Air Force Job Offer

We finally heard back!!! Yay!! You might remember from some previous posts that over a year ago when Scott was accepted into the Delayed Entry Program he was initially offered a job that he was okay with, signed the 8 year contract and then when they realized he was colorblind they withdrew that job offer, understandably. They have been looking for a new job to offer him and we have been waiting patiently (well..mostly patiently!) for them to find one.

It had been so long since we had heard anything definite that we had started looking into other career options when Scott got THE PHONE CALL a couple weeks ago. They called on a Thursday afternoon with the new job offer and gave us until Monday to decide if we wanted it. It was a long weekend of introspection, research into the job and praying. Monday morning Scott sent off his acceptance letter and received his training date for O.T.S. at Maxwell A.F.B. Wahoo!!! This new job offer really opens up the options of where we could be stationed which is exhilarating!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I'm still having a little trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that it is actually going to happen and that we are headed for an Air Force life. Overall we are very excited and looking forward to the opportunities this life will bring.

I've been busy trying to make a plan for getting the house de-cluttered, garage-saled (is that a word?) and ready to sell. I am a bit of a pack rat so this is rather time consuming! Also, I am trying to get all of our paperwork super organized and throw out anything I don't have to keep. I don't want to be moving things around with us that we don't need or use.

 I've also been doing some (okay, a lot of) reading about moving with the Air Force and looking into different bases. I think that Scott might secretly think my spreadsheet about the pros and cons of different bases is a bit silly, but it helps me remember, in all this chaos, what I've read and heard. I want us to be prepared to make good choices with Scott's dream sheet when the time comes. We would love to live overseas or near the coast in the U.S. Lets be honest, who wouldn't be excited about the idea of putting Hawaii, Florida, Washington, Germany, Italy etc.. on your dream list!  We will have to see what options he gets to choose from to make his list...  If we actually got one of the ones I'm leaning toward right now we would be overjoyed but we will be happy wherever we end up. Finding joy in the journey is something I am really working on.

(It's more than that but still a bit crazy)

I have loved reading blogs by military spouses and getting their unique take on the Air Force life!

Which bases have been your favorite and which would you try to avoid?

Air Force Update

I've been absent from the blog for far too long! Really there is no excuse. Everything with the Air Force has been more than up in the air and I just didn't want to even think about it, let alone write about it!

Here's a quick update (as part of my resolution to post once a week) of where we are and what we are up to.

We had applied for a waiver early in the summer for Scott's eyes, as he is partially colorblind and the post they had slated for him required full color vision. Early October we finally heard back that they wouldn't approve the waiver (understandably, I suppose) and they were going to put Scott's application back into circulation to see if other areas of the Air Force were going to have openings for the coming year that would be a good fit for him. The info about the waiver denial came in the first part of October and the end of December we finally heard back, sort of! The recruiter contacted Scott to say that the Air Force had some jobs they wanted to offer him but wanted to make sure he was still interested, after more than a year of hurry up and wait :) before they did all the paperwork of a formal offer. Umm, hello, yes! Yes, we are!!

So, we are still waiting, but with more of an idea of what's coming our way and perhaps a little more patiently. We had started to look into what else to do after graduation since we hadn't heard anything for so long but now we feel are back on track a bit.

Despite all the hurry up and wait we are still pretty excited about the Air Force and a little nervous to see what the job offers are. Who knows where we will end up?

B-29 Superfortress

A week ago, the only B29 Superfortress with active flying status came to SLC and so OF COURSE I had to surprise Scott and take us all up to see it. It was incredible (and much bigger than it looks in the picture).

There are some moments in life where you get close to an object and can almost feel the life that was lived and lost in it and the stories that were made there seep into your bones and your emotions. This plane represents the thousands (3,970 to be exact) of B-29s that were built during WW2 and that were used to fight for us. Being so close to history made me a bit teary when I thought of all the men that put their lives on the line, and many that lost their lives, after climbing into a plane just like that one, for the purpose of saving others lives and bringing peace to a war torn world.

While driving up to see the Bomber we found out that Scott's grandfather helped build some of the B-29's in WW2. Knowing that made the day extra special, since I didn't have the opportunity to meet him and our children won't either.

Now that I've been sappy enough for one day I'll tell about standing in line for an hour an a half in hundred degree weather with a 3 year old and a 1 year old at lunch time.... enough said.

My bangs were definitely wind blown but wind in a desert, on top of the tarmac at an airport is HOT wind. We couldn't keep Lilly confined to the stroller so we let her run free, which for her meant pushing around the stroller, which was fine with me, as long as she was happy!  

You can see that Abby was super reluctant to get close to the big wheels. She told me that she didn't want to get run over! (At least we know that some of the things I tell her about why we don't run across people's driveways is sinking in....

