My cousin will be home from the sandbox (fingers crossed) the first week in August...18 months is a LONG time!! So I know how she feels, believe me.
Thank your cousin for us! 18 months in the sandbox is long. I know it isn’t the same, but when I was in we’d do 3 years in places like Germany. It was a picnic compared to guys in the zone, but we only got lucky that the Russians knew better than to take us on. When I got off the plane we were told, ‘Welcome to Germany. If the Russians launch you’ve got 5 minutes to live.’