Wow: The Word of the Deployment

 Well, I read the newspaper today, and all I can say is, “wow”.  I have uttered that word many times.  It seems to fit so many different categories of situations.  I use it in so many different situations and with so many different emotions that the printed word falls a bit short in the discription of the different uses of the word.  Sometimes, I say it with all the enthusiasm of the normal use of the word.  Others times, I say it with a sarcastic undertone.  So here are some examples for a better understanding of how it has become the word for the deployment.
    Like when an IED blows right next to your truck and although you feel like you’ve just went ten rounds with Evander  Holyfield, nothing was damaged on your truck, and no one suffered even a scratch, “wow”. 
     Or, when a complex attack/ambush begins and all you can see is a Star Wars type light show from all the tracer fire, both in bound and out bound, small arms fire impacting on your vehicle and the ground around you, several white streaks whizzing by your front windshield which you later find out to be poorly aimed RPGs, and several loud explosions that  make a little water leak down your leg, only to find out after you have moved the convoy out of the kill zone / engagement area that no one was seriously hurt and only a few trucks received some small bullet holes, “wow”. 
     Also, when some EWAM (echelons way above me) policy is put into effect that requires you to wear a reflective belt everywhere you go on the FOB even though you are in a “Combat Zone”, just so you will not get run over.  Guess they didn’t think of the snipers taking your head off, “wow”. 
     Finally, when I call home to my lovely wife to hear how time is passing me by back in the world, to listen to my six year old daughter put on a marvelous display of how she has learned to read since I have been gone, and to attempt to make my wife’s day by telling her how much I love her, only to have her break the news to me that my unit has been the first guard unit in the history of the military to be extended in theater for 125 more days, “wow”.  So much for OPSEC (operational security).
     But, I think the coolest use of the word is when I use it to describe how God has taken such good care of me and my men over here.  We have seen some pretty intense moments, to say the least, and have suffered no casualties, nor serious injuries.  Yeah, we will be a little hard of hearing when we return, but as of now, we are fine.  This is because God’s awesome way has protected us from the “…the arrows that fly by day, and the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,…” Psalm 91.  We all have many things to be bitter about over here, but the one thing that has pulled me through all of this is the fact that I know I can ask for his help at anytime.  He is never busy, always available, and always has the right answers, no matter the weather, time, or place.  Although I have tried many substitutes; truly, only one word fits, “wow”.