I finally returned home on Friday afternoon and I was so excited to finally be back. Jason picked me up at the airport in Moline and surprised me with dinner at a restaurant in Bettendorf, IA. Then we came home and I loved on the puppies and Sadie would not leave me alone. She was so cute. :)
Yesterday Jason and I went mushroom hunting in the morning at the farm and we didn't find anything!!! The other guy that was with us found 3 mushrooms, but that was it. It was a little disappointing, but there's always next year! We had Richie, Jason's Big Brother Big Sister brother, with us and we had taken him with us and afterward took him to Pizza Ranch for some lunch. I don't think Richie enjoyed it too much since he fell once and got caught on practically every thorn bush in the woods. But, it was something different that Jason hasn't done with him and maybe if he takes him out again, there will be more success.
Last night we went to dinner with my Aunt Sue, Uncle Neal, Annie, Steve, Mom, Dad, and Jenna. We went to China Garden and it was a nice time. While we didn't want to eat out twice in one day, it was nice to catch up with everyone and visit with them.
Today is Molly's Confirmation and I'm her sponsor. It's at 2 this afternoon and afterward we are going to the Machine Shed in Davenport to celebrate. All I've done is out for the past 2 weeks and I'm ready for a home cooked meal! I'll definitely get one this week since Jason will be gone and I can cook for myself.
It's great to be back and I'm glad that my next trip will only be for a few days rather than 2 weeks. I'm sad to see Jason leave, but definitely glad I'm no longer in Texarkana!!!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
3 Days Left...
Another day down, only 3 more to go. I've never posted this much in 1 week and it's only because I'm not cleaning the house, doing laundry, dishes, etc. I have the time needless to say! I'm getting soooooo anxious to go home. I'm starting to get bummed about it, but hopefully these next few days go quickly. Last Friday in class, the main instructor Tad, said that he'd like to see more quality people come down for a 4 month course instead of the 6 months or what we're doing now for 2 weeks. And he looked directly at me and said that he thinks it would really benefit me. I just took it with a grain of salt thinking he was just talking, until he mentioned it again today...and with dates. It would run from July to the end of October and I'm really nervous that he's going to mention it to Brian, my Division Chief, who is in charge of the training. I don't want to come down here for 4 months....how are Jason and I ever going to start a family? How are we supposed to make our marriage work being miles away? I hope I'm just worrying for nothing, but it's all I can think about right now. I've got a lump in my throat just thinking about it and now I'm starting to wonder if I made a mistake in taking this job. Ho-hum. I guess I'll just have to wait it out and see.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
And the Weekend is Over...
I'm only happy the weekend is over because that means that I only have 4 more days until I get to see Jason and our puppies. It's been great down here and the people have been really nice, but I'm ready to come home. Yesterday we drove to Smithsville, OK to go horseback riding, not my #1 choice, but I did it because the girl that I'm with wanted to. First off, the directions led us onto a road that started out as blacktop, but turned into a country back road with bridges made of out boards and half of them were sticking up! Neither one of us could get signal on our phones and we started to get really nervous. After what felt like an hour on this road, we flagged down a lady in a truck and asked her where the main highway was because we needed to get to Smithsville. Turns out we were about 1,000 feet from the main highway....thank God. When we finally got to the ranch, they had a dog that looked EXACTLY like Sadie Mae and it made me sad. I started missing her and Andy like crazy and then I got upset last night talking to Jason on the phone. 2 weeks isn't a lot, but we haven't ever been apart this long before. But, I'm better today because I did a little shopping!!! Melanie and I drove to Shreveport, LA to the Louisiana Boardwalk where they have lots of little stores and I got a beautiful purse and wallet and some pants. We ate at a restaurant comparable to the Cheesecake Factory and it was delicious. We left there and went to some other shopping places, but were tired from the first and we ended up driving back to the hotel. I've seen a lot of 'different' places down here that were very interesting to put it nicely! :) And I didn't bring my camera, so I don't have any pictures, but I've sure got some stories!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
MRAP
Today was such an exciting day for me in Texarkana. I got to drive an MRAP M-ATV!!! MRAP stands for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle and it's one of the newer configurations of vehicles for the armed services. There are many different versions of the MRAP vehicle, but I was lucky enough to drive the M-ATV. I thought the director was joking when he said the blonde could start out driving first, but he wasn't! I was so excited and so nervous all at the same time. It was the greatest experience I've had yet and I couldn't believe I was actually driving it! I drove on the base, on dirt roads, and up a 50% incline. The incline was a little nerve wracking....my hands and feet were shaking the whole time. But, I did it and I'm so glad I did. Here is a link to check out the MRAP vehicles.... http://www.oshkoshdefense.com/defense/products~matv~home.cfm. Go to the third video on the right hand side and this one shows you what the vehicle can do. This was such a neat experience and I hope I get to see many more exciting things!
