I’ve now been at Resolute Support headquarters for a week, feeling like I belong. The folks I am working with now are great which makes it weird to think that by November, most of them will be redeployed and back home with their families. The base is incredibly small; the longest run route I can come up with, which includes going around the outside of parking lots and down alleys to stretch the distance as much as possible, is only .65 miles per lap. Combine that with the altitude and the air quality and I might as well run on a treadmill indoors.<\/p>\n
I am thankful for the no-solute policy on this base as I have never seen so many senior officers before; JOs and enlisted are definitely the minority. But the nice thing is I have not encountered any rank pretentiousness either, most people use first names and maintain a fairly relaxed atmosphere – as relaxed as it can be when working 12+ hour days in a warzone.<\/p>\n
The warzone part is interesting. This base is very small and also very insulated. We don’t often receive attacks here. It could be easy to become complacent or forget why we are receiving imminent danger pay.<\/p>\n
I am also glad for my job in the PAO office. Media ops suits me far better than press desk or social media or plans would. I am good at planning\/coordinating logistics, but I’m most thankful that it will allow me the opportunity to fly out to other parts of the country too. I can see the size of this base becoming rather suffocating a few months in.<\/p>\n
I am happy to be here and start to contribute to the team’s success. \u00a0I am happy to meet and get to work with the great people in the office now, the leadership we report to, and I am also looking forward to working with my shipmates who will join me on the watch soon too. I think this will be a great tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve now been at Resolute Support headquarters for a week, feeling like I belong. The folks I am working with now are great which makes it weird to think that by November, most of them will be redeployed and back home with their families. The base is incredibly small; the longest run route I can… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s9IVlY-salty","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":283,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/11\/ironman-70-3-oceanside-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":0},"title":"Ironman 70.3 Oceanside 2019 - Race Report","date":"April 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Official Time: 05:04:531.2 mile Swim: 00:34:52T1: 00:04:4756 mile Bike: 02:35:44T2: 00:02:3713.1 mile Run: 01:46:55Overall: 260th of 2,39035-39 AG: 37th of 277 The Backyard Ironman:A long time ago (2012), I (literally) stumbled upon Oceanside 70.3. I went for an early Saturday long run, pushing my (then) 6-month-old son in a jogger\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/da92b914-aef3-4a5f-a03d-005e6ad18a14-4389-0000027245cf4890_file-e1554992275536.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":212,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/19\/rockthebay2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":1},"title":"Rock The Bay Triathlon 2018 - Race Report","date":"September 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Rock The Bay International Distance Triathlon Official Time: 01:56:17 1000m Swim: 00:16:26 20mi Bike: 00:49:31 10k Run: 00:47:41 Overall: 13th of 187 Military Div: 1st of 6 Rock the Bay was kind of like my Afghanistan deployment, in that it was a good experience overall, but I don\u2019t feel like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/img_0476.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/06\/new-blog-category-triathlon\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":2},"title":"New blog category: Triathlon","date":"March 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As I described on the about me page, I started this blog at the beginning of my deployment to Afghanistan in 2016. But, by the time I reached the second half of my time there, I was too busy to stop and write about my experience. Now that I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2016\/08\/31\/niact\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":3},"title":"NIACT","date":"August 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Navy Individual Augmentee Combat Training NIACT was HOT. Kevlar, plate carrier, elbow\/knee pads, gloves over a uniform and boots in 100 degree heat with 90% humidity ends up feeling like dawning 50 extra pounds of wet clothes. I learned a lot of army type things I was always curious about,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AFG"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_2358-e1471045663694-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":87,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2016\/10\/28\/shelter-in-place\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":4},"title":"Shelter In Place","date":"October 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It's 2200 (10 pm) and I just now got back to my room. This isn't an exceptionally late night, I've worked until 10 pm several times since I've been here. The difference being that on those nights, I was working. Tonight, I had very little going on; I browsed facebook,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AFG"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":179,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/31\/solana-beach-triathlon-2018-race-report\/","url_meta":{"origin":33,"position":5},"title":"Solana Beach Triathlon 2018 Race Report","date":"July 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Solana Beach Triathlon - Sprint Distance July 29, 2018, Solana Beach, California The path to calf strain recovery has been long, longer than I thought it should have been. 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