Sunday, March 13, 2011

Life On The FOB: Part 12 - A FOB Farewell

We depart the FOB with some unexpected ambivalence. As much as I have poked fun at it, it has, over the past seven months, become a home, a place with a familiar routine and an important mission. Don't get me wrong, everyone is anxious to be reunited with their family. But this is an experience that helps define a person, located in an unforgettable place adjacent to a remote town nestled in the Hindu Kush. We will almost certainly never it see again. Nevertheless, though we move on, for those who remain the routine persists.

Memorials are tended.
Unit coin collection continues to grow.

Construction crews continue to make improvements.

Bulldozer's paradise. So much dirt to move, so little time.

Meals are served. Latrines are cleaned (Such is the legend. The quest proceeds.) Facilities are maintained. Laundry is done.

Note to home: Honey, they did my laundry for me on deployment.
Supplies are delivered.

The Lost Ark finds a new home.
 Operations are planned. Patrols depart and return.

The job is fine but commuting is hell.
 The 'mart' opens for business. Bargains galore for "you, my special friend."

Last chance to get a special deal on that acrylic-encased scorpion that you know your spouse covets.
Troops congregate, socialize, and decompress.

Cigars, near beer, sunset, camaraderie As good as it gets...without alcohol.
I wrote many months ago that FOB life is a shared experience for veterans of combat zones. What more to say about Life on the FOB? Maybe just that it goes on.

A view worth remembering.

2 comments:

  1. Safe travels home to all of you, and Thank you, for the job you all have been doing for the past 7 months! and for sharing it with us!

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  2. Your blogs have been wonderful...made me cry and laugh. I have appreciated the news and the photos. I bid you all safe return to loving arms.

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