Captain Ruppel - Back At It

So less than a year from returning home I find myself in the same place I was last year at this time. I'm not exactly thrilled about the timing, but I get paid to accomplish a mission...not to sit around and whine.

That being said, I'm pretty psyched about what I'll be doing out here on this trip. I can't go into any details on the website, but this will be a historic deployment for Air Force Special Ops Command and I'll be leading a fantastic group of maintainers. Last year was neat, but I was leading a unit that I had no connection to. Now I will be leading the guys that I work with back home. It's an honor and a responsibility that I take very seriously. My number one concern while I'm here is for their well-being.

I'm considerably less thrilled about being away from the family again. Looking over the blog before posting this reminded me of how much fun we were having this summer. It's a bummer that it all got interrupted again. I'm looking forward to a less travel-heavy job in the Air Force in the future!

Not much else to add right now. Things are going well and I'm doing fine. Heather has my address here if you are interested in sending anything out. Last year my Mom helped through her work and did a phone card drive because the USO ran out. That was phenomenal.

I can't wait to see everyone again. As I told Heather the other day on the phone, I'm already 1/20th of the way done with this trip. Time is flying by!!