The homecoming continues
My first week home on temporary duty was busy. I went into the Pentagon most everyday working on several media interviews. Our commanding general was scheduled to do several big media interviews and an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, but he had to cancel at the last moment. The director of operations, whom I traveled back with, had to step in to take a couple of the interviews, so I was kept busy making last-minute changes and prepping the director of operations to handle the interviews.
The first interview was on Tuesday with the Defense Writers Group -- a roundtable discussion with 12-14 of the top defense writers in Washington, DC. Overall the interview went very well and resulted in some good articles with great quotes. The colonel did venture off into sensitive information concerning our military working relationship with Pakistan, which caused a bit of a dust-up with the Paks, but it all blew over in a couple of days. The Paks are working closely with the US on containing terrorists, but they don't necessarily want everyone to know it! That caused a bit more work for me over the next two days as I responded to additional requests for information from both reporters and various leaders in our chain of command. But like I said, the resulting stories were good and that's what matters most.
Next up were interviews with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service and Armed Forces Information Service. These went extremely well and resulted in several television stories on the Armed Forces Network and a good story on various military websites.
Now I'm waiting to report to Fort Benning to turn in my gear and process out of active duty and into the retired reserve. Yes -- I'm planning to retire. It's time to focus on just one job -- my consulting work with Powell Tate/WeberShandwick, and perhaps begin writing. I also hope to do some speaking. We did good work in Afghanistan and I want to spread the word.
Speaking of Powell Tate/WeberShandwick -- Sheila Tate invited me to have lunch at the office on Monday, so after a busy morning I stopped by my old office. I was totally taken aback when I stepped off the elevator to a rousing surprise and standing ovation by all of my colleagues. I can't say enough about my employer and my colleagues -- they have been incredably supportive of me throughout this entire experience. If fact, much more so than anyone I worked with in the Army Reserve. The people at Powell Tate not only sent me goodies, encouraging emails and cards, but also supported the people of Afghanistan with donations. They are simply some of the most patriotic and supportive people I know. I can't say enough about them.
During some brief remarks Sheila joked that after reading my last blog entry about my trip home, they were all going to wear fake goatees for the surprise party, but thought better of it. She also told our IT director to get me whatever phone I want. Yup, she's quite a woman.
We all ate lunch together and talked about my experience. I brought a few items for "show and tell" as well. Then Sheila and I retired to her office for a few mintues together to talk business. They've maintained all my old clients and I'm looking forward to getting back to work. My old office is just the way I left it -- with the addition of photos from Afghanistan covering my door. I was certainly not fogotten. It felt good to sit at my desk again.
Sunday I leave for Fort Benning and will hopefully be done outprocessing by Thursday or Friday. Then it's back home for another week of rest before returning to work on March 1.
Things are settling down at home as well. One very nice thing my husband did while I was gone was hire a housekeeper. I've never had one before and, by golly, this is something I could get used to. So we'll keep her!
One bad habit he started while I was gone was working too much. I'm going to have to break him of that. I've barely seen him since arriving home. I sense that while I experienced the thrill of a lifetime with this assignment to Afghanistan, he has grown tired and frustrated with his work.
My daughter is here visiting for an extended period of time as she sorts through her life. My son will come home next weekend for a visit, and soon I'll go visit my mother in Florida. The dog became quite lazy while I was gone, so I'm working on getting her back into our routine of morning and evening walks. It's all so new yet so familiar. I'm trying to go back to some of my old routine, as well as work in new things I started in Afghanistan, such as working out harder and longer, listening to music rather than having the TV on, and taking time to continue reading romance novels. (They are good for the soul as well as the imagination ;-))
I do miss the work we did in Afghanistan as well as the people I worked with. Most of those closest to me are leaving Afghanistan as well this month, so a whole new crew will soon be working at the headquarters. We all arrived within months of one another so our tours are ending around the same time. Many will be coming back to the DC area and I hope that we stay in touch. We shared so much together. They've become like family.
