Well, here it is. I am 13 1/2 hours ahead of my wife and son, countless miles away, and still wrapping my mind around being deployed again. So far, my journey to and through Afghanistan has included a stop in Leipzig, Germany; Manas Air Force Base, Kyrgyzstan; Bagram Air Force Base, Afghanistan; FOB Salerno, Afghanistan; and I am in temporary holding now at FOB Sharana, Afghanistan. Let me just say that I hate living out of a duffle bag! I have still about another month before I will have a permanent home.
Following FOB Sharana, I will move to FOB Khushamand, where I will replace the unit currently living there and will train my replacement, the young 2nd Lieutenant who is taking over my platoon. I know God has a plan for all things, but it is frusterating to have trained my platoon this entire last year, developed relationships and trust with each of them, and then to have them taken away from me as soon as we deploy. It is a very hard thing to do, but again, God has a plan.
In a couple weeks, after I have trained my replacement, I will move back to FOB Salerno where I will wait for further instructions. I will be going to another job where I will be living in the midst of a major Afghan city. While there, I will be running a joint operations center with the Afghan Army, Police, and Border Patrol, along with other Special Operations Agencies. Essentially, it will be much like my job in Iraq, just on steroids. It should at least be interesting, and will keep me on my toes.
I miss my wife and son terribly and think of them all the time, praying for them daily. I sleep with a little monkey that Jacob got for his birthday. It is almost exactly the same as the monkey Liz and I gave him for Christmas from Build-a-Bear, so he has his, and I have mine. I think of him every time I look at it. I also have with me the memory quilt Liz made for me for our wedding. It has nine pictures of our dating and engagement. Just a taste of home.
Overall, after a week, I am doing well enough, but again, it's only been a week and I haven't started my job yet. I've been mostly just working out, reading, watching movies, and relaxing. Things may change soon enough. I want to thank everyone for their continued prayer support. Liz did an amazing thing for me, and many of you are participating. She organized a prayer group, where every hour of every day, someone is praying for me, and that is a very comforting thought. Thank you.
Anyhow, I will write more and post pictures soon.
In His Grip,
Matthew Bate
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