And one quick thing before I end this....yesterday we went and saw live-fire testing for the Bradley....too cool. :)
And one quick thing before I end this....yesterday we went and saw live-fire testing for the Bradley....too cool. :)
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Texarkana - Day #1
So, I just got to Texarkana around 6:30 tonight and while the flights were good and the 3 hour drive from Dallas to Texarkana went well, I'm sure starting to miss my family back home. I'm trying to think positive and tell myself that it's only for 11 more nights. :) I wish the days would fly by and I could see my husband!!! This is going to be the first time that I've been away from Jason longer than a week and it's going to feel like an eternity. Oh well, I'd better get used to it because it's only the first day!!!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Travel, Travel, Travel
It's a lot to have 2 posts in one day, but the last post I had started on last week and I finally got around to downloading my photos, so it finally got posted today.
Jason and I are going on lots of travel soon....here are our schedules for this month and May:
April 11-23: Julie in Texarkana, TX (2 weeks w/no breaks on the weekends...I'm sure going to miss my husband)
April 26-28: Jason in Cleveland, OH & Chicago
May 4-6: Jason in Nashville, TN
May 10-13: Julie in Picatinny, NJ
At least we'll get to see each other on the weekends!!! It's definitely going to be tough, but we'll just have to learn how to deal with it. I don't know how we're both going to do with the first trip with me being gone for 2 weeks and not seeing each other on the weekend. I'm pretty sure I know how Jason will do....he'll be turkey hunting that first weekend, so his mind will be occupied. Hopefully I can find some good malls in Texarkana or hopefully we can go to Dallas to do some shopping!!!
Let's see, what else is going on in our world. Jason finally got someone to rent out the tillable property, so we're pretty happy about that. He's a neighbor right down the road and he and his wife are very nice people. He's a small farmer, which is what Jason kind of wanted anyway.
Well, that's about it! Hope all is well with everyone and we'll talk to you soon!
-Jason & Julie :)
Jason and I are going on lots of travel soon....here are our schedules for this month and May:
April 11-23: Julie in Texarkana, TX (2 weeks w/no breaks on the weekends...I'm sure going to miss my husband)
April 26-28: Jason in Cleveland, OH & Chicago
May 4-6: Jason in Nashville, TN
May 10-13: Julie in Picatinny, NJ
At least we'll get to see each other on the weekends!!! It's definitely going to be tough, but we'll just have to learn how to deal with it. I don't know how we're both going to do with the first trip with me being gone for 2 weeks and not seeing each other on the weekend. I'm pretty sure I know how Jason will do....he'll be turkey hunting that first weekend, so his mind will be occupied. Hopefully I can find some good malls in Texarkana or hopefully we can go to Dallas to do some shopping!!!
Let's see, what else is going on in our world. Jason finally got someone to rent out the tillable property, so we're pretty happy about that. He's a neighbor right down the road and he and his wife are very nice people. He's a small farmer, which is what Jason kind of wanted anyway.
Well, that's about it! Hope all is well with everyone and we'll talk to you soon!
-Jason & Julie :)
Ft. Benning, GA
Monday I went on travel to Ft. Benning, GA for some training for one of the items that I will be receiving in my quality job. Here is a little history on Ft. Benning from Wikipedia:
Ft. Benning is named for Brigadier General Henry L. Benning, a Confederate Army General and a native of Columbus. It was established in October 1918 as Camp Benning, and was assigned permanent status in 1918. The base covers 182,000 acres. During WWII, Ft. Benning included 197,159 acres and had billeting space for 3,970 officers and 94,873 enlisted persons. The Chattahoochee River runs through Ft. Benning, which straddles the Georgia/Alabama state line; 93 percent of Ft. Benning is located in Georgia and 7 percent in Alabama.
Ft. Benning's first mission was to provide basic training for units participating in WWI. With the end of that war, Benning was closed until the Army could find another use. The first tenant unit was the Infantry School, which General George Marshall commanded beginning in 1934. The Infantry School is still located at Ft. Benning, the wooden permanent buildings completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
In 1940, the 2nd Armored Division was formed at Ft. Benning; it first saw action in North Africa and the Pacific Theater of Operations.
