There were three reasons for my lack of posts during 2011 - my hubby came home at the end of 2010 (which I wanted to savor), we got pregnant (I got a little hormonal on more than one occasion), and the hubby took command of a rear detachment unit.
Rear Detachment is one helluva beast. It really is a job that no one in the armed forces wants to do but someone has to do it. What is worse - while they call it a "command" it does not really count as "command" time. I would argue it is probably one of the most important "command" experiences out there - why you may ask? Oh, I shall enlighten you.
The mission of rear detachment is not that of a regular unit, which is primarily training for war. There are - I feel - three major missions for a rear detachment unit:
1. Protector of Property - anything, and I mean anything, that the deploying unit is not bringing with them to theatre is left behind. Someone needs to be in charge of all of that stuff, be it vehicles, guns, tools, or tents. It all needs to be inventoried and accounted for on a regular basis.
2. Supporter of Families - the rear detachment serves as the control point of information from the deployed unit to the families. This includes good information like "Hey, we are coming home early" and bad information, "We lost one (some) of our own today".
3. Arbitrator of UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) - just as the deploying unit gets to decide what "stuff" it is leaving behind...it also picks what soldiers it will bring into battle. That usually means that the less than savory soldiers are left behind. Rear detachment is there to get these unsavory types out of the armed forces.
What makes that any different from a regular unit? They have to do all those things too. Unfortunately, rear detachment is left severely understaffed to perform these missions. If units leave behind the "unsavory" characters, how can all of these missions be accomplished? A handful (and I am not saying this figuratively) of people are stuck juggling a ton of balls.
The reason I did not write during this time is that I felt it would be way to tempting to air "dirty laundry" so to speak. The stories could fill volumes and I did not think that was appropriate. But I will say that never thought my husband would have to become any of these things: travel agent, moving service, financial advisor, or marriage counselor. I have learned more than I could ever want to know about how the army keeps track of all of it's supplies, the inner workings of frg's and family communication, and pretty sure I could given a primer class on UCMJ and getting chaptered out of the army. There were many days that I wished that my husband had deployed because the schedule, workload, and personal involvement in other people's lives is more than one person should have to deal with. I just wish that he was given a little bit of credit for being personally vested in trying to make the army family better.
With that, I am off my tiny soap box. Sometimes I wish I was a little less ethical because I am sure more than half of the what happened this past year would make a fantastic and eye-opening book.
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