When I woke this morning, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I've been waking up at all hours of the night lately, which for the first time ever - DOESN'T UPSET ME! Sure, I think about all the things that need to be done..but mostly my head is just spinning with exciting thoughts!!
Here is a bullet point list of the fun things right now!
I leave for Cara's wedding (that I'm in) tomorrow
Tony gets back from NC Wednesday and will pick me up from the wedding in Rochester!
Friday we leave for WI to spend time with Tony's fam
Saturday we have our bachelor/ette party in WI as well!
Next Tuesday our dearest friends from CA fly in to Minneapolis
Next Thursday morning we pack up and head home
NEXT SATURDAY WE GET MARRIED!!!!!!!
and for the following 13 days -there is no plan :)
Tony leaves for CA on July 26th (not that i'm excited about that)
I leave for Okinawa on August 22nd! (less than a month apart!!!!)
I won't even begin to label all those with how many haircuts ;)
Just thought I would quickly post up some pictures from my time in North Carolina thus far. I have been hard at work in the course but have tried to find some fun ways to pass my free time. I have been to the beach twice in the last week and ended up playing golf the last two days!! Just over 5 days till I'm home for a visit!!
My small room here at Camp Johnson (I don't fit on the bed)
A few days before coming to NC we played TopGolf in Alexandria VA
The Gold course on Camp Lejeune
Another picture from this morning
Unfortunately I have to play with these (every club is different)
I miss my clubs :(
It has been around 90 and humid so the golf gets a little warm
The beach on Camp Lejeune
Another entrance next to the cottages you can rent
The last WOBC post……the course is officially over!!!! I’ve been waiting a while to write that
one! I’d like to say that the last bit
flew by but the truth is it has seemed like an eternity for most of us. The last bit of true hard work had us in the
field doing urban operations in TBS’s two different MOUT facilities for a week. This involved us doing everything from systematically
clearing buildings “zero dark thirty stuff” to just patrolling and interacting
with locals (role players acting as Afghani’s) proving to us how difficult it
can be to command and control a Squad or Platoon in this ever changing
environment. This is some of the best
and most realistic training we do as counter insurgency is likely going to be
our most common fight in the near future.
To make it a little more realistic we used SESAMS rounds, basically a
9mm paint round that hurts like hell, so if you are hit there is no denying it
(if you want a laugh I can tell you about some of the standoffs and tactics we
used). After the last MRE’s
were eaten and we did the final hike back (15 miles) we just had a few things
left; test, PFT, Mess Night, and weapons/gear turn in. Because of this easy schedule over the last
14 days time seemed to stall out on us.
We did get some amazing speeches in those last few weeks by many of the
top leaders in the Marine Corps and it was great to hear their encouraging
words.
After all was said and done I did well finishing 2nd
in the class of 193 coming up something like .002% short. Even better than that, it was great to have
the family come out to see the gaduation and do some sightseeing in DC. The weather held out for us and we did as much
as anyone can do in the given time, needless to say you cannot see all of DC in
a little over a day!! It is definitely a
place that Tara and I have vowed to come back to and explore.
I am writing this from Camp Lejeune as I start yet another
course here dark and early Wednesday morning.
This is much different though as there are only 9 of us in the Motor
Transport Maintenance Officer Course.
This is where we will “learn” to do the things required of us in our
occupational field as a Warrant Officer.
It will last 37 days and will be more of a refresher than the last
course, oh yeah and best part - no pressure to graduate high in the class!!
Tony and I have had a relationship based on countdowns. As hard as it is being away from each other, I love that I will have an everlasting appreciation for being under the same roof again someday. And that day being very soon.
22 more days until I see him 75 more days until the wedding 95 more days until he checks in at Camp Hansen in Okinawa 112 more days until I get to Japan (give or take a few days)
These all seem do-able. Tony told me that when they were deployed, the countdown of returning home was based on how many more haircuts they had left. Since this is a 1x/week appointment, "5 more haircuts" sounded better than "5 weeks"
so in Tony's word:
next time we see eachother = 3 more haircuts (AWESOME) wedding = 10 more haircuts Camp Hansen = 13 haircuts Tara in Japan = 16 haircuts
* I think I should start getting my haircut once a week.
Time has been flying out here and I truly cannot believe that graduation is 30 days away! Since the last time I wrote the weather has swung to the opposite end of the spectrum and it is finally pretty nice with everything growing and turning green.
