I served in the Marine Corps for 8+ years until I medically retired in 2018. From July of 2013 - Valentines Day 2014, I deployed to Afghanistan as an Individual Augment. I did not deploy with a unit. I went alone.

I was attached to MCE-A or Marine Corps Element - Afghanistan as the only active duty Marine in a 3-5 person detachment. I spent most of my time there at BAF or Bagram Air Force Base, a small Forward Operating Base complete with an air strip in a valley of “hostile” occupied mountains. We received rocket fire anywhere from 1 - 3 a day on a normal day, and upwards of 15 on September 11th.

I wanted to deploy. Begged to. I had been stationed at two bases, both which were non-deployable so I fought for this opportunity to see combat.

The Marine Corps is very good at it’s indoctrination. It makes you feel like their war is your war and you’re not a complete Marine until you’ve seen combat.

Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

INCOMING uses light to immerse the audience in the disorienting experience of navigating a foreign landscape where danger switches from perceived to realized within a flash.

Sometimes we commit to a cause we convince ourselves has a higher purpose.

We rarely consider what we have to live through in order to fulfill that call.