yes, and I would also add that your situation is unusual, w/ the "deployment" and all. Most of us probably don't have any such experience, so don't know just how to deal with it.
I know that in my day, (OMG that makes me sound old!!), when troops deployed, they were ~incomunicado~ for months on end. save maybe a few letters, which would take weeks to reach their destination. I know its not like that now...but on exactly what is available, and to whome, I am unclear. Hard to paint a picture that way...