After a l.o.n.g. wait in the sun we were finally able to go "inside" the plane. It felt like we were stepping back in time. I feel bad for the tour guides sitting inside the plane, wilting, because the temperature skyrocketed once you were inside!

 

It was pretty crazy to realize that a B-29 just like this one is the plane that dropped the atomic bombs. Looking at the technology that seems so archaic, but was cutting edge then, it almost doesn't seem possible.

Despite the heat and the cranky children it was a wonderful experience and I would definitely recommend going to see the Superfortress if it makes a stop near you. 

Many thanks to the Commemorative Air Force for making this plane and it's history available to the public.

Air Force Status (aka rant)

Some of you may have wondered about our Air Force status since I haven't posted anything recently. We are currently just waiting for the Air Force to make some decisions which is why I haven't had anything exciting to post in that area.

Here is a quick review of our timeline so far:

Applied to the Air Force late last fall

Accepted to OTS and the DEP early in the spring(March)

Attended MEPS the first part of April (read about Scott's MEPS experience here)

Had background check completed about a month ago

Had another physical at Hill AFB last week

Why ANOTHER physical you ask? Let me explain, and by explain I mean rant! 

I would bet money that on the paperwork my hubby filled out as part of his A.F. application last fall he had to check a box on several forms that he is colorblind. That's the reason he hasn't pursued a pilot spot or a couple of other careers in the Air Force that he would have loved, they absolutely require color vision. Apparently they either overlooked that fact or my memory is totally out of whack about the paperwork. At MEPS he, of course, failed the colorblindness test. Apparently standard color vision is preferred for the job field that they had him slated to do. So, they had him drive up to the AFB and redo the entire physical and then some additional things they didn't do at MEPS. He partially failed the colorblindness test this time and now he has to apply for a waiver. They won't respond to a simple waiver request for 3 to 4 months. 

I like to be able to plan at least a little in advance and this is driving me nuts to have to wait to find out something so simple that could and should have been taken care of months ago! If this delays his date for OTS and he is able to go to another semester or two of school and get a double major we would like to know sooner rather than later so he can have enough time to register for the classes that he would need.

End of rant. Phew! I really am very excited about going into the Air Force and think it will be a good life for our family. I know that this kind of thing isn't unusual in the military but it is taking a little bit to adjust to.

Are you color blind? Take one of these color blindness tests to find out.

MEPS

On April 3rd Scott went to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) to take care of the last big step on our Air Force journey. I'm going to give you an abbreviated version of how that went. To read a more in-depth review of it check out http://theairforceofficerswife.blogspot.com.

We found out the weekend before, that he would be going in on Thursday. What that really means is that he reports to the hotel the night before with a bunch of other guys who will be going through MEPS the next day. He checked in and stayed at a hotel by the airport in Salt Lake that the military uses for their MEPS candidates.

Most of the people who go through MEPS are enlisting so they take the ASVAB test while they are there, to determine what area of the military they are suited for but since Scott is going in as an officer they don't use that. They will use AFOQT test that he took years ago in the AFROTC that measures aptitude. (you can only take it twice and the scores never expire) The AFQOT doesn't replace the ASVAB (they already know a lot more about the officer candidates by this time than they do about those enlisting) but it does give the Air Force a good glimpse of Scott's brain and how he thinks. If that doesn't all make sense, ask me and I can try to explain it better!

Scott said that MEPS was similar to a VERY comprehensive physical. It also included a drug test, a blood test, hearing test, vision test, depth perception test and a range of motion test and then some.

One thing that I thought was interesting was that their fingerprint is used extensively to help identify them and fingerprint scanners were used to sign in to different tests to ensure that they were the ones completing it. 

At the end of the day Hubby was sworn in as Air Force reserves and committed to 8 years with at least 4 years active duty. The fingerprint was also used to sign the papers at the end of the day.

This Air Force application and selection process has been an interesting experience and has given me a kick in the pants to get organized and get all of our paperwork together since it seems they need the most obscure paperwork and forms of ID and they ask for them last minute.

It's a great feeling to have one more things checked off the list and now we are just waiting on a class date for next year! Wahoo! Now on to getting the house ready to sell!

And of course don't lock your keys in your car when your wife can't drive up to bring you a spare set because she just had a painful  root canal the day before.....

New Life Trajectory

So, if you are one of the crazy ones who read the blog that I haven't been good about keeping up lately, we have some news......not THAT kind of news!!
No, I have started a new blog that will be separate from our family blog(which I will be updating more also) to chronicle our journey as we finish school and enter a new career that has me super excited while also biting my nails. Some posts will go on both blogs but the more personal family things will stay on this blog while other more career and life in that new career things will be on the new blog (which is still in construction as I learn how to be a better blogger...) So, check it out!

                                                   theairforceofficerswife.blogspot.com