In the middle east.. . . AGAIN.
I'd have to say that one of the things I've enjoyed the most about joining the Air Force is TRAVELING. Being in the AF has enabled me to see so many countries that I'd never dreamed I'd ever see in my entire life, let alone 4 YEARS. BUT COME ON Uncle Sam, sending me to countries that nobody's ever heard of, IT'S GETTING A LITTLE OLD. I thought (well actually I hoped) Turkey would be my first and last encounter with the middle east.
I've always had a feeling that I'd get deployed but as my date of separation edged closer and closer I thought that threat had faded away. Imagine my SHOCK when one day I see an e-mail telling me to pack my bags because I was one of the lucky few that was chosen to deploy. DEPLOYING me when I had LESS THAN ONE YEAR left in the military IS NOT COOL AIR FORCE!!! This deployment couldn't have come at a worse time, not only would it interfere with my out processing, but it was cutting into my holiday traveling plans AND it was also stealing a good chunk of time from the relationship that I'm in. At that point in my (VERY HAPPY AND SATISFYING) relationship with Jeff the end was already in sight, it was just that damn close. And to find out that suddenly it was even CLOSER made me FREAK out.
I tried everything short of suicide, self-injury, and pregnancy to get out of the deployment. I admit it, I was a little b*tch about the whole thing. I cried and fussed the ENTIRE way out. It wasn't easy for me to swallow all the disappointment that went along with having my plans squashed. I think the hardest part about the entire process was getting sympathy from ALL the people WHO pretended that they were oh-so DISAPPOINTED that they weren't the ones deploying. Like I'm going to feel sorry for the people who SKATED through their military career without a SINGLE deployment.
I'll admit I was a little happy that I was going. After all I do have an older sister who deployed, and it'll be hard to go home and compare military stories with her WITHOUT any war stories. And besides that, WHO DOESN'T deploy with all the shit that's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan? It should be considered an INSULT that the military didn't choose you to deploy. They need all the people they can get to deploy, and if YOU aren't going and doing your part over there then you must be a VERY fcked up individual. Either that or you know (or most likely BLOWING) the RIGHT people.
Then I found out that I wasn't going to Iraq and that pissed me WAAAY off. I wanted to go to Iraq. It's not that I wanted to put my parents through all the stress of having another one of their children in Iraq. But that's where people in my career field are NEEDED. And I wanted to go where people NEEDED me. Instead, I found out, they were sending me to United Arab Emirates. The first thought in my head was "United WHAT? I've NEVER heard of that FCKING country in my life. Wait - where the FCK is it?"
Anyways I'm here now and thanking God for it.
I thought coming here would RUIN my relationship with Jeff, but it made it better. MORE than BETTER. Me going away turned out to be just the thing our faltering relationship needed. When we were together it was too easy for us take each other for granted. I knew I loved Jeff, but I could never see the true depth of that love with Jeff around. Just facing each day with the blatant absence of our significant others put us both in a reality that neither of us are happy to be living in. AT ALL. It made us realize that even though we may not be ready to tie the knot yet, it didn't mean that we were ready to give up everything we have (and that's A LOT). So now we're making plans to do whatever it takes to stay together ; ) . //Jeff if you're reading this, and I know you are, thank you for not turning into a DICK like most guys do when their girlfriends deploy. You're there for me everyday and I can never tell you how much that means to me. IM //
And about having my travel opportunities taken away, it's true that I have less time to travel, BUT due to this deployment and all the entitlements, I'm making a LOT of money. And it'll be MORE than enough to afford a nice vacation around Europe in addition to the CRUISE TO GREECE that Jeff was thoughtful enough to book for both of us.
And about the rushed out-processing, there's nothing I can do about that. I'm actually just screwed on that part, even though the MPF personnel ensured me that 4 months is MORE than enough to out process from the military everybody knows that's just a bunch of BULLSHIT. Out-processing is just a headache period. A few extra months to prepare for it would have been nice, but whatever.
Being on this small base BLOWS. I only have one day off a week and work 12 hours straight. And the work I do isn't anything exciting like anything in Iraq. But while I'm here all I can think of are all the things I'm grateful for, like NOT being in Iraq. I actually LIKE the group I got sent here with and if anything ever happened to one person from this group then I'd lose my mind to grief. Some days I feel like I'm losing my mind anyways, like my first two weeks here I was working 16 hours. And I don't know if any of you out there have had to work without ONE DAY OFF, but that really screws up your sense of time. Everyday felt like a FCKING THURSDAY. The job I do here is so easy. But it's so damn repetitive that the days just blur together. Don't even get me started on the weather here. I don't think it's been anything other than BLACK FLAG weather since I've been here. I remember asking a person who just deployed what living in over 100 degree weather was like, and he said that after the temperature passed 100 you can't tell difference. I thought that was the FCKING craziest thing I ever HEARD, but strangely enough IT'S TRUE. Anyways that's all. Just thought I'd share with everybody what my last few weeks were like.
