Redeploying Part II

I mentioned earlier that we did the medical portion of the redeployment process. This morning, at 0930 (which is almost exactly in the middle of my "night") we completed the second part to this process, essentially a lecture on what you can expect when you redeploy. And again, just as with the almost flippancy of the medical requirements, we breezed through a slide show in less than a half an hour on the following: breakdown of marriages, how to get to know your spouse and kids again, the warning signs of suicide, do not rape, do not drink excessively and make sure you file your taxes. It was the oddest smattering of information on topics which are incredibly profound and seriously affect so many of the servicemembers, but it's done in such a desensitized fashion.

I guess just as I relay news every night of deaths, illnesses, assaults, suicides and disasters with the practiced efficiency of a mortician, so does the military out process it's soldiers with the same mechanized expediency.