Our last week-long field exercise averaged in the high 80’s with some humidity! During that exercise we spent 2 days in the defense digging primary, alternate, and supplementary positions as deep as we could. There was not a moment of rest throughout the day and we averaged about 2 hours of sleep a night because we pushed out security patrols, manned the machineguns, and conducted resupply missions. On Wednesday we pushed the dirt back in our holes and spent the next 2 days on the move conducting day and night attacks on other platoons defenses. To say it was hot with all that gear on was an understatement and because of it we had many go down for heat exhaustion. After a long hike on Thursday through the smoke caused by a large fire on base we stopped at the platoon fire and maneuver range to bed down for the night. Right before going to bed they gave us a surprise written exam where they test our concentration under stress. They read us “Fox in Socks” over a bullhorn while flashing lights in our face and yelling loudly…it was pretty tough to concentrate on mapwork and formulate a plan to conduct an attack on the enemy. There was supposed to be a pretty big thunderstorm on Thursday night but it held off until 30 mins before we woke up on Friday morning, yay! (Friday I took over as the Platoon Commander and was in charge of everything that happened on the range for my platoon (one of my field billets for evaluation). It down-poured worse than I have ever seen right before I gave my hour long brief of our attack on the enemy soaking us to the bone, but I got through it pretty well considering. Our dry run on the range didn’t go too well but after some extra rehearsals we preformed great on the live fire event and I received really good feedback. We capped it all off with a 9 mile hike home to clean weapons for a few hours and crash out in our rooms.
Besides the week in the field we have had the following and much more:
2 important written exams covering: tactical fundamentals, day/night optics and observation theory, communications equipment, rifle squad tactics, principles of fire support/planning, call for indirect fire, helo capabilities, patrol order and overlays, scouting and patrolling operations, ambush patrols, EPW/detainees, combat lifesaving, prevention and treatment of heat injuries, causality evaluation and evacuation, rifle platoon in the offense/defense, machine gun employment, crew served weapons, heavy machine guns, aviation employment considerations, and developing training plans!
Final day and night land navigation: Day-finding 10 small red boxes (8 digit grids) in 8 hours over a 22km area using a compass and map. Night- finding 6 small white boxes (8 digit grids) in 6 hours over a 7km area using a compass and map.
Final obstacle course: Have to be under 2:00 to pass and under 1:00 for 100%. I got :58…example o-course video below.
Final obstacle and endurance course: Same obstacle course then 5 miles though the woods with 40lbs of gear and weapon with challenging obstacles along the way. 80 mins to pass and 60 mins to get 100%. I got 61 mins.
Well, I have yet another test to study for so I should probably get to it. Next time I write I will only have a couple of weeks left here! Thanks to everyone for their support!!
Shooting the MK19 grenade launcher!
Posting rear security moving to our defensive position.
Starting to dig our primary position.
Getting deeper (armpit) and concealing it with pine needles...not done though!
Finally got my blues back from being tailored! Ready for the graduation and the wedding!!
I've been able to spend a lot of time with Olivia & Grace lately. It's been pretty nice to just walk down the street and barge into the house asking the girls to play :) We've been on bike rides, runs around the block, couple of trips to the whippy dip, and to the park. They have been so much fun the last 3 months and I'm really going to miss them. When I have kids someday, I hope they get along as well as these two do! They are inseparable - and that's an understatement. They love their movies and shows, fruit snacks at Grandma's house, and creating their own "oliviagrace" language. Here are a few pictures from our 3 months of fun :)
I wanted to write down some of my goals I have been thinking about for the next 3 years we are going to be in Okinawa. There is so much I'm looking forward too!
1. Getting over my fear of water. This hopefully won't take long as the island is known for the incredible snorkeling and beautiful blue waters! I'm not sure why I'm so scared. I can't keep a steady, consistent, CALM breath when I try to swim laps or put my head under. I get water up my nose when I dive in and my eyes burn from the chlorine. This can't continue... And im sure with Tony's help (I can see the "fights" now) I will get over this.
2. Learning Japanese. By no means do I think that I'll be fluent, but I am really excited to learn. Hopefully i'll be able to understand and have enough in my vocabulary that others will understand me.
3. Camping & Rock climbing. I've always enjoyed both of these things - but I've never been really good. I haven't had the tools to camp comfortably, nor have I had the amount of experience needed to be a great rock climber. I'm hoping this can change!
4. Letting go of my love for Minneapolis. Just for a few years anyway ;).. Okinawa will be such a different pace of life. Different culture. Different people. Different part of the world. And each day as much as I will miss my family, friends, and the city I love - I'm going to soak up every bit of the island life I can. That's a goal and a promise.
5. Read more. I'm not sure what makes me think that I can't read enough here in the states, but there's something about moving half way across the world that just makes me want to be very well-rounded. I want to learn about the Okinawan culture, better my knowledge of American history, and teach English as a 2nd language.
6. Be the most supportive and adventurous wife I can be. And no matter how far my friends and family are - work hard at being the best friend, sister, and daughter I can be.
