I started getting word about when I was coming home all the way back in July. Granted, the early redeployment from Iraq was tentative at that point, but we knew we were going to be out of Numaniyah sometime around the end of August. We were receiving tentative dates and schedules - even lists with the names of our replacements from the 80^th Division. At that point I made the decision not to tell anyone about my coming home - or share information about when things were scheduled to be happening - because I knew from past experience that too much changes in Army life. The military will tell you one thing, and the next day it will change, and then it will change again the day after that. It's not that the Army is jerking you around, it's just a fact of operational life. The mission comes first and you adjust your schedule to reality as things develop.

There is a saying in the military: "You'll know what's going on when it happens. Until then, don't worry about it." To me, that approach to life is no big deal because I'm used to it. But I was concerned about dragging my family and other people who care about me through the mud as one deadline after another came and went. So I chose to not share the information I received about my redeployment with my family or friends. I figured if the plans turned out to be wrong and things got pushed back far enough, folks back home would be none the worse for wear if I got home at the originally scheduled time instead of the new, earlier timeline. On the flip side, if things went the way Baghdad was saying they would, then everyone gets a nice surprise when I show up early.

This caused problems for the blog however. How do I keep up with it without everyone knowing what's going on? I know people come here to keep up with how I'm doing while I'm in Iraq. Obviously I can't write about what's going on here at the web site and still keep the schedule quiet. But I also have been using the site as sort of a journal to document my experiences over here and I didn't want to lose all that information. So, I decided to write about the redeployment process on my computer but not post them.

So, here for your reading pleasure is my "hidden" blog entries, starting August 20^th and running through September 6^th. After the 6^th I had a hard time finding electricity for my laptop so the posts kind of went quiet until I got home.

Ooops, never mind. The guys just showed up and they're ready to go out. I think I was nominated to be the designated driver tonight. I'll post the entries tomorrow.