Recently, while on a short vacation from my job as a Marine infantry company commander, I took a plane from Atlanta to Las Vegas. As always, I saw numerous soldiers and airmen in the terminals, traveling in their camouflage uniforms and no doubt on their way to a new duty station or a military school […]

I recently returned form a short-notice, short-duration deployment to the Caribbean Sea, Cuba, and Belize, just in time to spend the holiday’s at home. The deployment was actually pretty fun and different from what the Marines were used to. Of course the downside of being away from our families and loved ones was still present, […]

Armistice Day is the predecessor of Veteran’s Day and it was created in 1918, to commemorate the signing of the Armistice between the Allies and Germany at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, effectively ending the war on the Western Front. Originally this holiday was not observed in the United […]

I am currently on my fifth deployment, but this one is a little different than the rest. First off, I am not in Iraq or Afghanistan, second I had the option to turn this one down, and third we are somewhere in the Caribbean and Central America. I was alerted to this deployment in August, […]

The 4th is the celebration of America declaring its independence from the British, and bringing the Revolutionary War to a close. This day marks what we celebrate as “America’s Birthday” and the beginning of a nation that has one of the longest standing constitutions in the world. In 1870 the US Congress declared the 4th […]

Aside from being away from loved ones, deployments share a key common feature: their varied pace. Know throughout the military as operational tempo or simply “op tempo,” and defined as how busy any given person or unit is during their time deployed. While everyone’s deployed jobs and experiences are different, the fact is that no […]

Deployments aren’t easy, whether it is to a combat zone or to another country, but with the information age in full swing communications with your deployed service member is easier than ever.  The Internet has brought us communication tools such as e-mail, instant messaging, Skype, and Facebook, and with these tools the amount, type, and […]