Hancock 1
Brian Hancock
Professor Michael Ward
ENGL 1301
16 July 2017
Deployment Journey
It was January 2009 and it was time to go on deployment again. Of all the places, I have
ever visited throughout my time in the military, India had the biggest impact on me emotionally,
spiritually, and mentally. The people of Chennai, India were rebuilding after a catastrophic
tsunami struck; their houses, buildings and streets were still not back to what they once were. I
had been in the Navy for six years at this point and my best friend Josh had been on two other
deployments with me.
We started our mission, which was to provide support in the Middle East, out of San
Diego, California where we were clearly aware that we would be gone for at least six months. At
the time, I wasn’t married and just had to say goodbye to my two daughters, along with my
parents. It was an emotional goodbye, just as it always was, but we cried, hugged, and prayed.
After the initial hug and prayer, I said to my daughters, “I will be back and when I get
back, we will have so much fun. You girls just be good and do good in school.”
My oldest daughter said, with a whimper in her voice, “Dad, why do you have to go
again?”
I told her, “It’s my job for now and I have to go to provide for you guys and protect our
freedom. I love you and I will be back faster than you realize.”
Both of my young daughters said, “We love you too and will miss you daddy!”
Hancock 2
Then I had to let my parents pull my crying kids away, as I was required to board the
1100-foot long, 13-story high, dark gray vessel that I would live on for the next six months. I
turned away, shed my tears and boarded the vessel. Once I boarded, I turned, looked at my kids
and parents, and waved my goodbye. I would miss them and I knew they would miss me.
Once on board, I went to my sleeping quarters where I shared a room with seventeen
other people that I worked with. The bed was six feet long, about four feet wide and I only had
about three feet of headroom, meaning I could not sit up in my bed. The beds were stacked three
high. We lifted our mattresses to access storage for clothes and personal items and had a small
locker on the side to hang uniforms. I had to get ready for work. The ship was due to leave port
within the hour. I got dressed and walked the very dark and narrow passages of the ship to get to
