In the beginning...

Post number two, explaining where we are. This post will be very long just to get everyone up to speed.

**You have been warned.**

Very late one night, out of the blue, in the middle of January, my husband asks me, "What do you think of me joining the military?" What?! For anyone who doesn't know Kyle very well, this was beyond unexpected. Of course my initial reaction was not just no, but h*ll no! Over the next couple of days we discussed it, I calmed down (and began to come out of shock) and decided to be open-minded about it and go for it since he made it clear that this was what he wanted to do.

We started doing nothing but research the military and military life for the next two weeks or so and then we made our way to the local recruiting offices. At this point Kyle wasn't sure what branch he would like to enter. All of the offices were closed except the Army so we started there. We walked in and found several desks and several soldiers. They sat us down, asked Kyle why he'd like to join, asked me how I felt about that and emphasized that if he enters the military then I am entering the military, and then whisked Kyle away for the next 20 or 30 minutes to take his practice ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery).

While Kyle was gone they just sat and talked to me, asked what we did, told me a bit about the Army, and then introduced me to who would be our recruiter, we'll call him "Sgt. B." Well Sgt B was VERY informative. I didn't hardly have a chance to ask anything he was throwing information at me so fast! Now don't get me wrong, I wanted to know all that I could, it was just a little overwhelming at first. I was given a folder full of books and pamphlets and as Sgt B was showing me pictures and pamphlets of daily life on base, spitting statistics, and pointing out AF (Air Force) bases on a map, Kyle comes back and they inform us of his score which was excellent. With Kyle there, the conversation changed to the types of jobs available and how the ranking and payscale works. A little over two hours later we were on our way home with lots of information to go over.

When we got home that night we poured over the booklets and researched some more on the Internet and decided the Army was the way to go. At this point we haven't told anyone about this decision although I was bursting at the seams. I started looking through forums, websites, and blogs about military wives and Kyle was trying to figure out which jobs he'd like to list as his preference. At some point we both decided maybe we should research other branches before committing (good idea, huh?). He was then trying to decide between the Army and the Marines.

This is the point when we (he) finally decided it's time to tell the parents. All the mothers were just as shocked as I was. We heard some tales of his fathers days in the Navy, what Marine life is like from my cousin, a relative of mine used to be an Army Ranger way back in the day, and various other tidbits from friends serving in different branches. I was partial to the Air Force mainly because the Navy has sea duty and although I would love the pride of saying he's a Marine, I don't want to put up with the harder lifestyle for the same rank and pay lol.

We then visited the Air Force recruiting office which was a completely opposite experience. Instead of many desks and uniformed men, there was one desk, one man, and we had to schedule to come back because he was already with someone. When we came back, "Sgt. R." asked us some similar questions, had Kyle do a practice ASVAB (which was now 10 points higher since he had been studying ASVAB For Dummies after his first one), and then weighed him. We were a little put off when Sgt R told us that the Air Force didnt really need people and that they were "sitting pretty." Sgt R informed us that all they were really looking for is Mechanics, Special Forces, and Military Police. Also, where in the Army office I had more information thrown at me than I could handle, here it was like pulling teeth! Instead of offering information, he asked what we'd like to know. Now it was not a bad experience, just different from what we were expecting. Questions were answered, the next appointment was scheduled and then we were told Kyle needed to lose four pounds before he could be processed. Four pounds!!! I was shocked that they'd be so picky but nevertheless we bought a treadmill, a military workout book, and the dieting and exercising began! (He had been exercising but now it was full speed).

We spent the next week or so weighing the pros and cons of both the Army and the Air Force. Army could guarantee your job before you left, Air Force had a better standard of living, and so on. Eventually we get a text from Sgt R saying that a job that was on reserve for someone became available and it's first-come-first-serve and we made an appointment to come in the next day. What happened was it was on reserve for a high school girl who doesn't graduate until June but the job leaves in May and you have to have a diploma for the AF. Kyle got his paperwork, we returned it the next day, and his MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) appointment was scheduled.

We found out the morning Kyle was supposed to head out for MEPS that Sgt R didn't submit some paperwork so instead of going Monday and Tuesday he was now going Thursday and Friday. He left and was there with 8 other people, by the end of it there were three. One was disqualified for color blindness, one for no depth perception, one walked out, one got sick, and one had too much hearing loss.

We soon find out after Kyle gets home that Sgt R had the weight limit wrong and was telling us ten pounds under what the limit was, so he was never four pounds overweight. Kyle was okay with that though since it pushed him to get into better shape and he's still exercising every day.

So that's it in a nutshell, this is where we are. Long, I know, and I even left out a lot of detail! We're now waiting for his final contract to come in. He signed an open contract for the reserved job but it can change if one of the jobs on his preferred list becomes available and he'll leave later.

I'll post when we get some more news!

Until next time,
Frieda Thurman

Welcome to Camo Land!

Hello and welcome to Camo Land! Or soon to be anyway. My name is Frieda and this blog is about me and my husband Kyle who has recently decided to join the United States Air Force.

This blog will take you through our journey where we'll be learning abbreviations for absolutely everything, our daily trials and tribulations, and the ins-and-outs of our new military lifestyle.


Allow me to introduce us. We were married in May 2009 and we have a pitbull named Mama. Mama's half American pitbull and half Gater Mouth pitbull.
 

That's Mama, looking at me like I'm crazy.
 
We're both in our early twenties and live in Southeast Texas right on the Gulf. We're both a little scatterbrained. As I'm typing this, my husband is using my phone to call and try to find his phone, which always seems to mysteriously disappear when he crosses the threshold. We both know exactly where our phones, keys, and debit cards are when we're out, but for some reason they always seem to vanish when we're home.
 
We're both kind of nerdy. We went to Disney World for our honeymoon and even pushed it back a week to go during Star Wars Weekend. Kyle's really into computers, guns, Shiner beer, and video games. I'm really into projects (currently stamping), margaritas, facebooking, and reading.
 
I suppose that's all for now, the next one will tell you where we currently are on our journey into Camo Land!
 
Until next time,
Frieda