Final Week

May 24, 2018 Marny6,258 Comments

I’m wrapping up my final week in Afghanistan. It’s strange. I’m ready and excited to get home, but I’m sad to leave good friends I’ve been working with. The transition process is draining. There is so, so much I’ve learned here and so much of it was new. I can say for a fact I learned new things every single day being an artilleryman working in an Air Force world. My replacement is ready to go, and I hope I’ve passed him all the information from my brain and experiences. The good news is he has an amazing team to help him, even if I didn’t get to transfer every single tidbit of knowledge!

My container room at Bagram – lucky number 11. It wasn’t great, but it was within a nice hiking distance to the latrines. Wait, who am I kidding, that wasn’t good either!

In my last week, I’ve said tons and tons of good-byes. I’ve visited the post office several times to mail things I don’t feel like carrying. I’ve made calls and used help to search flight times to see when I get to leave. I’ve packed and cleaned. I’ve caught up on sleep and I’ve swiffered my room. I’ve given away items and sold some. I’ve kicked myself for not sending more through the post office. I’ve balanced my thoughts on whether I would prefer to be stuck in Afghanistan or Kuwait, as if I really have a choice in the matter! I’ve happily introduced my replacement in meetings and felt happiness when I saw the team functioning just like clockwork without me. I sat in the wings and giggled uncontrollably with another lady as we waited for our replacements; the video brief telling them they might hear the incoming fire sirens “a few times” during their deployment. I’ve transferred the files from my unclassified computer that I need. I’ve finalized a letter of recommendation for a young man I deployed with 15 years ago. I’ve enjoyed meals with friends, soaking up the last moments of chit chat and fun stories, talking about the “good old days” when we were still stationed up in Kabul at the Resolute Support Headquarters. I’ve made plans for how to stay in touch with the friends not on Facebook.

And one memory I want to keep, that was special in its own special way, was watching the royal wedding. I know, it seems funny. But being in a NATO environment, there are things that are very special to certain countries. I think some of the Brits scoffed about only the Americans being interested in the wedding, but that was not the case for us. We have a liaison officer that works on the floor with us and she insisted the spare televisions showed the wedding. There is another British officer who works with us who decorated his whole office with flags and served tea, coffee, and cakes. And the British Air Commodore who I report to, who is equivalent to a U. S. one-star general, was busy watching on his television in his office when I went to get him for our scheduled “tour” of our work area. He and his aide told me immediately we all picked an awful time on the calendar! So instead of immediately heading out for the tour, I sat in his office and watched the procession of the princes. How many other Soldiers get to say they watched that in a Air Commodore’s office? After the princes arrived, we headed out to the floor to start the tour. The team briefed him well, and then we paused our briefings so we could watch the bride walk down the aisle, starting them again when they met at the front of the church. Just a special, surreal moment which is special in a NATO environment!

I’m ready to start the next adventure, but I’m always going to hold this whole deployment experience with my special memories.

Almost a Year Gone

May 18, 2018 Marny5,680 Comments

Sorry for the delay in posting, but it’s still Thursday in the far western reaches of the US. I’m going to say that counts!

I normally start to write on Sunday or Monday and add or edit during the week. However, this has been a busy week and I hadn’t had the chance to get things prepared. I wanted to write about Norway’s Constitution Day, which just happens to be the 17^th of May. I have so many amazing memories of celebrating Norway’s equivalent to our 4^th of July, but I am going to save that for another entry now.

This is the coin that I received from our Australian Brigadier, who is such a great leader.

Last night was my farewell from the CJOC. I’ve been working in the Combined Joint Operations Center (CJOC) at the NATO Resolute Support Headquarters for the past year, first in Kabul and then in Bagram. Most of the people here come on six month tours, some nine, and very few do a year like I did. In talking with other friends here who have been here, I can’t recall the last person to leave who had been here longer than me. A few of my supervisors have left recently, who were also on yearlong tours, but they had arrived just a few days to a week after I did. So for a while now, I’ve been the “greybeard” as one Colonel called me, of course laughing while he said it.

