KOLN, Getting Extended

SGT Benes had his story posted on the KOLN website. You can find it here. I am next in line, I taped my interview on Tuesday, and it will air this Sunday, Jan 21st, at 10:00 PM CST on channel 10/11 in Lincoln and other places out west. It will also be posted to the website in about a week, if you click on the link for Beans you will see the other stories linked at the bottom. It was a lot of fun doing it. They also left the satellite feed up when the interview was done, and I got to talk to Erika and Benjamin for almost 2o minutes afterwords. They could see me but I couldn't see them. Benjamin was all over the studio getting into stuff. Erika said the folks in the studio were good sports about it and let him have fun. I was nervous at first but when I heard Brandee's voice on the other side of the satellite that helped put me at ease.

Our extension is official now. Lots of stories on the internet. This one is an op-ed piece in the Des Moines Register. Here are excerpts from a briefing the Brigade Commander, COL Elicerio, did via VTC back in the states. He has a great quote at the end, he said that we'll take care of the troops over here, and you take care of the families back home.

That is the hardest thing for most of us. We are all disappointed that we aren't getting home on time, but there isn't really much we can do about it. So, we'll suck it up an drive on like always. It is our families at home that we all worry about. Most were doing their best just to make it until March, now we are asking them to hold on to July. So, that is weighing heavily on me that Erika and Ben have to go it alone for another 6 months. They have it much harder then we do without a doubt.

Here is the official news release from the Red Bulls, and the news release from the Nebraska Guard. You can do a Google News Search for National Guard Tour Extended and gets lots more if you are an internet kind of mood. We are getting over the initial shock and getting back to work. Right now, the best we can do is hope (which is not a method) that they will get another Brigade spun up quickly and over here to replace us soon. Alternatively, one of the other battalion paralegals thinks that we are going to have a big MWR event in March and Ashton Kutcher is going to jump out of a cake and say that we just got punk'd. I for one would be okay with that!