Schedule Change
A call cut short their celebrations, and the news that came with it dampened things. The news that came over the phone was something TJ and Shelby had received several times before, but it hit harder that time around because they had a newborn around.
Unaccompanied tours refer to another form of separation when servicemen are deployed to overseas bases for 18 months or more without family. It sometimes happens that a soldier might spend a long duration on an unaccompanied tour and get back home only to get deployed on a combat mission shortly after.