Holidays, Deployed!

It's that most wonderful time of the year... or something like that. As most of the western world prepares for Christmas, Hanakah, New years, Kwanza, etc., the Army diligently does its best to distract its soldier from the fact that they are in a thrid world country when such normally joyious times come.

We're going to deploy a holiday to you! (Can't imagine Ol' Blue Eyes singing this one...)

So holidays come and past, loved ones away, surrounded by scenery you'd rather not look at, a paunful reminder that you're "over there". No Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. No giant Christmas tree in NYC. No New Year's bash. Just a bunch of work to be done with no overtime whatsoever for working on a federal holiday.

I remember my last Thanksgiving here in Iraq. An MRE, or Meal Ready to Eat. 24 flavors, and they all takes like tinfoil and cardboard. Joy. Christmas was only marginal better as I got to only work most of the day instead of nearly all of it.

Happy holidays...