Milestones

There are many milestones in a one year deployment:

1. The first week.
2. The first month.
3. 100 days.
4. Halfway point.
5. R&R, whenever that may be.
6. 265 days gone by, and we turn into “double-digit midgets” since the time remaining is under 100 days.
7. 300 days gone by.
8. The point where we are informed we should no longer send mail downrange.
9. A forward group of soldiers from our unit redeploys home.
10. The advanced group for the replacements arrive.
11. The main group of the replacements arrive.
12. After a short overlapping period, redeployment begins in earnest.
    

Going through a deployment is like pushing a boulder up a hill. Eventually you get to the top and the boulder slowly starts rolling down the other side, picking up momentum along the way.
Yesterday in an email, my boyfriend's commander wrote:

“the advance party of our replacement unit has arrived. They started their integration into the daily flow with in-processing and classes.”

The boulder is picking up momentum!