You’re going where?

Afghanistan.

To do what?

Work at our Service to the Armed Forces office on Bagram Air Field.

For how long?

About 5 months

They make uniforms in your size?

I hope so.

You only get 3 bags?

Yes, 3 Army duffel bags most of which will be filled with issued gear and uniforms.

These are just some of the many questions I heard when explaining my latest Red Cross adventure to family and friends.

To understand how I got here, I guess you’ll have to hear a bit about my past. In high school I took the lifeguard training course and worked a the town pool for a few  years. In college, I volunteered to work and organize the campus blood drives. I even spent a summer interning at the Red Cross chapter in Lewisburg, PA.

I spent the first few months after college working for a software company. It didn’t take long to realize that software testing just wasn’t for me.

I found myself back with the Red Cross, this time in a staff position at National Headquarters working with Service to the Armed Forces. Some of my closest family and friends are in the military, so it’s a job that I find meaningful and rewarding.

When given the opportunity to deploy, I couldn’t say no. As a rookie on the Afghanistan team, I’m looking forward to serving our military overseas and seeing another side of Red Cross SAF.

Today, was day 1 of deployment and casework training. There will be a lot to learn in these next months, but I know I have amazing coworkers and teammates to help me out along the way.

Filed under: SAF