National Guard training

Some days are clearly more fun than others.
Today I had the opportunity to fly in a Army Blackhawk helicopter to the middle of Pennsylvania to watch the New Jersey Army National Guard prepare for deployment to Iraq.
Since National Guard soldiers are going to be away from their jobs during the year long deployment the Army flew some employers to the training facility to get a feel for what the soldiers endure.
Some of the meetings were a surprise and all were emotional.