Combat Gear to Hockey Equipment

I was preparing for a mission a few days ago and thought of quite an ironic parallel from my old life into my new one...

Back in the day putting on hockey equipment was a routine that bordered on obsessive superstition. Every piece was put on in a certain order in a certain way that can only be understood by someone who's done it before. It's the same feeling as the routine a golfer goes through before a round--breakfast, driving range, putting green, 1st tee...You get the point.

Well the same pattern has started to emerge for me while putting on my combat gear. I have fine tuned my routine and it parallels in every way how my hockey equipment went on. I have 13 pieces of gear from my helmet down to my boots, even including ballistic protection underwear. I put everything on while listening to certain playlist of rock, R&B, and motown. Just like a hockey player, the playlist is completely off the wall and random.

Our tent even feels like a locker room. Before heading out on a mission everyone is anxious, yet focused on the task at hand. Everyone has musical selections and we often turn the music up far too loud. Some of us say prayers or read magazines and then head out to our Strykers, ready for work. The feeling of stepping out of the Stryker into the Afghan sand very much gives me the same rush as stepping on the ice.

War is not a game like hockey, but sometimes the similarities are there. Though there is more on the line when I go to work here, it is a fun job and the interaction with local children and civilians that we have been fortunate to experience during this deployment is every bit as exciting for me as scoring a goal on the ice.

Until next time...

Chris