When the Army decides to move you away from your family, it doesn’t mess around… It feels kind of like leaving home for the first time is the equivalent of ripping off a piece of duct tape off a very hairy body part. No need to pull it slowly prolonging the pain… just RIP IT OFF… and deal with the pain all at once... so it seems.
We have some great news to share but I want to give some history to help you better understand just how great this news is.
A few years ago, John was NOT selected to command THE unit within our unit, 1BN. It was a very hard pill to swallow and certainly took the wind out of our sail. It really changed the way we thought about and saw our future. The decision was painful, I will admit, probably more so for me than John. I was mad and hurt and all of those feelings for months. Not John, he understood that sometimes things don’t happen the way you think they should in the military. So, he moved on…. It took me a bit longer but I did as well. He had a great job doing some research and development and is currently serving as the Deputy Commander for the regiment. With the past placed firmly in the rear view mirror our thought process about our future was now more focused on the girls and retirement. More about where we’d go after the War College for our terminal assignment than about commanding again. Probably Tampa or DC, we’d assume, the dreaded “desk” job. Looking forward to retirement really and getting excited about having a normal job, making more money, home most all the time, NOT GETTING SHOT AT and NO MORE DEPLOYMENTS!!
John did decide to compete for a brigade command even though he felt if he were to get one, it would be non-tactical/operational, most likely a garrison command some where. Garrison command for you non military peeps means he would be essentially the post mayor. He would be over everything on post. Hospital, Schools, Housing, all contract people as well the tenants. It is a huge task but one that John would be great at! Not to mention, he wouldn’t deploy, yes, this guy is the one that stays home and runs things while the others are away. It certainly isn’t the macho command but it is a command!
So he put in his paper work to officially compete and sends me the list of possible locations if he were selected to command, everything from Germany to New York, to Alaska and a smattering in-between… but all the while I am preparing for no command and a location more like Tampa (my choice) or D.C (not my choice) to wait out for 26 years. So we talk about things and separate out the operational commands (6) from the other (18-20ish) and wait. And wait and wait.
Well, the waiting is over! JOHN GOT A OPERATIONAL BRIGADE COMMAND!!! OMG!! Forgive me but I must tell you (and brag a bit) on John and what this means. Statistically speaking there were 114 Eligible to compete, 8 declined leaving 106 to be considered. Of those 106, 10 were selected - 10.6% of the 10 commands, 6 are operational, 1 is strategic (Honduras) and three are training (Ft. Rucker). This may not mean anything to you but this is how I see it and process it in my head. There are 12 Operational aviation commands in the ENTIRE Army. Six open each year so there were six slots this year for ALL of Army Aviation. There were 106 competing for these six commands (operational). John was one of those six! John and I are simply floored… Neither of us felt it possible but it is and I am so proud!! YEAH JOHN!! So… where might this command be located? You ask…
ALASKA! Yep, starting saving your money and plan to visit us!! The summer of 2011 we will be moving to Fairbanks Alaska for two years and will be a part of the 16 Combat Aviation Brigade (AKA 16th CAB). Initially I was shocked and to be totally honest, UNHAPPY about this… but truth be told, this is going to be a tough two years but I have always wanted to see Alaska and now I get to live there… (Not to mention, you all have a place to visit!) The down side to being stationed in Alaska is the winter, lack of sun-light (or in the summer, lack of darkness) and being 4000+ miles from my friends and family and more than likely, John will deploy for one of the two years we are stationed there… BUT… the upside is EVERYONE I have talked to that has been stationed there LOVES IT! And several have actually signed on for extra time and/or plan to retire there. We loved Montana more than any place we have ever vacationed and from what John tells me Alaska is Montana on steroids… Maybe our friends and family will take advantage of this opportunity to see (and stay for free) Alaska!! You know you want to!
