Our Military Journey (Thus Far)

As I’ve mentioned in About Me, and The Wing It Life, my husband is in the United States Marine Corps. He’s a pilot and in the past year we’ve moved about 4 times. It’s been quite fun. Each time we’ve moved we’ve encountered a hurricane too, so that’s made it really interesting. I’ll talk more on that in a later post.

When I met him he was just a guy with a dream of being a pilot and here we are some 5 years later and that dream has come true. I feel so lucky to have been part of his journey through it all. 

His USMC journey started in Harrisonburg, VA and Richmond, VA around 2012/2013. Periodically, he would meet with his OSO (Officer Selection Officer) and make sure his application was top notch and practice the physical fitness test (PFT). 

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In March 2015 he was officially selected to go to Officer Candidate School (OCS) that coming September. Things started moving fast! From September 2015- November 2015 he was living his best life in The Quigley at OCS in Quantico, VA.

Once a commissioned officer, he stayed in Quantico and went to The Basic School from January 2016- June 2016. During this time, I was conveniently about an hour away in Loudon, VA., where I was finishing nursing school.

In July 2016, we drove him down to Pensacola, FL., and somehow we didn’t kill each other. Important to note- if you have a Jack Brown’s near you, please go and have your life changed. I JUST LEARNED THERE’S ONE AN HOUR AWAY FROM US! BRB.

In Pensacola he completed the various levels of flight schools- Initial Flight Screening (IFS), Aviation Pre-Flight Indoctrination (API), and Primary Flight Training. Before he started IFS, he made sure his life was locked in, so he proposed to me August 19, 2016 in Downtown Pensacola.

While I went back to finish my last semester of nursing school (Aug – Dec 2016), he began learning to fly little cessnas in IFS in August, and then completed API in November. 

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December 30th, 2016 I packed up all my *necessary* things and moved down to Pensacola, FL to begin the New Year. Shortly after I moved in, my husband began his Primary flight school in a T-6B Texan (a turbo prop plane that can do spins and tricks, for people like me who need simple terms).

After about 7 months of late night simulations, and learning air acrobatics, he was selected to fly a KC130-J (a big cargo plane). This meant we were moving to Corpus Christi, TX., somewhere around October, but “probably November”.

Lesson number 1: Never believe what they tell you. 

We got a really cute phone call in September saying something along the lines of, “Where are you? You’re supposed to be checking in in TX.” Clearly, we were not in TX and the panic began. An important detail to add is, our wedding was set for the first weekend October in VA., so a move to TX was really not in the plan…especially since we were told it would be after.

By the end of that day, our move date was set- October 12, 2017. A wonderful 4 days after our wedding. 

Sunday, October 8- Wedding

Monday, October 9- Recovery

Tuesday, October 10- Drive from VA to FL –> Our truck gets an engine light in the middle of nowhere Georgia. The amazing people at Billy Cain Ford helped us on our way, despite being closed. THANK YOU BC FORD <3

Wednesday, Oct 11- Packers/Movers arrived to get our stuff *Nothing had been packed because of the wedding*

Thursday, Oct 12- Drive from FL to TX

It was an amazing honeymoon. Let me tell you! But hey that’s the military life for you and you can’t really do anything but laugh and take it in strides. 

We spent exactly 6 months in TX., where he got his wings pinned on, and we headed for NC., on April 12. So here we are! It’s been crazy, and challenging, but fun! 

Our next journey is buying a house, and I have no idea what’s going on, but you know me – I’m just gonna wing it!

If you’re just beginning your military journey, good luck and best wishes! The best piece of advice I received was to remember to find the positives in the situations that seem really awful. It’s challenging, but sometimes the only thing you can do is look at your spouse or your dogs and take a deep breath. Know that it will get better eventually, which is easier said than done, I know! 

And if you’re unsure about what to do, just wing it (or reach out to other spouses, we’re all just winging it too)!

-D