[Basenshukai]

You know, it's incredible, but I just took a look at my contributions to this thread (2 posts) and they were written months after I arrived for my first assignment at 7th SFG. It has been exactly six years since that day now (I got to 7th SFG on October 2003; my posts here were a few months later). I spent just four months shy of five years in Group and I'm just months away from returning (believe me, I dream of the day I walk back in with that red flash on my beret).

It's amazing! I feel so honored and fortunate to have served with such heroes on a daily basis and I'm just so excited to be afforded the opportunity to do so again. A lot has happened since I first walked into the B/3/7 ops room for assignment to a team. I traveled to some terrific places, conducted some challenging missions, went to combat and actually fought alongside the men. We saw men do some really heroic and amazing things and we also saw some men die. I helped recover our dead on the battlefield and experienced a total of nine memorial services at the FOB.

But, I look back and I feel so fortunate. In a way, being a Special Forces Soldier was nothing like I thought it would be - it was way better for it was a priviledge to serve with such elite men. Earlier today I was trying to rate all the fellow officers that served with me when I was a team leader and, later, an XO in combat. I was just thinking about them and I tried to figure out how they stacked-up. I could not rate them; they were all excellent officers and I brag about them when I can - they were amazing! I feel the same about the NCOs.

Before typing this thread, I went back and looked at the posts I wrote here six years ago. I was so different back then. I'm glad you guys put this forum together.