Think about that for a moment. One day you’re in a war zone, where every decision matters and the consequences can be life or death. A few days later, you’re back home, where life has been moving along pretty much as usual.

There’s no switch you can flip to turn that off. At least, I couldn’t find one.

My military journey began in 2000, when I enlisted at 17 years old, still in high school. This was before September 11, before Afghanistan and Iraq, and certainly before I had any idea what the next 25-plus years would bring.

I first deployed to Afghanistan in 2004–2005 while attending college. I eventually earned my commission as an Army officer, graduated from the University of Iowa, and found my way back to Council Bluffs, taking a job at Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (SIRE) in 2009.

Then Uncle Sam came calling again.

In 2010, I was back on active-duty orders, preparing for another deployment to Afghanistan. This time, I was an infantry officer serving as the executive officer of a heavy weapons company.

It was a highly kinetic deployment. We experienced real, sustained combat. We lost a soldier in our battalion, others were wounded, and there were plenty of days I won’t soon forget. Some of those experiences are stories for another day.

What matters here is that just days after leaving that environment, I was home.