, and the reality that the most trusted powerful and authoritative entity in their world is the Infidel military that continually assumes risk and inserts itself between danger and the populace. Though the political rhetoric at the national level is all about sovereignty, the people here (I can only speak about my immediate area) do not want us to leave, and they express their thanks to us every day we stay. Is it too much to hope that in ten years, twenty years, within our lifetime, a peaceful election such as ours could happen here? Probably, look at all of the political violence, assassinations, and attempted assassinations, that occur even in the US (even in the last fifty years), and I'd have to say it is too much to hope that humans will stop being human--in the US or here. But we have created the basis for something similar to what happens in our country during elections to take place here, eventually. Jarhedjon"

Can you find my Marine?

Jon just sent a recent picture of himself with some of the folks he works with. At our house Joshua was the first to find him in the photo. See how well you can do.

Sheryl

Recognize I am Not Alone

The military categorizes those unable to deal "normally" with the results of deployments as having PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It is generally acknowledged that all personnel are effected to some extent, though the actual point where PTSD requires treatment depends on the person subjected to the stress and person conducting the diagnosis. Military training is designed to prepare the individual to deal with a variety of possible environments in which they might have to survive. The rigors of military training, often taken to extremes, are generally forgiven due to drastic differences between the civilian environment of Any Place, USA, and Specific Battlefield, Deployed. However, I’d like to propose that any such “change factor” can be traumatic, either in experience or effect, to any person, not just someone in the military, and these effects are magnified by the duration they eclipse. Just as it is expected that certain experiences on the battlefield or during a deployment are outside of the individual’s ability to assimilate, so it is that experiences can (and generally do) happen, even while “just walking down the street,” that can startle, stress, shock, or traumatize because there is no “device” that will fit a particular event within a “normal” framework. Using this reasoning, Joshua's two week experience at camp could be of greater impact to his life than a year of deployment might be to my life—it just depends on how dramatic the difference between the environment one is used to and calls “normal” vice the environment that is or provides the vehicle of change.

My conclusion, then, is to acknowledge that all of us are natives in the land of stress, and I find this an encouragement. First, it puts me and my year long deployment in a category of experience not far removed from each person—lest I give myself a little bit too much room to tarry in the “Woe is me” place. Secondly, since stress is such a universal experience, those with whom I share my life will not consider me an alien should I discuss my experience of stress in a controlled setting. Thirdly, I have a Savior whose Mercy and Grace sustained me throughout, Who is certainly intimately familiar with every moment of my life, and Who eternally invites me to permit the incremental sanctification of my life to His Way.

Semper Fi, JarHedJon

The Impact the Deployment Makes

Another report from Jarhedjon.

"The antidote to the weariness from a deployment extends beyond achieving a few extended nights’ sleep in a comfortable bed. Not that those holding down the fort at home don't know this. In many cases, their lives have been even more dramatically impacted and/or affected than the one deployed. The longer the duration of the absence of the deployed, the less the "positive" nature or "positive" results that were the reason for the separation have any relevance—to either the deployed individual or those left behind. For instance, is it harder to leave one’s family for a deployment where the mission is understood, the tasking continuous, the routine aspects of life provided for and/or taken care of, and in the context of career progression amid accolades and support? Or is it harder to be left behind, half of a couple or more difficult yet, a single parent, handling all the requirements of living in what was reasonably expected to be a shared experience, aware every day of a specific vacuum in life—a half empty bed, an empty place at the dinner table, a missing social companion and friend. Having been the one deployed, though I recognize that it is no fun, my money is on the left-behind folks as having a more difficult time. Regardless, allowances are made for me, and all sorts of support mechanisms are not only available, I am required several times during “warrior transition” to specifically deny the requirement for follow-on support if I elect not to receive it. Unfortunately, such care is a little more distant from my family than it is to me, though there is a growing awareness of the necessity for this, and there are limited programs available.The most difficult thing for relationships, however, is not the separation—it is “re-entry” following the separation. The deployed (speaking for myself, here) will tend to believe relationships can be “checked out of” when deployed and “checked back into” when the deployment is over, believing little change has occurred personally over the deployment and the bigger challenge will be “catching up” with changes in others. Those left behind (my perceptions here) have long since learned to deal with the vacuum, developed coping mechanisms, and “moved on”—their “place” relative to the “place” where the deployed person expects to “check back in to” are now very different “locations,” a gap which will require tremendous effort and significant time (several months or more) on the part of BOTH parties to close. Semper Fi, JarHedJon"

I agree with what Jon says above about the re-entry time. Joshua and I have been praying about that time already. We talk about the fact that Joshua will need to share me with Dad and vice versa. Joshua is at an age where justice is quite important so he has already said, "Mom, if you and Dad go on a date, then I'll get to go to breakfast at Ruby's with Dad, cause that's fair." :) Initially we'll plan quite a bit of family time so all three of us will be together. Jon will have a lot of days off, so hopefully he and I will have some quality time together during the day while Joshua's in school. Of course, my life has "gone on" and I have lots going on with PTA and the church, so I'll need to rearrange my schedule to make that time. I don't, and I don't think Jon means to sound like we are complaining. We just want to let you know a bit of the complicated nature of coming together after a year of separation and we would greatly appreciate your prayers. Thanks.

Sheryl

Nearing the end of another deployment

Jon sums up his thoughts and feelings as this deployment nears an end.

"I recall the last two months of my deployment in 2006, and I have a vague memory that any variation from the routine seemed like a cataclysmic crisis, energy levels had sunk to the level where walking and talking seemed about all I could do, forget about creative thought. That's sort of how it is now. It's not that life is so tough; it's just that many of the fundamental meaningfulnesses of every day life (the preservation of which is why we're here in the first place) cannot be felt here. This is not a negative judgment on the country to which we are deployed, this is an acknowledgement that wherever it is, it is not “home,” it is not where our hearts reside. Over time, this distance from our “hearts” attacks the very center of individual significance, and simultaneously degrades any confidence that what we are accomplishing is of any note. This bludgeoning effect to the psyche appears to more dramatically impact the staffs (who are less physically engaged) than those who are actively executing the missions; a wearying of the body that in turn grinds down the capacity to overcome complacency is the sentence on those tasked with a more physical mission. The strength of character that drives individuals forward in this environment, so that they overcome these and many other impediments to excellence in accomplishing mundane, arduous, and downright almost impossible tasks, is today fairly rare--though providentially, corporately and against significant odds, success here is more universal than the rarity of strength of character would suggest. Whether one has this strength of character within them or not, it can still be observed and noted in others. I think back to previous conflicts, where individuals were in physical confrontation with the enemy and/or the enemies' devices for years at a time, and their accomplishments, in the absence of technology, often without popular support, and little enough of the very essentials of life, seem to throw much of what we've done here into a somewhat pale light. It is not without reason that the generation that persevered to achieve victory in WWII is called "great." Even greater, in many ways, though less acknowledged, were those engaged in the Vietnamese and Korean conflicts, who lacked the support of their own nation, in fact faced adversity from the enemy and at home, and yet achieved victory in almost every tactical conflict in which they were engaged (the conflicts were lost operationally and strategically). This, then, is the state I'm in as my deployment nears its end. Semper Fi, Jarhedjon"