As I prepare to pack up my computer before getting on a flight out of Afghanistan I was thinking about my time over here.
This time I am a contractor, I am doing what I feel is an importnat job, but I am not here in uniform. Not that I think that detracts from my work, I ust don't want to be misleading.
However I have been deployed in uniform, and while soldiers get thanked a lot for thier service, those that are left behind get hugely overlooked.
Despite the danger, it is very much easier being the one deployed than the one left behind. Overseas you are with your friends, and you have missions to keep your mind off how bad it can get. I have been on missions I thought were stupid, needlessly risky, or that I flat out thought I wouldn't come back from. But I knew that if I didn't go, someone would go in my place, and you don't let someone else pick up the slack you dropped. Also do I really trust someone else to keep an eye on my boys? Lets face it, no one will have Doog's back better than me.
It is easier being over here than left behind. But we need the people back home to keep us grounded. Fighting GWOT is important and couldn't be done without the people back home that mean everything to us.
So next time you see a profile that belongs to a soldier, if they have someone back home, make sure you thank that person. If you ever thank a military member in person, thank the people with them for supporting them, for the people bakc home had it worse. It wasn't more dangerous, but it was still worse.
