"I got orders this morning to fly back to Ft.
Bragg on Sept 17. I should leave Baghdad on or about Sept 10.
That's the good news. The bad news is, they aren't going to demobilize at Bragg,
just reassign us from there. But it should be Stateside, with most of us
working there at Ft. Bragg, some going to Tampa Bay. I told them if it
were going to be an overseas tour, just give me leave to go home and leave me
here with 5th Group. That is what the commander here wants, and is willing
to give me 2 weeks leave, but I don't think SOCCENT (Tampa, in charge of all
Special Operations for this theater) will agree to that.
I'll see you and the
boys in about 5 weeks! That seems like forever, but after 5 months it isn't
really that long at all, is it?"
The fact that Sean
actually received orders makes me inclined to believe there's a possibility of
the plan coming to fruition; however, the Army may still change the orders at
any time. So I'll believe that Sean is out of there after it has
happened. While the exodus from Iraq is good news, there are other
dangerous places (such as Afghanistan) that are in the realm of possibility for
the reassignment. I hope that he will end up somewhere calm, if not
boring, for his own safety, but he may feel even more frustrated being separated
from us if his assignment strikes him as less than completely necessary.
And of course, getting to see Sean in five weeks, wherever he may go from there,
will be wonderful.
P.S. The packages have been making such good
time in reaching Sean lately, that I think we could safely send more for the
next two, if not three, weeks. Thank you to everyone who is still writing,
e-mailing, and/or sending care packages to Sean. The support of friends
and family has been paramount to Sean's morale as well as mine.