Yup. It happened to me.
I was deployed on a 7 month tour in Djibouti. Around month 6, I was having a drink with my Master Sergeant and, out of curiosity, asked him if soldiers ever stick around in-country for multiple rotations. He said that he didn’t know, but he’d find out. It wasn’t a request, I was just wondering if it ever happened.
The next day, I traveled to Kenya for a month-long mission, and didn’t talk to my boss much. When I finally flew back to Djibouti, he met me on the tarmac getting off the plane and said, “Congratulations, Specialist. Your request to extend has been approved; you’ll be staying in Djibouti for an extra 6 months!”
I was surprised but not disappointed. The mission had the potential to make a real difference in people’s lives, so I stuck around. I ended up working in the Embassy, playing golf with the US Ambassador, hosting Embassy functions, meeting foreign dignitaries, and buying school supplies for every elementary school student in the entire country on the US military’s dime. It was very fulfilling, and I’m grateful in hindsight for the misunderstanding.
The picture is of me during my extension in Djibouti. The temperature was too-damn-hot degrees.