I sent Slice an email asking what kind of goodies he might need. Unlike his little brother, he hasn’t requested anything, and all I’ve sent him is reading materials. So he responded:
Yeah, we don’t really need much. I just figured you have done enough deployments yourself that you would know on your own what someone who was deployed would need.
Yeah, I’ve done a few deployments in my time, but all I’ve ever really missed is a good cup of coffee or a cold Dr. Pepper.
But it really highlights the difference between deployments in my day and those today. I never had phone contact with home except the two weeks I spent in the Azores, where I submitted my call and waited for the operator to direct me to the correct telephone when the connection was finally made. I never had a mailing address. Most of the time I was somewhere I couldn’t be reached. We had secure SATCOM to contact home station, but that was pretty much it.
Nor did we have the internet and email, or even satellite telephones.
I’ll be back in Kandahar this weekend for a day or two, and I’ll try to call. The sat phones we have are unreliable. You probably didn’t notice because you wouldn’t be able to see the writing, but it was Jack’s flag that was flying during Geraldo’s show.
The J-Man…my grandson. The flag is one I bought and flew over the site in Kuwait last year. I dated it and gave it to Slice to carry around the world with him so my grandson would have a memento of Dad’s travels.
Good stuff. Goodies on the way, Captain!