I guess I should start by saying that I never intended for "Leaving England" to be my last post for a year and a half. After landing in the US, we were off and running for our wedding, honeymoon, new base, new house, etc, etc, and I just never got started writing again. But here I am in the desert, with a bit of time on my hands now that my grad school semester is over. So why not give blogging another shot? I'm not entirely sure what I'll have to write about most of the time, and I'll have to leave details out of some things for security reasons, but... here we go. :-)
I want to talk about the last year in Arizona at some point, but I think it makes the most sense to start with where I am now. Since the Army feels secure enough to post event pictures from here on Facebook, I can say that I am deployed with the Army in Kuwait. I've been here a few months, and I'll return sometime in the spring. This is my first deployment and first time with the Army, so I'm learning a lot and enjoying the experience.
Why am I with the Army when I'm in the Air Force, you may ask? Air Force weather personnel support the Army at almost every Army post both stateside and overseas, because the Army does not have their own weather personnel. So it's a pretty common occurrence for an Air Force weather officer to have one or more Army support assignments in their career; some even devote most of their careers to it. I've always thought it would be an interesting experience, and that's turning out to be the case. There are plenty of similarities between the two services, but there are also quite a few differences.
The facilities here are relatively good for a deployed location. I live in a dorm-type environment with one roommate, an Army Lieutenant from Louisiana. The bathroom and laundry room are wayyy on the other end of the building, but at least we don't have to go outside to get to the bathroom like some other living areas. The dining facility food is kind of hit or miss, but if you don't compare it to anything you could get or make at home, it's not that bad. One good point is that there is always grilled chicken available if you don't like what's on the main line, so I have found several new ways to eat grilled chicken!
I work what you would probably call a "swing" shift, from about noon until 9:30pm-ish. There is one other Air Force weather person here, and he works the early morning shift. It's not a bad schedule; I have plenty of time to work out in the mornings and do my grad school homework while my roommate is at work and it's quiet. The only downside is that I can't go to any of the evening events the base holds, and I don't really get to "hang out" with people because most are off in the evenings. It's not bad though, I enjoy the people I work with and work out with, so I always have fun talking with them at work or the gym.
The weather was really hot when I got here (sort of what you expect for this area), with average high temperatures in the 110s. What a difference a few months makes, however... our low temp this morning was 43! I actually had to wear leggings and a long sleeve shirt to go running.
I don't want to ramble too much in this "first" post, so that is probably a good enough overview of where I am and what I'm doing these days. Hopefully I'll have more interesting things to say in the future. :-) I'll leave you with a teaser picture, since I'll probably talk about our off-post trips next... here's a road sign!
I want to talk about the last year in Arizona at some point, but I think it makes the most sense to start with where I am now. Since the Army feels secure enough to post event pictures from here on Facebook, I can say that I am deployed with the Army in Kuwait. I've been here a few months, and I'll return sometime in the spring. This is my first deployment and first time with the Army, so I'm learning a lot and enjoying the experience.
Why am I with the Army when I'm in the Air Force, you may ask? Air Force weather personnel support the Army at almost every Army post both stateside and overseas, because the Army does not have their own weather personnel. So it's a pretty common occurrence for an Air Force weather officer to have one or more Army support assignments in their career; some even devote most of their careers to it. I've always thought it would be an interesting experience, and that's turning out to be the case. There are plenty of similarities between the two services, but there are also quite a few differences.
The facilities here are relatively good for a deployed location. I live in a dorm-type environment with one roommate, an Army Lieutenant from Louisiana. The bathroom and laundry room are wayyy on the other end of the building, but at least we don't have to go outside to get to the bathroom like some other living areas. The dining facility food is kind of hit or miss, but if you don't compare it to anything you could get or make at home, it's not that bad. One good point is that there is always grilled chicken available if you don't like what's on the main line, so I have found several new ways to eat grilled chicken!
I work what you would probably call a "swing" shift, from about noon until 9:30pm-ish. There is one other Air Force weather person here, and he works the early morning shift. It's not a bad schedule; I have plenty of time to work out in the mornings and do my grad school homework while my roommate is at work and it's quiet. The only downside is that I can't go to any of the evening events the base holds, and I don't really get to "hang out" with people because most are off in the evenings. It's not bad though, I enjoy the people I work with and work out with, so I always have fun talking with them at work or the gym.
The weather was really hot when I got here (sort of what you expect for this area), with average high temperatures in the 110s. What a difference a few months makes, however... our low temp this morning was 43! I actually had to wear leggings and a long sleeve shirt to go running.
I don't want to ramble too much in this "first" post, so that is probably a good enough overview of where I am and what I'm doing these days. Hopefully I'll have more interesting things to say in the future. :-) I'll leave you with a teaser picture, since I'll probably talk about our off-post trips next... here's a road sign!
Glad you are blogging again!
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom