Deployment Number Three (Sort Of)

So here we go again. Only this time, he isn't*.

*Isn't going, that is. The caveat here is that the Army changes its mind enough that there's always a miniscule chance of the whole thing falling through and Dan deploying anyway. But we'll cross that bridge, if we have to, when we come to it.

 Dan's unit is gearing up for another deployment, the third since 9/11. They've asked him to be the rear detachment NCO. Job-wise, he'd much rather be deploying as a combat medic--but we have a five-year-old and a five-month-old and it seemed like a no-brainer for him to take the job once we looked at it from that perspective. So we've moved (we were three hours from his home duty station) and Dan's trying to adjust to life on sort-of-active-duty (he's technically ADOS--active duty operations support).

It's odd to watch all the pre-deployment buildup from this seat on the bench.