What I Learned On Leave

By Rick Van Arnam

Bagram, Afghanistan

Like some of the best things learned, this lesson was not planned. When I deployed to Afghanistan in early January, I had no intention to take mid-tour leave (vacation). I wanted to save a year’s worth of accumulated leave so that I would have a six week sabbatical prior to returning to work.

But something magical happened, though, as soon as I landed at Bagram Airfield on March 1^st. I learned that all soldiers deployed to Afghanistan for 270 days or more were authorized fifteen days of non-chargeable leave that would start the day after landing in the United States. So I departed Bagram on May 26^th and landed in Vermont and into my wife’s arms two days later. Thinking back on my twenty-six years of work, I have only had this much consecutive time off once. It was back in 1986 when I took thirty days leave between Ranger school graduation and flying to Korea for my next assignment. At that time, I was single, did not own a house nor own nearly as much responsibility.

What I learned over the next fifteen days is a lesson for life that may be of value to you – especially if you are fully embedded in your career-life balance which makes the thought of a two week vacation a near impossible dream.

The value of a two-week break is immense. Although a two-week vacation is twice the length of a one-week vacation, I believe it offers at least five times the benefit. I feel refreshed, relaxed, recharged and reinvigorated. I never felt this way after only one week of vacation. Experts can likely explain this in better physiological terms than I, but I think it is due to a couple of simple ideas. First, it takes a few days to really unwind and unplug from work. Second, deep relaxation came to me quicker when it occurred to me throughout my first week that I still had more than a week’s vacation left! That realization was a multiplier allowing me to relax and enjoy each day more fully without the usual ‘work creep’ occurring.

Here is my advice and challenge – in the next year, do all you can to take a two week vacation and do all that you can to enable those who work for you to do the same.

There may be more objections than I can tackle here, but I’ll address a few of the quick pop-ups. If you are still uncertain afterwards, take this idea to a trusted friend and get a second opinion.

Objection # 1: My job isn’t like being deployed to Afghanistan.

Maybe. Maybe not. I am forty-seven years old and serve as a primary staff officer to the brigade commander. I work on an airfield that is more like a small city than a combat outpost. I work in a new building and have a nicely furnished office. I have air conditioning. I am awake by 5:30am and work a fifteen-hour day usually getting to bed by 10pm. My day is filled with meetings, briefings, e-mail, making decisions and leading a 100-soldier intelligence section. Truthfully, I feel like a senior executive in a medium-sized company. I go to the gym at lunch and have most of the resources I need. If you work in a white-collar environment with mid-to-senior level executive responsibilities and work over fifty hours per week, our jobs are more similar than you may think. So go ahead, take two weeks off.

Objection # 2: My team or company can’t afford to lose me for two weeks.

We are in the middle of the summer fighting season in Afghanistan and it is likely the most pivotal fighting season since 2002. Bagram Airfield was attacked on May 19th and I took vacation on May 25th. In my absence, our section performed outstandingly and all earned praise from the command group and higher headquarters.

Lose the ego and take vacation – you will be doing more for your organization than you think. I know that I am more valuable to my commander now than I was in the month prior to leave. My head is clearer; I am rested and simply feel more enthusiastic about tackling the complex problems sets (see Puzzles, Rubik's Cube and Brainteasers, posted 6 June 2010) that define Afghanistan. Leaders can instill confidence in their people by turning over the reigns to the person that they should be developing to replace them. If you have made yourself indispensable, you are likely limiting your organization’s growth.

And, if you are at the very top of the organization as an owner, commander or CEO and believe that you cannot be gone for two weeks, think again. Does anyone else in your organization have more people under him or her than you? In five years, no one will reflect back and comment, “If only so and so had not taken that two week vacation back in 2010, we wouldn’t be in this mess today.” So go ahead, take two weeks off.

Objection # 3: I don’t need a two-week vacation.

An extended vacation is not just about you. I’ll bet that you have family members or friends that would really enjoy some extended quality time with you. Deployed soldiers do perhaps learn this better than most people, but don’t miss an only opportunity to create a lasting memory. My kids did not know I was coming home this early and that provided perfect opportunities to surprise them – separately. I thought that I would have to close Elana’s wide-open jaw when she first saw me and I am convinced Connor was nearly in shock as I surprised him at his school’s chapel and he realized that I would be there for his 9^th grade graduation. A few days later, our family together climbed New Hampshire’s Cardigan Mountain and posted the pictures on Facebook to prove it. These memories, plus a lunch in Lake Placid with my mom and brother, are sustaining, and not just for me. So go ahead, take two weeks off.

Deployments have a way of teaching me more lessons than I can predict. This one took about two weeks to learn and is now wisdom for life.

RVA