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Published: July 27th 2009
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Beauty of the Prairie
The last look at the grand beauty of North Dakota! When I joined the National Guard almost 20 years ago it was under the recruiting slogan, "Join the Guard-See the World". Well somebody in this outfit of camoflage has made it their personal mission to ensure that their promise to me does not go unfullfilled.
As my travel history is recapped I can look back on a military career that began with travels to Saudi Arabia for my year deployment for Operation Desert Storm. Then onto Holland for a logistics mission to relocate equipment from Europe to the United States. During peacetime I found myself on the east coast for nearly two years for specialized transportation training with a follow-on deplyment of a fun filled summer of fighting raging fires in the State of Washington.
Then the military found a way to re-emphasize the "See the World" point when I spent nearly six months in the Marshall Islands building a hospital for the people of a small 1/2 mile island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Plenty of sun and coconuts to lasta lifetime!
But the travels didn't stop there...I was fortunate enough to be a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003-2004 where I was involved
Majestic Rusolia Mountains in Kosovo
What I have to look forward to in Kosovo! in the movement of supplies and equipment around the country of Iraq and then eventually went on to support the efforts in Baghdad to provide electricity to a country that was dark and dreary from years of war and exile from their own countries' leadership.
Having traveled to six countries during Operation Iraqi Freedom and not only getting to know the countrymen of these different cultural locations, I also invited myself to observe how people different from me lived their daily lives.
I was under the assumption that when I returned from Iraq that summer of 2004 that I had completed my committment to travel and the Army's promise of "join the Guard-See the World" was completed. But much to my suprise my adventures are not over...
About a year ago the Army informed me (and a buttload of my army buddies) that we would be traveling again, and this time the deployment would be leading us to Kosovo. Land of the Albanians and Serbians. A perfect place for a peacekeeping mission that is often described to be a peaceful yet fragile environment.
I believe that this will be my final deployment, so I will take the next year or so and take you along with me on my deployement. The road begins with training and preparation, then the infamous mobilization station and finally will actually embark into Kosovo itself. I have been known to be somewhat adventurous and am always looking for some form of activity and learning opportunities within the cultural surroundings that I am based within, so I should not have a shortage of travel stories.
I invite you to follow along on this journey of mine that should lead us through days of sheer excitement, total boredom and the fun of "Seeing the World"!
Take Care,
Davina
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