As Emily Litella said ...

"Never mind."

I got back to work last Monday to find my short-term deployment had been terminated.  It took me a couple days to get to ground truth ... somehow, a KM type was identified in Norfolk.  He's apparently in the inner circles of both General Patraeus (former COMISAF) and General Allen (current COMISAF).  So they didn't need Joe Shit the Rag Man.

This came at a good time, I'd prefer not to have to be watching my back for a loony Haji with a gun bent on avenging the singeing of the koran.

Maybe another time.  But now, at least, I get to enjoy my homebrew Pilsner when the bottle conditioning is done.

Here We Go Again

People look at me like I’m crazy nowadays.  It all began a week ago, when my colleague Ken, who relieved me in Kabul last April, stopped by for what I assumed was a casual drive-by chat.

“So, buddy, ready to go back for another deployment?” he asks?

“Not a chance, amigo.  Us old guys can’t handle another six months downrange,” was my reply.  “Besides, it wouldn’t sit well on the home front.”

“But you could probably handle a short trip, like four or six weeks, right?”

Not feeling the hook set, I came back with, “Yeah, I could do a short trip standing on my head.”

“Well,” says Ken, “there’s going to be a gap in the ISAF KMO job.  We need to find coverage for a month or so until the permanent guy can get on-station.”

Still oblivious to the hook in my yap, I said something along the lines of, “Color me interested.”

Then I take off for a week’s worth of leave.  Not yet one hour into my time off, I get a call on my cell from Chris, my boss.  “Ken came by to talk to me about you deploying.  They want to send you to Kabul for 45 days.”

Oh crap.  In the rush to get things pulled together so I could walk out of the office for a week with a clear conscience, I hadn’t had the presence of mind to give the boss a heads-up.

So here it is, Friday, and Monday I may be walking into the proverbial shit-storm.  Meanwhile, I'm down at a gaming convention in Charlottesville, and when I've mentioned my prospects for going back to Afghanistan, I get that look.  What, you didn't have enough fun last time?  You want to eat more sand?  Are you nuts??

More to follow.