And here is the back of the coin I received, with the General star.

It’s bittersweet to leave. I desperately miss my family, friends, my bed, my house, my pets, cooking for myself, being able to drive, roller derby, and weekends! But here, my team has become a family. There are women here who support each other, no matter the rank. There are personalities here in the CJOC that I don’t have at home. Ryan recently told me that while he was home on leave, tending to his new pecan farm in Texas on his tractor, he said to himself, “I’m a farmer like Marny!” Leroy and Jimmy, law enforcement personnel from opposite coasts in their civilian lives, maintained a good spirited rivalry which was fun for others to egg on, while they weren’t listening to stand-up comedy provided by Leroy. Beta tells the driest jokes you’ve ever heard, but the delivery is spot on, complete with the anticipatory look while he waits for the joke to register.

We joke because we need to. It can’t be all strict and proper every second of the day or we wouldn’t last this time away from our loved ones. One day, a Lieutenant Colonel came in yelling about our weapons and a check we needed to do, insisting that everyone do the check outside at a clearing barrel. One of our Colonels came in after the proclamation and was told by a Major that he couldn’t check his weapon inside because of what the Lieutenant Colonel said. So the Colonel dropped his magazine, made sure his weapon was safe, and charged it repeatedly, with a smile on his face, until the Lieutenant Colonel came running out of his office to see who had disobeyed him. I couldn’t contain my laughter, along with many others, while the Colonel sat there smiling at the Lieutenant Colonel. Once the Lieutenant Colonel realized who it was, he just shook his head and walked back to his office. Good natured jokes and jabs like that are the heart of an organization, and make for fun stories as new people trickle in every week to work here.

One joke I liked to tell was about Julius. He liked to help with the scouts coming on camp and he learned how to make balloon animals for the kids from another NATO officer leaving. He practiced in the CJOC, making replicas of items we saw on a daily basis, hanging them up in our row. If anyone asked, I would tell them that Julius had made them, but then also include that he was doing online clown school and that was his practice. So the online clown school thing stuck, and now Patrick is doing it. Well, he taught himself how to make a balloon monkey with YouTube, but close enough!

At my farewell, I credited our NATO partners for not only speaking a second language, but being militarily fluent in a second language. I’m amazed every day by that. I was able to tell our Afghan partners that I hope we can help them have a safe country for their families and friends very soon. I thanked all the Air Force personnel I worked with for teaching this Artilleryman about all things Air Force. (I know more about aircraft now than I ever thought I’d know in my life!) I thanked my leaders for being the sort of smart, caring, and knowledgeable leaders that make organizations work well. I thanked my friends in the CJOC for becoming like family. I reminded everyone that the CJOC is a team. I wanted to read a bit of a poem I found recently, but I felt like I was using too much time, and I also felt a little nerdy reading a poem! So I’ll share it with you. It makes sense to me here, which I like. So in closing, here is a poem I found by Steve Maraboli called Dare To Be –

When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.

When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.

When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.

When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.

When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.

When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.

When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.

When times are tough, dare to be tougher.

When love hurts you, dare to love again.

When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.

When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.

When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.

When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.

When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.

When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.

Dare to be the best you can –

At all times, Dare to be!

Random Reflections on Running

April 26, 2018 Marny22,825 Comments

Running has been in my life for a long while now. I have encountered nay-sayers and developed both fun and funny memories. I’ve gained strength and confidence; I’ve had it shattered. I have amazing stories with friends, places, and memories.

I thought of joining the high school cross country team – but the pull of soccer won and I was the boys’ soccer team manager throughout high school.

I have a diary entry from the first time I ran the road I lived on. LaFollette Road, named after Fighting Bob LaFollette, is about 1 to 1 ½ miles long and consists of 3 very steep and difficult hills. I remember the sense of accomplishment after running it without stopping the first time.

I remember a time when I was home and ran the Norsk run in Mount Horeb. I had done it before, but that time I was SLOW. I am pretty sure I was one of the last people on the course. I started to doubt myself and then I realized something that has stuck with me since. I was out running. I was doing a race and being healthy. I was doing all that and there were very few people who had entered and were running. So then, instead of doubting myself, I was proud of what I was doing, even if I was doing it very slowly!

