We can record today as a good day. Hopefully there are more of these in the future. Yesterday? Not so much...

I don't like seeing these same things over and over again. The urgent 9-Line that comes down for a US Soldier hit by an IED blast while dismounted, double amputee, uncontrollable bleeding. While the MEDEVAC birds were halfway there, we get word that he died of his wounds. We continue the mission, help recover the body and expedite his return home. Flag was at half-staff again today...

But today I avoided dwelling on those things. Kristy sent me my guitar...so all is right in the universe again.

The guys in the TOC are learning and coming along quite well. Things went a lot smoother today than they have the past couple days as they learned and stumbled in this new environment. When they're working efficiently, I can take a step back and relax more. Spent some time just chatting and joking with a couple of the Soldiers and got to know them a bit more. I really do love Soldiers. They're all amazing individuals with their own quirks and oddities. Some are knuckleheads, but that's just because they can't grasp some tasks they're given or don't interact smoothly with others, but they're still amazing people. Maybe I just take too much of a paternal, instinctual approach. My roommate noticed it and called me on it, saying I treat them like my kids. We never did delve into that to see if he meant it as a good or bad thing. I've been taking care of Soldiers at the company level for 8 years now. It's really all I've known.