Sailor Dad

So far, this deployment seems like it might be the easiest in my experience. Of course it could be the bright side of it that I’m seeing, but anything is possible. In any case, deployment always brings about some level of stress. Being on the ocean though has different sources of stress than say a deployment on the ground in a foreign country. Typically we’re not getting shot at while we’re floating around out here, but at the same time, there is an isolation that I think might be different that being on the ground say in Iraq or Afghanistan. I can’t say for certain, because I have only heard about those places and not experienced any of that for myself. Not to mention the whole other side of deployment, the ones you leave behind while you go off on some cruise.

My wife has been with me for every single deployment I have gone on while in the Navy. She’s endured the missed paydays of the first deployment because of a paperwork error. She somehow survived my fourth deployment after giving birth to our daughter just a month after I left home. She’s now going through what might be the hardest deployment to date, since my son was born 6 months ago and my daughter is almost more of a handful now than before when she was a baby. I don’t know how she does it, and for that she is and will always be the best wife in the world. There are many things that make her the best wife to me, but putting up with my job and its crazy schedules is what really takes it all.

Today we left San Diego for all points west. Even though this is the fifth deployment that I’m starting, the situation never changes. It always starts with saying goodbye to those we love and the promises of a safe return. With a little luck, we return on the scheduled day with everyone that started the trip. There isn’t much in the way of comfort those first few days, knowing that you’re going to be apart from your family and friends to go out into the open seas for six months. Thankfully, the very family and friends that we leave behind give us the strength to make it through those months at sea. Something that I have this trip that I haven’t had on previous trips is the amount of people standing behind me back on the beach. The support that I have from the people I’ve become friends with in the last few months is something that makes me grateful for the chance to meet those people and be a part of their lives.

Here’s to the next 180 or so days until I return to San Diego. May they be a quick and enjoyable journey.