In college, when I started ROTC, the fact that I was not a fast runner was definitely highlighted. On the “Ranger Challenge” team, I was the slowest. I did learn that I never quit though!

There was the time I told a supervisor I was training for a marathon. He told me, “but you don’t have a runner’s body!” I think he might have followed that with good luck or something, but I don’t recall anything after the initial statement.

When I did go run said marathon, a person helping cheer along the way kindly asked around mile 17 if I had walked the whole race. I was shocked as I replied, “I AM running!”

A few years later, my friend Bobbie and I entered the OKC marathon relay competition in the military/fire/police category as I was military and she was a military spouse. We each ran a 13.1 mile leg and won a trophy for 3^rd place!

We trained together for years, pushing little Kady (who is now in college!) in the stroller and taking turns pushing her up that horrible golf course hill on Fort Sill. …while collecting golf balls that didn’t stay on the range.

I like to joke about running around the block. I grew up in the country and currently (well not RIGHT now, but when I redeploy I will) live in the country in Oklahoma. Oklahoma country roads are a “country mile” so when I run around the block there, it’s a 4.5 mile course. In Wisconsin, they are windy roads so I ended up around 8 miles there if I remember correctly. In both places, the views are beautiful!

The country miles in Oklahoma make marathon training super easy, even if you aren’t carrying a mile tracker with you!

When I first moved to Oklahoma, I liked to run up Mt. Scott in the wildlife refuge. I may have been crazy? Now I enjoy walking it with derby teammates and our dogs. Mac and I worked up to interval sprints prior to her leaving for Basic Training, but I haven’t run the whole (1.75 mile) mountain road in ages!

When I first move anywhere, running is my adventure and how I get to know places. In Norway, the adventure was always beautiful. I would imagine that the struts on bridges were giant frames to the most beautiful landscape views a person could ever see. My niece Kamryn ran across one of those bridges with me when she was about 9 years old. It was great to be able to run with her and she was fast and did not give up.

After a Physical Training test last year, I had an NCO tell me I was fast. I was flabbergasted! Then I realized that not many officers near the end of their 20 year careers are still even able to run, so I’m thankful for that…

OKC Half Marathon, 2012. It was my first race post injury. I had my sweet hula sisters cheering me on, Maressa and Cat. Photos and collage by Maressa.

I distinctly remember the very first running steps I took after having a partially ruptured Achilles which resulted in a blood clot. I was on blood thinners for 6 months, crutches for 5, and couldn’t do any physical therapy while on the blood thinners. I was honestly worried I would never be able to work out or run or do any sports again. I bugged my physical therapist on every visit after I could start with questions on when I could run again. When he finally relented, I had strict instructions. Walk for 5 minutes and run for 1, which I could repeat up to three times on my first outing. I remember those first steps, being terrified I would feel my muscle rip and explode again – but it didn’t! It was the best three minute run of my life. After that, I slowly worked my way back up to a half marathon, training in Norway and running in Oklahoma City right after my move back to Fort Sill. I logged a personal worst time, but I was so happy to do it!

For my 40^th birthday, my sweet derby teammate Half Pint decided to support my ridiculous decision to run a half marathon. The Tulsa marathon that year fell on my birthdate and I thought it was a great idea to run it. I’d been battling some pretty serious issues that some docs said were related to Lyme’s Disease and others said were not. My muscles would feel heavy and give up. My breathing was labored. I’d be ridiculously tired and could sleep 12-14 hours straight on a weekend, wake up for 4 hours and then fall back asleep for another 14 hours. But I trained. Slowly. And she stuck by me. There is no way I would have finished that race without her! That race was probably another personal worst, though I honestly don’t remember our time. I remember the cold, the tiredness, and the good times we had that weekend though, which made for a pretty great birthday. I’ve also vowed, as of right now, to not ever run a half marathon on my birthday again!