First Patrol

Last word from Rachel is that Brendan is out on his first patrol. We likely won't hear anything from him for a minimum of 2 weeks. We may have a plan to pull out of Iraq but there are still plenty of hostiles to deal with. I gave him my form of motherly advise , "When in doubt , shoot".
The amount of info families are getting from their support team is already getting overwhelming. I've got a file of emails and it's just too much. I'm going to have to buy a notebook and condense information to make it easier to look over. Don't get me wrong , the emails have been helpful and have made me aware of things I haven't considered. For instance if I leave home for more than 24 hours I need to let my support person know so that they can contact me if needed. Maybe it's just something I didn't want to think about at all.
Leaves begin 2 months after deployment and continue until 2 months before they are to return. That means leaves begin in a couple of weeks. Looks like Brendan will be at the front of the line. Yes , we'll be glad to see him obviously but not happy about that. If he comes home now it makes it that much longer before we see him again. We'll have 15 days with him though and hoping to make the best of all of it.
His brother Bryan is doing well and is expected to be back in June. ( He joined a company that was already over there) He'll be stationed in Fort Knox , KY when he gets back. Tom goes to Knob Creek machine gun shoot now and again. It's held twice a year and is adjacent to Fort Knox. It's only a couple of hours from here so Rachel and Caiden visiting will be much easier.
One last note: I've been reading "A journal for Jordan" and it's a must read! I bought it at the airport in Dayton on my trip to see Brendan off. I tried reading it when I got back but I was too hormonal and cried too much so I put it aside for awhile. I picked it up again the other night and had to struggle to put it down. It is so well written , so heartfelt , you can't help falling in love with this soldier. This is the link to the book's website.

http://www.ajournalforjordan.com/