During WWII, Ft. Benning became home to the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, known as the Triple Nickel. Their training began in December 1943 and was an important milestone for black Americans. The battalion, later expanded to become the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, was trained at Ft. Benning but did not deploy overseas. During this period, the specialized duties of the Triple Nickel were primarily in a firefighting role, with over one thousand parachute jumps as smoke jumpers. The 555th was secretly deployed to the Pacific Northwest of the United States in response to the concern that forest fires were being set by the Japanese military using long-range incendiary balloons.
The Airborne School on Main Post has three 249 foot drop towers called 'Free Towers'. They are used to train paratroopers. The towers were modeled after the parachute towers at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Only three towers stand today; the fourth tower was toppled by a tornado in March 14, 1954.
The 4th Infantry Division, first of four divisions committed by the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, reorganized and completed its basic training at Ft. Benning from October 1950 to May 1951, when it deployed to Germany for five years.
Today, Ft. Benning is a self-sustaining military community, which supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees, and civilian employees on a daily basis. It is a power projection platform, and possesses the capability to deploy combat-ready forces by air, rail, and highway. Ft. Benning is the home of the United States Army Infantry Center and School, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, the 14th Combat Support Hospital and many other additional tenant units.
I was there on travel to be trained on the Claymore and get feedback on the positives and negatives of this item. The Claymore is a directional anti-personnel mine. It fires shrapnel, in the form of steel balls. It is used primarily in ambushes and as an anti-infiltration device against enemy infantry. It is also of some use against unarmored vehicles. Below is a photo from Wikipedia of the Claymore.
I had the opportunity to train as the soldiers would out on the range. They wanted us to see what has to be done in order to set up the Claymore and the time it takes to do so.
Here is the link for all my pictures from the training. There are other people from other locations that showed up, so they're in the photos as well. And you'll be able to spot me easily as I'm in the orange jacket. :)
Ft. Benning is named for Brigadier General Henry L. Benning, a Confederate Army General and a native of Columbus. It was established in October 1918 as Camp Benning, and was assigned permanent status in 1918. The base covers 182,000 acres. During WWII, Ft. Benning included 197,159 acres and had billeting space for 3,970 officers and 94,873 enlisted persons. The Chattahoochee River runs through Ft. Benning, which straddles the Georgia/Alabama state line; 93 percent of Ft. Benning is located in Georgia and 7 percent in Alabama.
Ft. Benning's first mission was to provide basic training for units participating in WWI. With the end of that war, Benning was closed until the Army could find another use. The first tenant unit was the Infantry School, which General George Marshall commanded beginning in 1934. The Infantry School is still located at Ft. Benning, the wooden permanent buildings completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
In 1940, the 2nd Armored Division was formed at Ft. Benning; it first saw action in North Africa and the Pacific Theater of Operations.
During WWII, Ft. Benning became home to the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, known as the Triple Nickel. Their training began in December 1943 and was an important milestone for black Americans. The battalion, later expanded to become the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, was trained at Ft. Benning but did not deploy overseas. During this period, the specialized duties of the Triple Nickel were primarily in a firefighting role, with over one thousand parachute jumps as smoke jumpers. The 555th was secretly deployed to the Pacific Northwest of the United States in response to the concern that forest fires were being set by the Japanese military using long-range incendiary balloons.
The Airborne School on Main Post has three 249 foot drop towers called 'Free Towers'. They are used to train paratroopers. The towers were modeled after the parachute towers at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Only three towers stand today; the fourth tower was toppled by a tornado in March 14, 1954.
The 4th Infantry Division, first of four divisions committed by the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, reorganized and completed its basic training at Ft. Benning from October 1950 to May 1951, when it deployed to Germany for five years.
Today, Ft. Benning is a self-sustaining military community, which supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees, and civilian employees on a daily basis. It is a power projection platform, and possesses the capability to deploy combat-ready forces by air, rail, and highway. Ft. Benning is the home of the United States Army Infantry Center and School, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, the 14th Combat Support Hospital and many other additional tenant units.
I was there on travel to be trained on the Claymore and get feedback on the positives and negatives of this item. The Claymore is a directional anti-personnel mine. It fires shrapnel, in the form of steel balls. It is used primarily in ambushes and as an anti-infiltration device against enemy infantry. It is also of some use against unarmored vehicles. Below is a photo from Wikipedia of the Claymore.
I had the opportunity to train as the soldiers would out on the range. They wanted us to see what has to be done in order to set up the Claymore and the time it takes to do so.
Here is the link for all my pictures from the training. There are other people from other locations that showed up, so they're in the photos as well. And you'll be able to spot me easily as I'm in the orange jacket. :)
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| Claymore |
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