Nick Lachey’s Year In Review
Nicky
So, where do I begin? Now that my tour of duty has come and (almost, not just yet) gone, its time to look back on a things and reflect. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a frame of time that has gone by so fast, yet so ridiculously slow at the same time. There were many perks to my time spent abroad. We don’t have to pay for much of anything over here (i.e. food, gas, groceries). Just about the only things you have to pay for are hair cuts and any luxury items you may want. Outside of those few things, all earnings go in your pocket. Unless you have bills of course, like myself.
On top of money you get free health care, you can’t get fired, and who wouldn’t want one hellacious farmers tan? Now after seeing the benefits of serving overseas, it may look like great gig. But unfortunately there are just as many downfalls as there are dollar signs in the air. The biggest one that may come to mind is the enemy and the all the dangers that come with them. Happy to say I was fortunate enough to not have encountered anything to brutal during my stint. Although the enemy may be the most noticeable downfall, there are others that stand above. Being this far away means you’re away from family, friends, teammates, hobbies, and the list goes on. All the little things that most people take for granted are gone. I’ve never wanted to just jump in my car and drive around with the radio on so much in my life. The appreciation for the little things grows quite a bit. Beyond ups and downs, I did my best to stay in contact with a number of guys on the team. See how everyone was doing personally, and how the team was doing as a whole.
It was very interesting hearing the different opinions from my teammates. I’m glad to report that there was no real negativity in anyone’s comments. Everyone team, no matter who you are, has rocky moments. Times when players get aggravated and the doorway seems to narrow. But heads were being held high and hopes were even higher. Hearing that kind of optimism from the team as a whole brought the largest smile to my face. I didn’t do as much moving around over here as I originally thought I was going to. We sat for about a month waiting for our trucks to be operational. Then spent a number of months south of Baghdad working projects to improve security, and life in general, on a small base near Al Kut. From there my squad only pulled one more major project, north of Baghdad this time. It only lasted a few weeks and we were back to home sweet home, camp Stryker (Baghdad). The more that time went on, it actually grew easier to except that I wasn’t playing paintball. The lack of paintball magazines and high speed internet made it hard to watch any videos if i wanted to do so. Also with the work load, it kept us busy most of the time. Coming home for my 2 week leave may have been the most awkward. Although I had talked tactics, game plans, future ideas, and anything about the sport in general with my teammates a great deal. Not actually playing had taken a large toll on my drive to pick up a marker. I showed up to a practice to get some playing time in, see the team and kiss hands and shake babies. But it took a bit of time to actually put my gear, the drive seemed to be some what gone.
More to come soon . . .
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Soon it’ll be time to put down the real gun and pick up one that shoots balls of colored soap, Nicky! Good to hear from you.