Deployment

Well, Tim has headed to Afghanistan and we're 4 days down in our countdown for his return home. He departed on Thursday afternoon from Fort Bliss. We headed to the hanger late morning on Thursday where he finished packing the company's equipment, dropped off his bags, and picked up his weapon. We spent the next couple hours having lunch in the hanger and savoring our last moments together. At 1:30 P.M. Tim announced that families had 10 minutes remaining to say their goodbyes. Those last minutes were difficult and emotional as we hugged and kissed. Then all the soldiers were ordered to "fall in" and a roll call was read for all 190-some soldiers departing. As the flight commander, Tim was the last to leave as the soldiers exited the hanger and loaded buses that would take them to the flight line. Luckily, we had a few more hugs and kisses since he wasn't in the formation. Here are some pics from the day.