New Address

Ben has a new address!!!

Benjamin Ingle
TF Yukon Denali
HHT, 1-40 CAV (ABN)
Camp Clark
APO AE 09314

Pics

Hey guys.... here is a link to flicker. Ben has some pics on here of his deployment!
Click here to see pics!

Patiently waiting

I'm about ready to go home. I just HAD to pick the very last month of leave didn't I! Lauren warned me about this. Oh well, I will be sooo ready to be home when I get there. I still don't know the dates yet. I won't know till mid-November.

Well, I guess I could post some updates. Since I've been in Afghanistan, i have applied for and received a branch transfer from Armor to Signal, and received a Captain's Career Course date. It's pretty exciting to make this change. I got my degree in computer science for a reason. Then the Army stuck me in the Armor branch for what was supposed to be 4 years. I guess you could say I got around the system a little bit and am ony doing three years in Armor. I'm also going to CCC early. Most people don't get to go until after they do some primary staff time as a Captain. Me, I'm just skipping that part since I won't have a chance to do that unless I get stuck in Alaska for three more years.

After we redeploy (come home) in JAN/FEB/MAR 2010, I will get 30 days leave. Lauren and I are going with our awesome friends Brett and Tiffany to Hawaii! I really can't wait for that! And we'll probably spent some time up north in AK doing touristy stuff, since we haven't really done any of that.

So, my career course date starts 2 JUL 09 at Fort Gordon, GA. I will get "up to" 30 days to make the trip from Alaska to GA, so probably plenty of time off. That's what I'm looking forward to the most. So we're lookin at leaving AK on 2 JUN, driving or flying all around America, and ending up in GA in time to get an apartment and stuff. It's going to be fun!

Six months later, who knows where we'll be. Italy maybe? Back in Alaska?? I'll find out in about a year!

When a soldier comes home...

When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard....

...to listen to his son whine about being bored.

....to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes. to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work.

...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep.

...to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower.

..to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying.

....to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp.

....to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather.

.....to be civil to people who complain about their jobs.

....to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog.

.....to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year.

....to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.

The only thing harder than being a Soldier.. Is loving one.

Combat Actoin Badge

My trip to COP (Combat Outpost) Wilderness... It's way up high in the mountains. Too mountainous to have guard towers like the rest of the COPs have. They have little observation posts on the tops of the surrounding mountains. While I was there, we received a mortar attack, and a mortar landed right outside the entrance to the COP. I was safe because the room I was in is a bunker. But it was close enough to get me my combat actoin badge! That's exciting. It was also the first time our own artillery shot AT the enemy instead of illumination rounds or shooting just to scare them. It was pretty fun. Other than that it was a pretty boring trip.

No one on our side got hurt. However, at the same time they were
shooting at the COP, they were shooting at a district center, which is
basically like a town hall. They killed one innocent bystander out
there and injured one other. We don't know if we killed any of the
bad guys, because the Ranger unit did the recon to find out, and they
don't report to us. They do their own thing.

-Ben

More Pics from Ben:

Toby KeithSorry that I haven't been updating this. I have been so busy with taking care of grandpa, taking classes and working. I will be graduating this December with a graphic design degree. I am so excited! I am currently in Lynchbug, VA and loving it!

Hello All

Hello everyone! I'm tired of Afghanistan and ready to come home. 2 months down, 10 to go. I just have to do what Ive done 5 more times. Well, the job is doing OK. It's very busy every day lately. We've been having things to do pretty much all day every day. I think I talk on the phone too much. I'm trying to type this post on a cell phone, so it will be short. I have a headache tonight anyway. I hope everyone is well. I am (except for my headache). The days go by. I just can't wait till 365 of them have gone by. Have a good one everybody!!