Ben Morton, a captain on his second Iraq deployment, delayed his 10-day R&R leave until the end of his tour to get married. During those 10 days, completely disconnected from his unit, the most intense and volatile period of his entire deployment unfolded back home.
Let me take you back to my second deployment to Iraq. I was a young captain, and to this day, it absolutely is one of my proudest leadership moments. Typically, on a 6-month deployment, you would get 10 days R&R, or rest and relaxation, back in the UK. Now, before I knew I was deploying, my wife and I had already planned our wedding, which was towards the very end of that deployment. That being the case, I waited till the very end of that tour to take my leave. Now here's the thing about R&R, or holiday in the Army. You don't stay in touch with work at all. There are no phone calls, there's no checking your email. You're sent home to rest, or in my case, to get married, and the team you leave behind simply cracks on without you. And as it turned out, those 10 days were the busiest, most volatile, most demanding of that entire deployment.
