DAY 0: Burning the candle

When I look back over the last few months, it’s just been one big blur. As a traditional guardsman, I’ve been burning the candle at both ends doing double duty as both a Product Management contractor in my civilian job with Silicon Graphics, Inc (SGI) and as a Logistics Readiness Officer (LRO) at my military job. So why am I doing both, you ask? First, I’ve always been a traditional guardsman – aka “weekend warrior” – during my reserve military career and was either pursuing higher education or developing my civilian career within Silicon Valley’s high tech industry. However, 9/11 completely changed the paradigm of a terrorist attack for all Americans. For those of us who were serving in the U.S. military, an additional burden was place to not only defend this country, but to also go to war against the terrorists in their homeland.

Thus, when 9/11 occurred almost 4 years ago, I began a pattern of engaging in my civilian career (graduate business school and a follow-on job with SGI), while staying active with my military unit in their numerous missions to support the Global War on Terrorism. Finally, the need for an LRO appeared and thus I was tapped to support this vital mission in Afghanistan.