Army: Deployment Update

I realized I haven't really explained my upcoming Army schedule.  So here it is:

View from our last FTX (preparation for NTC)

I will be deploying to the National Training Center (NTC) in Fort Irwin, CA from the end of October to the end of November this year.  It is a chance to prepare for deployment before actually deploying.  My unit will be training for a more decisive action environment.  Our current deployments are more long term, where deploying units fall-in on already established FOBs (Forward Operating Base) and pick up where other units left off.  Our first week will be spent preparing for moving into "theater".  Then next two weeks we will be "in theater" where we conduct our operations.  Then we redeploy back to the "rear" (which is just where we will spend our first week), out process and then come back to Fort Carson.  That's the basics of what NTC is.  I am not allowed to bring a cell phone, but I am hoping to be able to continue to blog.  And even if I can't post online, I will write my blogs and just post them when I get back.

Then, I will go home to visit my family in Illinois in December while I am on block leave.  That will be my last chance to say good-bye to family and friends before deploying.

Early next year, I will deploy to Afghanistan.  There are two different bases I will likely be stationed at and both are pretty large.  But even that may change once we get there and see where we are needed most.  It is not atypical to get into the country and then move around.  Our mission is likely one of recovery.  After 11 years of war, a lot of Army stuff has been left behind in country.  Our job will be to help identify equipment that isn't on anyone's books and get it put back in our systems and send it back to the U.S. thus putting probably millions of dollars worth of equipment into the Army's books. We are supposed to be gone for about 9 months.  My goal is to post blogs with pictures weekly to help keep my family and friends up-to-date on everything that is going on.  

Life: Bringing Home a New Puppy!

So,  after a last minute decision, Kevin and I decided to buy a new puppy!

Lewis

We decided to get another puppy, in part, to keep our dog Hoeffer company.  While I am deployed, Hoeffer would have been quite lonely so we got him a friend.  He is a Havanese (just like our dog Hoeffer) which means he is hypoallergenic and doesn't shed.  So our house doesn't always smell like dog!

Hoeffer

His name is Lewis.  Let me explain the name: Hoeffer is named after Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  This is a tradition that started with my stepmom, Jill, and my Dad naming their Havanese Ravi, after Ravi Zacharias, who is a relatively well known Pastor.  Then my sister, Heather, got a Havanese named Piper after John Piper, another famous Pastor.  So Kevin and I wanted to continue the tradition and name our dog after famous pastor's we respected and at the time we got Hoeffer, Kevin had just finished listening to the audio book of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's biography.

Hoeffer and Lewis playing

When it came to picking Lewis' name we went through a lot of options.  Eventually we picked Lewis because of C.S. Lewis, who, aside from writing The Chronicles of Narnia, wrote some of the best works on God, Jesus Christ and the Bible.

Kevin and Lewis

So there it is.  I will add a picture of all of us soon!