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getting off the plane (or boat); completing the reintegration process (including the post-deployment health assessment for veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars); the "honeymoon" period (for all of
you who had a spouse or partner waiting for you through the long deployment); block leave; the first three months home; deactivation (if in the
National Guard or Reserves); post-deployment health re-assessment (for
veterans of Iraq/Afghanistan); the next nine months or so of the first year
home; and then perhaps for a long time thereafter (years), depending on
your wartime experiences, whether or not there was another intervening
deployment(s), whether your previous job was waiting for you upon your
return, whether or not your marriage or relationship broke up, how much
pain you were in due to physical injuries, whether you got embroiled in a custody battle for your kids, and various other factors. In short, there's no
clear definition of what the normal "transition/readjustment" period is,
and the extent to which this book is going to be helpful has nothing to do
with how long or short a time it's been since you came home.

    How warriors and family members describe the transition experience
often reflects a gap in perspectives. Married service members just home
from a tour of duty in the sandbox or jungle can't possibly understand
what could be worse than being shot at every day or living constantly under
that threat, while their spouse feels that it was they who had it worse-waiting, worrying, single-parenting, running the household alone, juggling
life back here, and so on. The two experiences seem incongruous, and
the reality is that each person has matured individually during the deployment period and is not the same person he or she was when they parted.
There is a similar split with friends and family.
    Each generation of warriors considers their war to be unique, and
indeed, in many ways, every war is. World War II and Korean War veterans
faced high-intensity combat over extended fronts. They were welcomed
home as heroes, but there was minimal or no public discussion of the
potential impact of their experiences. Vietnam veterans faced yearlong
tours involving high-intensity conventional and guerrilla warfare. They
faced a hostile public upon their return that had little understanding or
compassion for the impact of their combat experiences. PTSD was not yet
recognized, and many Vietnam veterans were told that their war-related
reactions were the result of alcoholism or drug abuse, implying that their
problems were their "fault." Gulf War I veterans faced enormous uncertainties during a yearlong buildup to combat operations, including a high
threat of chemical and biological attacks, followed by a brief high-intensity
conventional ground operation.
    Over the past twenty years there have been multiple operational
deployments involving combat, security, and humanitarian missions to
Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and other locations. Veterans of
the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (Operation Iraqi Freedom-OIF and Operation Enduring Freedom-OEF), the post-9/11 generation, have experienced the lack of a clear front line, other than the concertina wire at the perimeter of the FOB ("Forward Operating Base"), and missions involving
simultaneous and overlapping duties-combat, security, humanitarian,
training of local nationals-going on in the same sectors of the battlefield. They have also faced multiple deployments, in-theater extensions in
deployment length, recalls to active duty, stop-loss (the "hidden draft"),
single parents deploying, and dual military families (with deployments of
both partners), along with many other challenges.

    However, the day-to-day experience of war, from the perspective
of the average line infantry "grunt" and anyone supporting them
"outside the wire" or far forward (in convoys, logistics, supply, medical, intelligence, aviation, etc.), has huge similarities