Thanks

I thought with this being Memorial Day, it would be a good time for this entry. Many thanks to those who serve and the strong families behind them.  

“Don’t you want to bring your Mess Dress for formal night?” I asked as we were packing for our recent cruise. “No, I don’t think there’s room,” he answered, “Besides, I’ll feel weird about it, like I’m trying to get attention or something. I’d rather just wear my new suit.”

For those that don’t know, “mess dress” is the formal version of my husband’s uniform. When he first got it, we laughed quite a bit because it has epaulets and he looks a bit like a missing cast member from Master and Commander with Russell Crowe (made even funnier as it is not a Navy uniform). Plus, on a recent deployment he had a few suits custom made. (Apparently it’s quite affordable to buy custom suits in certain countries.)

I knew the main reason he didn’t want to bring his mess dress was that he was looking forward to having a place to wear his new suits. We were also flying out for this cruise (because it was Alaska) which is something we usually don’t have to do so luggage space was scarce… But he rarely wears his uniform of any kind when he doesn’t have to. Why? I think he just feels awkward from the attention.

I asked him about it once and he said, “I think it’s a great thing for the enlisted guys to do. They deserve the attention and people offering to buy them a beer for their hard work.” He mentioned that as an officer, he just feels weird. He doesn’t mind using the military discounts, he’s just quiet about it. Whenever someone thanks him for his service, he smiles and shakes their hand, and says something quiet like “yeah” or “sure”. He doesn’t talk a lot about his service, that’s just the way he is.  He’s never been the show off… That was always me:)

Although, I will say, I understand it. Sometimes people will thank me too and it is weird. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it… It’s just that I don’t really do anything. Ok, I complain… Kind of a lot… but otherwise, I don’t do much. Plus, sometimes the military will have just done something to really tick me off and I’ll stand there trying to look grateful and attempting to refrain from going into one of my rants like I do on here.

I’ve found over the past few years that military members seem to appreciate the acknowledgement but are very humble. These are people who don’t do this job for the thanks or the money.

This weekend, while you’re at a BBQ with family and friends, just take a moment to remember why that is. Once again, thanks to all who serve or have served.

Top Secret

Most military pilots have high security clearance. While some pilots use it all the time in their jobs, for others, it’s not often that it’s used and they generally don’t have special information. My husband rarely does anything top secret, I think in the case of a lot of pilots, it’s there just in the event it might be needed. In fact, every few years, he has to get clearance again, so they interview me along with other family and friends… I’ve often thought this would be a really great time to have a little fun and say some crazy (not true) things during the interview… But something tells me it could be a bad idea.

It’s only happened once or twice so far, but sometimes he’ll fly a mission he can’t talk about.  If I read the news, I can usually put 2 and 2 together and figure it out, but even then, he can’t really confirm it.

Sometimes pilots have to “sit alert.” This means that they must be within 25 minutes of the base at all times and usually have to sleep in a hotel/dorm on base if they don’t live there. The idea behind this is that should an emergency arise, a crew is ready to take off and leave immediately. Alert crews aren’t launched often, but when they are, it’s usually an order from somewhere high up. Near a base, you can usually spot an alert crew member by the utility belt of communication tools they have on- that includes a large cell phone and pager.

It’s incredibly inconvenient when your husband has to sit alert. At our current base, alert starts on a Friday and lasts until the following Friday. Any plans have to be within a few minutes of the base (not easy when you consider some base locations) and they can’t be during rush hour at all. The positive side to sitting alert is that when it’s over, he has the whole weekend free and can’t be called to work, which I appreciate.

 These are the missions they can’t talk about if they get launched… In fact, the most important flight of my husband’s career is something he can’t talk about. He can’t even list it as an accomplishment for his file. It also can’t be used for promotions, awards, etc. I’m not even sure his commander knows about that flight... Nice, huh?

We were on vacation when we heard about the team that took out Osama Bin Laden, so I know it’s old news now, but I wanted to mention it. It’s also why I bring up security clearance. There’s a very good chance people will never know who was on that team. I can’t always see why the military does certain things, but this is one time I can. There’s just too much risk involved. I’m pretty sure there were multiple pilots involved who are not Navy SEALs (someone has to transport people and supplies). I'm sure they can't talk about the mission at all but, I’m willing to bet the wives of those soldiers were able to figure out if their husbands were involved.

Even if they weren’t supposed to tell their wives… I bet they know anyway:)