I've always had a feeling that I'd get deployed but as my date of separation edged closer and closer I thought that threat had faded away. Imagine my SHOCK when one day I see an e-mail telling me to pack my bags because I was one of the lucky few that was chosen to deploy. DEPLOYING me when I had LESS THAN ONE YEAR left in the military IS NOT COOL AIR FORCE!!! This deployment couldn't have come at a worse time, not only would it interfere with my out processing, but it was cutting into my holiday traveling plans AND it was also stealing a good chunk of time from the relationship that I'm in. At that point in my (VERY HAPPY AND SATISFYING) relationship with Jeff the end was already in sight, it was just that damn close. And to find out that suddenly it was even CLOSER made me FREAK out.
I tried everything short of suicide, self-injury, and pregnancy to get out of the deployment. I admit it, I was a little b*tch about the whole thing. I cried and fussed the ENTIRE way out. It wasn't easy for me to swallow all the disappointment that went along with having my plans squashed. I think the hardest part about the entire process was getting sympathy from ALL the people WHO pretended that they were oh-so DISAPPOINTED that they weren't the ones deploying. Like I'm going to feel sorry for the people who SKATED through their military career without a SINGLE deployment.
I'll admit I was a little happy that I was going. After all I do have an older sister who deployed, and it'll be hard to go home and compare military stories with her WITHOUT any war stories. And besides that, WHO DOESN'T deploy with all the shit that's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan? It should be considered an INSULT that the military didn't choose you to deploy. They need all the people they can get to deploy, and if YOU aren't going and doing your part over there then you must be a VERY fcked up individual. Either that or you know (or most likely BLOWING) the RIGHT people.
Then I found out that I wasn't going to Iraq and that pissed me WAAAY off. I wanted to go to Iraq. It's not that I wanted to put my parents through all the stress of having another one of their children in Iraq. But that's where people in my career field are NEEDED. And I wanted to go where people NEEDED me. Instead, I found out, they were sending me to United Arab Emirates. The first thought in my head was "United WHAT? I've NEVER heard of that FCKING country in my life. Wait - where the FCK is it?"
Anyways I'm here now and thanking God for it.
I thought coming here would RUIN my relationship with Jeff, but it made it better. MORE than BETTER. Me going away turned out to be just the thing our faltering relationship needed. When we were together it was too easy for us take each other for granted. I knew I loved Jeff, but I could never see the true depth of that love with Jeff around. Just facing each day with the blatant absence of our significant others put us both in a reality that neither of us are happy to be living in. AT ALL. It made us realize that even though we may not be ready to tie the knot yet, it didn't mean that we were ready to give up everything we have (and that's A LOT). So now we're making plans to do whatever it takes to stay together ; ) . //Jeff if you're reading this, and I know you are, thank you for not turning into a DICK like most guys do when their girlfriends deploy. You're there for me everyday and I can never tell you how much that means to me. IM //
And about having my travel opportunities taken away, it's true that I have less time to travel, BUT due to this deployment and all the entitlements, I'm making a LOT of money. And it'll be MORE than enough to afford a nice vacation around Europe in addition to the CRUISE TO GREECE that Jeff was thoughtful enough to book for both of us.
And about the rushed out-processing, there's nothing I can do about that. I'm actually just screwed on that part, even though the MPF personnel ensured me that 4 months is MORE than enough to out process from the military everybody knows that's just a bunch of BULLSHIT. Out-processing is just a headache period. A few extra months to prepare for it would have been nice, but whatever.
Being on this small base BLOWS. I only have one day off a week and work 12 hours straight. And the work I do isn't anything exciting like anything in Iraq. But while I'm here all I can think of are all the things I'm grateful for, like NOT being in Iraq. I actually LIKE the group I got sent here with and if anything ever happened to one person from this group then I'd lose my mind to grief. Some days I feel like I'm losing my mind anyways, like my first two weeks here I was working 16 hours. And I don't know if any of you out there have had to work without ONE DAY OFF, but that really screws up your sense of time. Everyday felt like a FCKING THURSDAY. The job I do here is so easy. But it's so damn repetitive that the days just blur together. Don't even get me started on the weather here. I don't think it's been anything other than BLACK FLAG weather since I've been here. I remember asking a person who just deployed what living in over 100 degree weather was like, and he said that after the temperature passed 100 you can't tell difference. I thought that was the FCKING craziest thing I ever HEARD, but strangely enough IT'S TRUE. Anyways that's all. Just thought I'd share with everybody what my last few weeks were like.