France-bound... but almost not

Boy, have the last 36 hours been nuts. Just before going in to work on Monday night, I found out that I was picked by the USAFE staff to go to Istres, France, for a week in Nov to provide weather support for a space shuttle mission. Awesome, right? I was on cloud nine and trying to gauge how much French I remembered from high school.

So then I worked my mid shift, and just happened to hang around a little later in the morning to finish some online training. Around 8am, Jose gets a call from the USAFE staff that his name is on the short list for a 4-month deployment to Turkey in two weeks. Yeah, two weeks. Awful for someone with two little kids and a pregnant wife. Then two things happen almost simultaneously: Jose gets the call that he is the one going, and he discovers that his deployment cycle is listed wrong in virtual MPF. Turns out, the Turkey deployment is for the cycle that is up now... MY cycle, not his. So then everyone starts telling me that I'm the one going, while trying to figure out which deployment tracking system is right. Chaos reigned for the next several hours as this was being sorted out. Many possibilities were thrown around, but I'll skip to the final outcome, which we did not hear until after lunch... it is my deployment cycle, but the position is for a Maj and they'd take a Capt, but not a Lt. So Jose is going, and he and I are consequently switching deployment cycles.

There are so many implications of these events I could get into, but I really feel bad for Jose's family. Luckily, the weather flight is very close-knit and I am sure we will take care of them. Still, I can only imagine what is like to tell your 4-year old daughter that you're about to miss her birthday and Christmas. I won't lie and say I was hoping I'd go, but it would have been easier for me than him. The kicker is having only two weeks to prepare, most normal deployments have much more notice.

So, for a few hours, France was off, but now it is back on. I have two more mid shifts this week, then my checkride on Mon and Tues to be certified to work the desk. I am slowly getting more confident, so I think it should go well. Some parts of the job are familiar, but there is a lot more interaction with people and on-the-spot questioning than at the 26th. I think I like it, though. For now, it's home and sleep, then OSS football game tonight. I'm excited to watch my team play again (Jose and MSgt B are the coaches), but it is going to be a cold one at 8:30pm! Must remember a blanket...