Update on Army Goddess

She arrived in Germany on Friday morning, July 6. However, after everyone else had been processed, they were unable to get anyone in Heidelberg on the phone to confirm her assignment. So she spent the weekend in a transition housing place in Hanau.

On Monday morning, she was told she was being reassigned to Wiesbaden. She was transported there and during "inprocessing" someone noticed her job on the orders and told her that wouldn't work there. All their mental health services are contracted to civilians. It turns out they were looking for a 68W (combat medic) rather than a 68X (mental health specialist). So back to Hanau.

A day later, she called me today from her new home in Landstuhl, Germany. She got moved this morning and has already been assigned a room, a company, and a sponsor (a soldier who has been there a while and becomes a kind of guide for new people). Tomorrow she will continue "inprocessing."

She will be working for the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center -- the largest Army medical center in the world (outside the US). This is the first stop for all wounded combat personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan. She is very excited about her new job. She will be in orientation 2-3 weeks which will include tours of the city and learning to eat in local restaurants (sounds like hell doesn't it?!)

Landstuhl is a relatively small German city but the installation is a part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community (shortened to K-town by infidel Americans) which includes the air base at Ramstein and multiple other posts/bases in the area to form the largest American community in the world outside the US. But it is still Germany (4 hour drive to Paris; 4.5 hrs to Amsterdam; 3 hrs. to Switzerland; 6 hrs to Italy).

Gradjiashun

Well, Sammie baby graduates tomorrow from the program in San Antonio. I know she's going to miss being the top of her class, but we're all going to be happy to have her home for a couple weeks.

Then, it's off to GERMANY. No kiddin', folks. She has to report to duty on July 13 ... one week before our 20 year high school reunion in Alabama. :( We'll miss her at the reunion, but you know I'll be talkin' about how frickin' awesome she is the entire time!

I know that she and Don were hoping to have a European assignment, but I have to admit I was sad when I found out they'd be so far away. I was quickly set straight by another friend who pointed out to me that Germany's a nice place to be stationed. So I'm happy for Sam to be going somewhere cool. I just want her to be safe FUR-EVER!

Soldier of the Month - Ft. Sam Houston

She was put up for soldier of the month in April but withdrew because she didn't think she was ready. Tonight, after a board of Drill Sargeants named her soldier of the month for May, she said that she "sucked." Maybe she has higher standards than most.

As if that is a surprise.

She's Like An Ostrich ...

20 March

I just got home after a long weekend (Thurs - Tues) in San Antonio to visit the Army Goddess. Things got off to a rough start last Tuesday when she learned that her unit had a Field Training Exercise (camping) for Friday and Saturday of this week. This was after we had planned this trip and she had had two straight weekends of boredom because they had nothing to do. However, we decided to try it anyway and take whatever the Army was willing to give.

It was worth it. Although things started off rough on Friday when I went to meet her for lunch and learned (1) that she had only about 30 minutes (compared to the 90 minutes she usually had) and (2) I could not eat with her in the dining facility. However, she just got take out and we sat together at the outside tables. That afternoon she was told by the sargeant that she could do desk duty (answer phones at the base) and leave earlier Saturday if she wanted to spend more time with me. She told him that she needed to be with her squad (remember she is a squad leader) even if it meant coming in at 8:00 instead of 4:00. BUT, she did get an overnight pass Saturday so she got to stay with me from about 8:00pm Saturday to about the same time Sunday (with a 30 minute check in with formation Sunday at 5:00pm). Plus, I got to see her for lunch and dinner (with dessert) Monday.

Overall, she continues to do well. She and another squad leader are competing on every test for the highest grade. Not only for grades but she challenged him to "combatives" last Thursday. He won but he found himself in a tougher fight than he imagined. At one point she had the "dominant" position by lying under him with her legs wrapped around his waist. For some reason, he tried to get out of that position rather than enjoying it.

She will soon begin going into "the field" for "clinicals" where they will wear civilian clothes and actually (under supervision) do clinical interviews and write reports. Everyone I met was highly complementary of her (which wasn't really surprising) including a special forces sargeant who is in the class because he is reclassified due to a parachute failure injury (I guess people really do sometimes survive those). He talks to her a lot and gives advice.

Her gemini nature was displayed in a recent group email when she talked about crying over the field exercise that changed our plans and, at the same time, about learning how to tear out a guy's trachea in hand to hand combat. She clearly is exactly where she was meant to be and I am so proud of her.

Phone call today

I was graced this afternoon with a phone call from Our Blessed Lady of Camouflage. It was unfortunately brief, thanks to a prior commitment on my part, but I talked to her as long as possible, right up until I had to walk in the door.

I told her about selling our house, and she says she just wants to know in what state her next house will be! LOL

She sounds great, and is extremely happy with her decision to enlist. She loves her classes, and says they are throwing so much material at them it's like "trying to drink from a fire hose." She did not score the highest in her class on one test this past week, but says that she'll "fix that" with a test she has coming up on Tuesday. We spoke for a while about the need for better mental health services for the armed forces, about the current push in Congress to no longer treat PTSD at our V.A. hospitals, and about how someone like her could go from counseling G.I.s and their families to making policy on a system-wide level.

Her commanding officer has told her that he'll be taking orders from her some day, and he is probably right. It sounds like our Sammie has found the place where she belongs.

Update --Feb. 27

Samantha joined most of her unit in "phasing" on Friday, Feb. 23. That means somewhat more freedom in that they are able, once dismissed after class on Friday each week, to: (1) wear civilian clothes, (2) leave the base during the day. The worst thing at this point for Sam is that she cannot go ANYWHERE outside the barracks without a "battle buddy." So if she wants to go to the library, doctor, bar, etc., she must first find someone else willing to walk there as well.

She is still hopeful that she will be able to get leave for her sister's wedding in April. But there is no way of knowing what the decision of the Commander will be. She does continue to make the highest grade in class on her tests (although she shares the honor with others at times). It truly galls her that she doesn't make a perfect grade on every test.

Samantha is also looking forward to softball season.