MSG Newbill suffering in Qatar

MSG Newbill suffering in Qatar
Originally uploaded by mensik_baker.

Here is my friend MSG Newbill who I trained with in Texas. As you can probably tell from the fact that he is working and he is in civilian clothes that he is suffering very much in his posting to Qatar. What the picture cant tell you is that when I took this picture he was in his SUV driving to the PX which was about 200 yards from his office. I of course gave him an immense amount of grief over his rough life. I dont mind seeing the MSG living the good life though because he is a good man and he has paid his dues. I would like to think that if I put 20 years in the army I would be able to end my career in such a cushy assignment.

There is not much to report on here at TQ. Life goes on as normal and we are in full swing on people getting leave. The first two are back and 3 more are leaving in a few days. In a little over a month I will be on my way home as well. WHOO HOO!!!! I am so excited to be home with Marissa and Grant. We will be spending alot of time trying to act like a normal family and I will be spending as much time as possible just getting to know Grant. We dont have a whole lot of grant plans at this point because we really feel its important for me us to just spend time as a family doing normal things. I am going to try to integrate myself into Grants life and his routine. We will go do some fun things of course but the main goal for me is to just be a family for a couple of weeks because we really havent had that opportunity. So if we appear boring and homebodies thats why.

Tonight is my last night on the graveyard shift. They are giving me a day off because I have to adjust to the exact opposite schedule in one day. I will now be working from noon to midnight instead of midnight to noon. It will suck for a couple of days but I think it will be nice to get off work when its dark and to be able to go to sleep when its dark out.

I hope all are doing well and I hope that you still find the blog enjoyable and a good tool. To the person who commented that my blog has helped understand a little bit of what your brother is going to go through...I am glad that you have found it helpful. While what your brother will go through will be different based on his job and circumstances, many of the feelings and emotions will be the same. He will have high and low points during his experience and depending on what he does he will be able to share those with you or he might have a difficult time in expressing his feelings. One hint I can offer, both for him and the loved ones he leaves behind...the 90 day mark for some reason is a low point for many people. The newness and the excitement has worn off and you have settled into a routine and you realize how much you have to go. It can be a time of intense emotion so just let it come and ride the wave and things will get better.