I’ve been attending week-long drills and a three-week Annual Training recently, as we get ready for our deployment to Kosovo. And at one point during this time, our Battalion Commander gave a presentation about the upcoming challenges, and some philosophies for resiliency. We have a large number of people who have never deployed before, so our higher-ups are watching for anyone showing signs of strain.

At one point, as much for comedic purposes as any, our Battalion Commander made a presentation about how you feel much more prepared for the day if you dress with the sock-boot, sock-boot method, instead of sock-sock/boot-boot. He said “you could practically hear the theme to Chariots of Fire playing as you get ready for the day.”

Of course I couldn’t let that pass by unnoticed.

Our Battalion Commander is a good guy, and he has one of the traits I look for most in a leader: a sense of perspective about things. He also has a pretty good sense of humor, although I don’t think he reads BOHICA Blues (with my luck, this will be the one comic he sees).

The character of Lieutenant-Colonel Reese is not 100% based on my actual Battalion Commander; he is kind of an amalgam of other officers I have served with over the years. I rarely ever make directly-derived characters of real people, aside from when Patreon supporters show up from time to time.

How the times have changed! Twenty years ago, Joe and Juni’s unit was mobilizing, and “fills” were brought in from outside units to bring their unit strength up to deployable levels. Now, another unit is deploying, and Juni is the one serving as a “fill” to them. This is actually closer to reality for me, since back when I went to Iraq, I was originally a “fill” going to another unit.

So odd to think that almost exactly 20 years ago –from 2004 to 2005– I was deploying to Iraq; now in 2024 to 2025 I am going to Kosovo. In a few years I’ll be able to retire. Crazy times.