My direct commission course ends this coming Friday! As soon as we are released on Friday, we have to move to another barracks...a couple hundred yards away. So we'll have to clean our rooms, pack up all of our gear and move to new rooms. Right now, there are 43 JAGs in DCC, here at Ft. Sill. We have been together since Feb. 8th. We will be divided into 2 groups (we're going to 2 different companies) next week...this will be a big change for us. We will no longer be 1 group of lawyers. Next week, we will be in the minority. The vast majority of our classmates will be newly commissioned West Point and ROTC kids. I say "kids" because they are fresh from college...22 year olds. We will outrank them as they are all 2nd lieutenants and we are 1st lieutenants...but most of them will know more and have more experience in the service than most of us. And where I am accustomed to being in bed at 10pm to get my 6-7 hours of sleep before a 5am wake-up, they will likely need less than that. I am hoping that I get to room with another JAG.
We will likely be doing more of the same that we have been doing here. A little more intense, I expect. I know that the last week is living on a "FOB" (forward operating base)...where we will be kept awake for most of a week....sleeping in 2-3 hour blocks all week. But once we do that, it will be done and I'll be going home.
We are going to get a taste of the FOB life tomorrow. We are going out tomorrow morning with our rucks and won't be back to the barracks until Wednesday (we get to ride in trucks tomorrow morning, but ruck 6 miles back on Wed)...our "camping" trip. We'll be sleeping outside tomorrow night and Tuesday night. MREs the entire time, except for "hot" dinners. I bought a lot of snacks to take with me (plus extra bug spray!). But once we get done with the camping trip, the rest of the week looks mostly administrative.
So week by week I am getting closer to home. But time here seems to be at 1/2 speed. Seems like I've been here for months and Charlottesville seems so long ago. Boston seems like eons ago. "Drive On" (a customary Army saying)...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thanks for calling. Hope your "camping trip" has gone well. Oliver and Stella have been busy playing outside at our house and parks. We've made some nice friends. I'm really happy to be here in Columbus. It is amazing how a city this size is quite diverse. It is pretty much a family town. And we see a bit of the country living...I'm learning a lot. Lots of transplant families who have moved here to work at Cummins. Charlie is nearing 6 months! He is a sweet little guy. His biggest hang-up is eating. He has reflux and is often difficult to feed. He throws up quite a bit. He takes medicine for it which seems to help a lot. He is starting to sit up and really interact with Oli and Stella. THey are sweet to him and rarely seem annoyed with him, for which I'm very grateful! Oliver is starting kindergarten in the fall so we're gearing up for that. Can you believe Stella will be three in August? Her b-day is late (misses the cut-off) so we're going to wait another year for preschool. She is doing great. I can't believe it has already been two years since we brought her home. She is a challenge, but so amazing at the same time. I can see her "maturing" a lot in recent weeks...I've given her some "big kid" responsibilities and she loves it. She starts story hour soon at the library. We've met a number of other girls from China in the past couple months. O.K. this is long. Take care. We love you and think of you often. Have a good sleep tonight! Julianne
ReplyDeleteoops...sorry... I thought the comment would be something you had to click on to read...I'm a big dork sometimes..:)
ReplyDelete