Josh Called

Hey, everyone. Josh called me this morning at about 2am. He's doing well. They weren't as busy this past week, so he's been kind of bored compared to normal. He said that they only went out on two missions, one of which he was the only CA (civil affairs) person on the mission ... that means he basically was in charge of the mission, from what I understand
He's making new friends with the Infantry soldiers there. Most of the guys in Infantry he's getting to know are stationed in Alaska currently, but he said there's one guy that's from Indiana. They get along well, and he's enjoying getting to know them and spending time with them.
They've all taken up hunting. Apparently there is an abundance of wild cats, dogs, and foxes around the bases that get into their rooms and tear things apart. I told him to leave our cat alone when he gets home, and he said not to worry about that. :)
His team has a new team member, and they all get along with this new guy much better than with the guy that used to be on the team. The stress level is down by far, and everyone feels more relaxed and works better together, which is good. When the team leaders were switching members around, Josh said that there were two other team leaders that wanted Josh on their team, but his team leader said no and kept Josh where he was. When Josh asked why he was told that the other team leaders can see that he gets his jobs done and doesn't cause trouble, that he's the only one there that has no bad reports against him. He still seems kind of surprised, but I am extremely proud of him. He's doing so well over there.
They haven't had any more attacks on them, which is very good. Hopefully, they won't have to face anymore, either.
Josh said that at one of the bases he stays at, they have a "pet" eagle. The eagle was shot with a shotgun, and they've adopted it. He said it's very skittish still, but I think that's understandable. He also said that there are some really big, really ugly spiders over there. To his disappointment, he hasn't seen any camel spiders yet, though; and he has yet to see any scorpions.
Overall, he is doing quite well. He's getting very excited to come home for R&R for a little while. In fact, he talks frequently of getting to see everyone again. Please keep him and the people around him in your prayers. He's having a hard time sleeping at night, so prayer for that to be resolved quickly. He has not been able to get things straightened out for Active Duty yet, but he will soon hopefully. Please also keep that situation in your prayers. We need him to get it all figured out soon; otherwise, he will have nothing to do when he comes home (no job, no insurance, etc.).
As I hear from him again, I will update y'all more as to how he's doing.


Waiting for him,
Ariel