Wow, what a roller coaster it has been the past six months!  From going to planning conferences to developing training schedules to conducting leader’s recons to undergoing pre-deployment training, it has been a hectic time in getting the 314th ready for war.  This being my third deployment, I can honestly say that just getting to theater is an undertaking of the most difficult magnitude.  Luckily, I have thirty other outstanding Soldiers who make my life easier.  I especially appreciate the late “cross-levels” who volunteered for this deployment at the last minute.  Several of them had never met anyone in the unit, never heard of the 314th PAOC, and never had even been to Alabama, yet they decided, based upon a simple phone conversation, to devote the next 14 months of their lives to not only their country, but to the 314th PAOC.  And they have hit the ground running, ready to accept whatever comes their way, along with the “organic” 314th Soldiers.  I just want to say THANK YOU to you all!

I want to give a special thanks to SPC Roshonda Thurston, my supply specialist.  She is one of those “late arrivals” whose phone number I received from a connection at a nearby Army unit.  She is from Florida and had never even heard of the 314th.  I called her up from Alabama, introduced myself, and asked her if she wanted to go Iraq.  She said “yes” sight unseen, and in a matter of weeks, she was in Birmingham, AL, doing her supply thing.  She has been the backbone of this unit since the first day of her arrival.  She has slept very little, ran around a lot, and has basically procured an immense amount of necessary (and extra) equipment to help her unit perform its mission.  THANKS and keep your head up; the hardest part is almost over!

Anyways, we’re here at Ft. Dix, trying to get validated to deploy before we can go home on Christmas leave.  Again, words cannot express how difficult it is to finally get ”wheels up”. 

Well, it’s time for bed.  Angela-I love you.  Everybody else-take care.