Blog Kickoff

I made verbal commitments that I would keep in touch with folks back home and was agreeable to the idea of a blog. I have now been involved in this deployment (including pre-mobilization training) for almost eight months. So it almost goes without saying that when it comes down to the practice of Blogging it has been a long road to get here. But rather than go into the struggles and obstacles that have delayed this blog, let me instead jump right in with a quick synopsis of my journeys since June.

Following the end of the school year I spent two weeks in Kentucky at Ft. Knox (yes the one where the gold is kept). In addition to being the home of the federal gold vault, it is also US Military’s home of Armor. (Or WAS until it recently moved to Ft. Benning, Georgia) I completed the 5^th and final phase of Maneuver Captains Career Course. It is the advanced professional development course for commissioned leadership at the company grade in the kinetic combat arms branches of Armor and infantry.

Bushman Family Reunion (my mother's fam) @ May Family Ranch in Clayton. Idaho

After this training I had a couple of weeks that I spent with the family. We attended two family reunions and spent a couple days at Lagoon. End of July and into Aug I had three weeks of Idaho Army National guard annual training. It was in the desert south of the freeway between Boise and Mountain home.  Here we put a lot of effort into preparing for our roles in the upcoming deployment.

    
It was then back home for a few days with the family. We celebrated my oldest son Anson’s eighth birthday and I was able to baptize him. The next stop was Camp Shelby Mississippi. I was part of a small advanced party and slipped out of Boise quietly 4 days before the main body and fan fare that accompanied their send off.  Luckily my 4 children are young enough not to grasp the length of time I would be away. We had a sweet farewell at the airport in Boise, tucked away by the pinball machine near the security check point. The game machines were enough of a distraction that they hardly noticed mom and dad’s tears. I felt lucky to go this way. Had there been other older kids around crying over their fathers or mothers, if would have just made them scared and upset wondering what was going on. Another example of ignorance is bliss.

 

(In my room in Mississippi posing with cards from Anson's third grade class. Mississippi is the birth place of Root Beer. This place Wards had great Root Beer but only sold it by the gallon.)

Mississippi was hot and humid, but we weren’t there on vacation or to enjoy the weather. We trained and conducted exercises to simulate and prepare for just about any scenario we might encounter while deployed. We were there about six weeks and were then afforded a 4 day pass. Kendra, my wife, flew into New Orleans and I met her there. We had a very enjoyable time eating lots of food, seeing the sites and being together. New Orleans celebrates Halloween very well. It was over all too quick though and I was back on Camp Shelby for a few more days before flying over the ocean to the Middle East.