The view from my Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP*) vehicle is one small window looking out the back. Sometimes I wonder how did I end up here? How did I end up in the back of this MRAP? This wasn’t the Air Force deployment I had been hoping for. But here I sit and this is […]
Helicopter Flight in Afghanistan – My deployment story
So, I wasn’t planning to do another update until after New Zealand. (I got 15 days off about half way through the deployment, I met up with Michael in NZ) But the flight from Forward Operating Base (FOB) Morales Frazier to Bagram Air Field (BAF) was so cool that I just felt I had to […]
Moving on to the next assignment
Moving on to the next assignment is a requirement when you are in the military. There is no debating on if you should go or where you will end up. There is a dream sheet that you fill out when a move is on the horizon, but it is a dream sheet. It is the […]
31 Days of Military Life
I have decided to be a part of the 31 days of writing, which means writing every day in October. The theme for me was easy being a military veteran and spouse “31 Days of Military Life.” The topic needed to be broad and narrow. I hope I can share my insights into what being […]
Looking At 9/11 A Year After Leaving the Military
September 11th came this year and for the first time in over a decade I wasn’t in uniform. I was a cadet in the Reserve Officer Training Corp for four years and then served six years as an officer in the United States Air Force. For this year, some reason it hit me that this […]
Work out Routines to fit your lifestyle
In my military days working out each week was often a requirement for my job. But when I left the military I had to create my own workout routine to fit my lifestyle. When I transitioned out of the military I became a stay at home mom and found it challenging to continue my past […]
My First Mission in Afghanistan
This is the story of my first mission in Afghanistan. I spent nine months in Afghanistan and four months in Indiana for training. I almost spent the twenty-fifth year of my life training for or being in Afghanistan. When I left for training when I was two weeks before my twenty-fifth birthday and came back […]
Top 5 Things to do in Dayton, Ohio
We learned there are lots of things in Dayton, Ohio for the four years we were stationed there. Part of military life is living in different parts of the world. My last assignments in the military took me to Dayton, Ohio. While in Dayton my husband and I went from a couple to a family […]
Afghanistan Through Pictures: A Peek Inside
I decided a fun way to share my deployment would be through sharing Afghanistan through pictures. At the time I didn’t realize how lucky I was to have a Public Affairs (PA) team with us on every mission. I have so many pictures from my deployment. Many of my friends have less than twenty pictures […]
Motherhood: The True Combat Zone
I thought I knew what it meant to be in a combat zone. You see I deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and even got shot at on a mission off base. Then I became a mom. I thought this would be easy when compared to my deployment. I mean I had gone to war. But […]