Chris(14/142)

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-Colleen

Wow!  It really is getting close now, isn't it?  Our son had his (LONG) DEP meeting yesterday and told us he would need us to drive him to the recruiter's office Monday morning (Feb. 11th), and he would be staying in San Diego Monday night, swearing in on Tuesday, then flying out Tuesday (Feb. 12th).  It's getting to that "real" place now...   Take care, Chris!!

Hugs!!

-Janet

Hi Chris,

This one will be training to be a "Nuke", ultimately a Nuclear Engineer (at least that is what he has as his goal.)  I understand that the studying will be pretty tough, but hopefully everything will go well for him. 

How about your son, what will he be doing?  Any idea where he will go for A-School? 

Yes, it is Janet.  My father-in-law was a Chaplain's Assistant in the Army in the 60's, so I understand the types of things he will be doing (thanks to dear old dad-in-law -- LOL!)  It's nice to think that your son will only be a few hours away once he gets to A-School.  Of course, once they have the ability to call and email, it seems like when they were home.  Even though his training might be self-paced, they seem to have deadlines that they must meet (that's the way it was for our older son -- he took longer to finish A-School with some set-backs for finishing things than some of the others, but he got there eventually and so will your son, I'm sure...)

Our older son had A-School in San Antonio, TX, so we flew there twice to see him.  Once last May, then he came home in Sept. for the Labor Day holiday on leave, and then we flew out to see his A-School graduation (I highly recommend you go to any graduations you can -- very proud moments.)  It didn't seem like he was that far away, since he would phone every few days, and I was getting emails or texts constantly.  Now that he is stationed in San Diego (1½ hours away), he likes to come home on the weekends and bring his laundry with him (he does it himself, but would rather do it at home than at the barracks.)  We don't hear from him too much during the week because he's working, but it really is nice to see him when possible.

I'm actually having a harder time thinking about this kid leaving.  He has always been easy -- willing to do anything asked of him with a smile and "can do" attitude.  He seems so young (18) to have his future planned out for him, but he is mentally ready to go.  It's better in that we know what to expect -- the delays and the "hurry up and wait" for things -- but it will be really strange to have both of my boys out of the house.  I guess I'll have to learn how to cook for 2 now (I was able to do that when we were first married, but it's been years since I've done that -- LOL!)

My older son is very supportive and actually encouraged the younger one to see what the Navy could offer him.  The younger one is pretty smart (his electives as a senior in high school were Chemistry and Physics -- CRAZY!!!)  The younger one had ALWAYS wanted to be a fighter pilot for the Air Force and was working toward getting an appointment for the Air Force Academy through our Congressman's office.  However, I guess that he is too tall to be a fighter pilot.  My husband is 6'2", and this kid seems to tower over him lately.  The Congressman's staff person told him that there was no way he could be a fighter pilot due to his height alone.  Anyway, that changed his goals, and his brother thought he could do well with the Nuclear program in the Navy.  It seems to have worked out well for him so far, but we'll just have to see.  He's super excited, but his older brother keeps telling him how hard the studying will be and that he needs to forget having weekends and he should just plan on studying every spare minute so he can finish and get out in the field (he expects 2 years of schooling for this thing...)  Hopefully he will take it seriously and buckle down. 

Have a great week, Chris.  I'll be thinking of you (and your family) this weekend while we all get ready for Monday.  Take care!!!

-Janet

Well my husband was in the Marines when she was born and she always has been the type to jump into things with both feet! She is 18 so a bit young, but soooo ready. SO excited about PIR! After she will be going to Pcola for A School for AD. What about your son?

How exciting!! Thats amazing that he chose to follow that path - awesome! :) Dont ask me where airplane mechanic came from - no idea! lol Actually -she did want to be in flight crew but there were no openings. She found out that by being an AD she could volunteer for flight crew, so thats what she chose! And the paying for her education is a huge plus!

My daughter mentioned the landing too - said she was great until they tried to land! lol poor thing! Its getting very near time to stalk the mailman! Cant wait!

Sent it out today. I didn't mention how I got his name.

Hi Chris, Saw your post about the SR that wasnt receiving mail and it broke my heart. So if you want to give me his address and name I would love to write him. Thanks

Chris...so happy you shared info from your last letter. My SR is my grandson and I cherish the calls because he has written only once. He is in Div 141 and I pray they did as well as 142. 

I am not there anymore...but more than happy to answer questions you may have