I really can’t wait… what fun we are going to have first living in a beautiful place like Rhode Island/Newport/Jamestown and then to another, very different and beautiful place like Alaska… I am sure to get my money’s worth from my camera as well! In addition, we “get” to drive the 4500+ miles from one to the other stopping along the way. The drive really will be amazing I am sure but the thought of map-quest statistics “77 hours and 30 minutes” of drive time, doesn’t seem like a whole lot of fun especially with two children, two cats and a dog with John and I in separate cars. Funny that Europe is actually closer than Alaska, you just can’t drive there. I know this isn’t the best news for some of you… Trust me, at times feel the same way. Being so far away is going to be painful. Visiting each other will be a bit more of a challenge but we will make it work!! And I am very serious, take advantage of us being in a place where most never get to even see! Come see us!!
Here are some fun facts about Alaska.
• The U.S. Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at about two cents per acre. The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.
• Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states COMBINED! It is the ONLY to have coast line on three different seas.. can you guess them?
• Russian and Alaskan islands are only 3 miles (4.8 km) apart. Vodka anyone?
• It extends into the eastern hemisphere, it is technically both the westernmost and easternmost state in the United States, as well as also being the northernmost.
• Alaska is the largest state in the United States in land area at 586,412 square miles, over twice the size of Texas, the next largest state. Alaska is larger than all but 18 sovereign countries. Yet it is the least populated state in the US. There is 1.0 person/sq. mi. (2000) in Alaska, compared to 79.6 people/sq. mi. in the entire U.S.
• The summit of Mount McKinley (Denali) at 20,320 feet is the highest point of North America. Larger than the state of Massachusetts, Denali National Park and Preserve is six million acres of pristine wilderness.
• There are more bald eagles in Alaska then in all other states combined.
• I am really glad NOT to be a ground squirrel as in Alaska during hibernation, their body temp is the lowest of any living mammal.
• Alaska is commonly believed to be the first region of the Americas inhabited by humans.
• Alaska has more than three million lakes. Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover 188,320 square miles
• Glacier ice covers some 16,000 square miles of land and 1,200 square miles of tidal zone. The Bering Glacier complex near the southeastern border with Yukon covers 2,250 square miles alone. With over 100,000 of them, Alaska has half of the world's glaciers. One of which is larger than the state of RHODE ISLAND!! Haha… funny, I can’t make this up.
• The climate of the interior of Alaska is subarctic. Some of the highest and lowest temperatures in Alaska occur around the area near Fairbanks. The summers may have temperatures reaching into the 90s°F, while in the winter, the temperature can fall below −60 °F. (holy heck!!) Precipitation is sparse in the Interior, often less than 10 inches a year, but what precipitation falls in the winter tends to stay the entire winter. Looks like we’ll have a guaranteed white Christmas…. And Thanksgiving.. and New Year… and Halloween… and Easter… and maybe even Memorial and Labor day!! Haha… ALL our birthday’s as well… Nov, Nov, Jan and Feb! I am getting cold just thinking about it…
• In 1964, the massive "Good Friday Earthquake" killed 131 people and destroyed several villages, mainly by the resultant tsunamis. It was the third most powerful earthquake in the recorded history of the world, with a moment magnitude of 9.2. It was over one thousand times more powerful than the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Luckily, the epicenter was in an unpopulated area or thousands more would have been killed.
• Alaska also has the largest Quaker population (by percentage) of any state
• Alaska ranks 5th nationally in craft breweries (micro breweries) per capita (see, Randy, Kurt, Jason and Jeremy… you NEED to visit us! )
• State Motto: North to the Future
• State land mammal: Moose, adopted 1998. (ya think?) it also has almost twice as many caribou than people. Annabelle will certainly dig this! Living in friggin North Pole Alaska (yes, that is the name of the town there) with Caribou all around!! haha
• All three species of North American bears flourish in Alaska. (yikes)
Here is a land mass map that give a better perspective of just how big Alaska is.. 
I really had no idea…. WOW!
Coby Referral Anniversary
13 years ago