I will probably write again from Fort Benning, and then close my blog as my journey ends. I've enjoyed sharing my experiences with you. Thank you.
The first interview was on Tuesday with the Defense Writers Group -- a roundtable discussion with 12-14 of the top defense writers in Washington, DC. Overall the interview went very well and resulted in some good articles with great quotes. The colonel did venture off into sensitive information concerning our military working relationship with Pakistan, which caused a bit of a dust-up with the Paks, but it all blew over in a couple of days. The Paks are working closely with the US on containing terrorists, but they don't necessarily want everyone to know it! That caused a bit more work for me over the next two days as I responded to additional requests for information from both reporters and various leaders in our chain of command. But like I said, the resulting stories were good and that's what matters most.
Next up were interviews with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service and Armed Forces Information Service. These went extremely well and resulted in several television stories on the Armed Forces Network and a good story on various military websites.
Now I'm waiting to report to Fort Benning to turn in my gear and process out of active duty and into the retired reserve. Yes -- I'm planning to retire. It's time to focus on just one job -- my consulting work with Powell Tate/WeberShandwick, and perhaps begin writing. I also hope to do some speaking. We did good work in Afghanistan and I want to spread the word.
Speaking of Powell Tate/WeberShandwick -- Sheila Tate invited me to have lunch at the office on Monday, so after a busy morning I stopped by my old office. I was totally taken aback when I stepped off the elevator to a rousing surprise and standing ovation by all of my colleagues. I can't say enough about my employer and my colleagues -- they have been incredably supportive of me throughout this entire experience. If fact, much more so than anyone I worked with in the Army Reserve. The people at Powell Tate not only sent me goodies, encouraging emails and cards, but also supported the people of Afghanistan with donations. They are simply some of the most patriotic and supportive people I know. I can't say enough about them.
During some brief remarks Sheila joked that after reading my last blog entry about my trip home, they were all going to wear fake goatees for the surprise party, but thought better of it. She also told our IT director to get me whatever phone I want. Yup, she's quite a woman.
We all ate lunch together and talked about my experience. I brought a few items for "show and tell" as well. Then Sheila and I retired to her office for a few mintues together to talk business. They've maintained all my old clients and I'm looking forward to getting back to work. My old office is just the way I left it -- with the addition of photos from Afghanistan covering my door. I was certainly not fogotten. It felt good to sit at my desk again.
Sunday I leave for Fort Benning and will hopefully be done outprocessing by Thursday or Friday. Then it's back home for another week of rest before returning to work on March 1.
Things are settling down at home as well. One very nice thing my husband did while I was gone was hire a housekeeper. I've never had one before and, by golly, this is something I could get used to. So we'll keep her!
One bad habit he started while I was gone was working too much. I'm going to have to break him of that. I've barely seen him since arriving home. I sense that while I experienced the thrill of a lifetime with this assignment to Afghanistan, he has grown tired and frustrated with his work.
My daughter is here visiting for an extended period of time as she sorts through her life. My son will come home next weekend for a visit, and soon I'll go visit my mother in Florida. The dog became quite lazy while I was gone, so I'm working on getting her back into our routine of morning and evening walks. It's all so new yet so familiar. I'm trying to go back to some of my old routine, as well as work in new things I started in Afghanistan, such as working out harder and longer, listening to music rather than having the TV on, and taking time to continue reading romance novels. (They are good for the soul as well as the imagination ;-))
I do miss the work we did in Afghanistan as well as the people I worked with. Most of those closest to me are leaving Afghanistan as well this month, so a whole new crew will soon be working at the headquarters. We all arrived within months of one another so our tours are ending around the same time. Many will be coming back to the DC area and I hope that we stay in touch. We shared so much together. They've become like family.
I will probably write again from Fort Benning, and then close my blog as my journey ends. I've enjoyed sharing my experiences with you. Thank you.
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