So it has been roughly 47 days since I arrived in Quantico Virginia for Warrant Officer Basic Course and the course has been everything people told me it would be and more. To explain it a little better, this four month school is designed to provide us with the knowledge and leadership to assume the role of a provisional Rifle Platoon Commander in the Fleet Marine Force. This course goes once a year and right now we have 195 students who are the technical experts in their respective occupational fields. This year there were 8 from my community including me and the other 7 will be my direct competition during this course! (ranking does matter) The amount of time in the service for each person ranges from roughly 9 years to 18 years and we have a minimum three year obligation after they spend all of this money on us. They preach the five horizontal themes of an officer which are; A man or women of exemplary character, Devoted to leading Marines 24/7, Able to decide, communicate, and act in the fog of war, A warfighter who embraces the Corps' warrior ethos, Mentally strong and physically tough. Everything we do here is under the microscope and very intense, they insert friction wherever they can in order to prepare us for difficult times later in our career.
Academically they cram 830 hours of classroom and evaluation time (roughly 2 years of college) in 4 months! They basically use the "fire hose" method of teaching and tell us to make it happen, but there is a method to their madness and the instructors are some of the best officers across the Marine Corps. We study almost all hours that we are not in class or sleeping and it feels like college finals week - every week! Physically they also push us past our comfort zone and many of us feel as if our bodies are breaking down...far more than bootcamp for instance, but that is probably just because we are old and not 18 anymore!!
Last week we spent four days in the field doing land navigation, squad assaults, live fire ranges, hiking, combat life saving, and much more. During that time we did roughly 30 miles of movement with various combat loads. I can officially say that I really miss California and its amazing weather, the last week has put me through sleeping outside in 8 inches of snow/sleet/rain with some 50 mph wind gusts!
Spirits are high and I am doing well so far, on course to graduate in the top ten percent. I am counting down the days however and right now I sit at 72 days till graduation, 125 to the wedding, and 144 till I am in Japan. 2013 has been and will undoubtedly be pretty damn crazy for me and Tara!! Hopefully this paints a better picture to what I have been doing out here and there will be more posts to come if I can get some free time...
Normal night at my desk doing homework
Reading and taking notes on MC Doctrinal Publication - Warfighting
Packing to go to the field
Roughly 125lbs of gear without my 400 rounds of ammunition
Thought I'd share a quick top 5 reasons why I love this kid -there are a million good things, but let me be sarcastic in this list
5. He tattles on me a whole lot. He thinks the silly things I say are either inappropriate or mean and I think he wants to get a rise out of his mom over some of the things I will say to him. We'll work on the tattling over the next few years.. because there's a whole lot more I have in store for him.
4. He is a tremendous athlete. I don't want to give him a big head (not quite yet anyway) but he seriously does everything with a "natural" motion. Uncle Tony got him a "big boy" skateboard that he will hopefully start using soon. His mom probably wasn't too happy about that - but Max will learn how to do it...and do it well in no time. There's no doubt in my mind that he will surpass his parents athletic ability by the time he is 12.
3. He calls me Terry. The last couple years I have (for whatever reason) started calling Max, Terry D. Terry D used to be an old neighbor long ago and when I used to call the kids and pretend to be someone else, opening my different voice box, I would call myself Terry D, which turned out to be Max's nickname. I like all of his nicknames that he gives me - some that don't make sense, but the fact that he has a comeback ALWAYS - I'll welcome it always.
2. He doesn't appreciate my gifts very much. Don't get me wrong, he loves the toys that I periodically give him - but the greatest gift of toilet paper and kleenexes? He throws it back in my face. Not sure why any child would dislike this gift. If they only knew how much their parents used a kleenex to wipe their gross snotty noses and toilet paper to wipe their (...ok, you know where I'm going) - they'd appreciate it. Someday he will.
1. I haven't had the "sweet" cuddly Max for nearly a year now. I definitely miss it, but I love the relationship we have. Whenever we see each other, it's a quick hug and we're right at the bickering. I tell him he has to hug me or I won't give him any more presents - and although he can go without the toilet paper, the other gifts I give him are definitely worth hugging for. We like to wrestle, make crazy faces, and just be the "cool" kids when we're around each other. I wouldn't change any of it.
This past week I was able to watch Ivy as Beth and the others took off for Disney World! I was so excited for Max and Mya to experience the magical kingdom - and selfishly, I was so excited to spend some QT with Ivy babes! As there were times that I thought she was missing her siblings and parents, we got along juuuust fine.
I had to apologize to Beth that Ivy's new game now is falling off the couch (into my hands) - she thinks it is hilaaaaarious. I am to blame, because to hear her laugh like she was - I couldn't help but to continue :) Her new words this week were "Grandpa" and "pretty". and boy, did she say "Grandpa" a whole lot. I think she liked hearing her own voice say the word! It was very sweet. I'm not sure if she was doing this at home, but this week I noticed that whenever she didn't get something or wanted something slightly out of reach, she would yell "Owie" loud - like she was hurt so I would come help her. She's smart. And I love it.
Friday morning I was sad to wake up and not have her around. She was so much fun - and I'd do it every day if I could!
