Military Day to Day at Nellis

It has been a while since I have written about Josh's military day to day life.  Josh has applied for Squadron Officer School.  He can either complete this through distance learning in which he would have 18 months to complete the course or he could go back to Maxwell AFB and do an eight week residence.  He would need to complete this course before he would be eligible to advance to Major.  He would like to go back to Maxwell and take me with him for the eight weeks. Anyone want to volunteer to watch our kids? Each rank in the air force has an educational piece associated with it and this is the education for Captains.

I asked Josh about his day to day life in his job.  He wears his ABU's daily and he does not have the strict protocol and ceremony like he did at COT.  He did have a formal ceremony today though.  A new colonel arrived as the Squadron Commander so they all met at 7:00am at attention. The change of command ceremony dates back to the Prussian Military. The Squadron flag was given from the exiting commander to the new commander in front of all the troops so that they would see the change in command.  Josh said that there is more ceremony on the operational side of the Air Force because they are constantly war ready.  The medical squadrons have a different focus.  They support in time of war.  These kinds of things are interesting to me because they do not compare to our past experiences in the civilian work force.  When a new boss arrives to the workplace, you get an email and a board meeting.  Some of these new experiences we are having still surprise me.

Our discussion of ceremony at dinner prompted our kids to practice their salutes.  Bear has hers down pretty well.  Bub is not quite stiff enough and Pants is determined that the salute comes from the top of the head.  There is no convincing a three year old.

I actually really like the names on all the houses on base.  Then I can find the house I am looking for.

Move to Base Housing

We finally were able to move to our base housing on Nellis Air Force Base on June 26th.  We were about two and half months in the TLF without most of our stuff and any internet connection.  I was ready to move.  I guess that it is too much to expect for the move to go smoothly.  The movers were not allowed on base until 1:00pm.  They sat at the guard post for four hours while their entire truck was searched. I am  not sure where the problem was because I am sure lots of people move with similar amounts of household items.  Once they did arrive at the house things went pretty quickly.  Then we started to find all the broken items.  The driver and movers on the Springville side did a horrible job.  Here is the list:  Our bed is completely broken as it is an air bed and the tubing was snapped, the parts box was missing of any parts so we could not set up Bear and Bub's beds, the kids homework table arrived in pieces, our dresser has two chunks of wood missing from the base, a floor lamp base was broken, my curio case was cracked in half on the base, the toy kitchen had water damage and the base was crunched, there was a chunk taken out of the kids dresser, the computer desk arrived in pieces, and couch had a ripped seam, and the piano paint was scratched on the side.  The movers kept complaining about the way the items were labeled and and listed on the paperwork.  They did not leave until 6:30 and we had a mess and only Pants had a good working bed. Thank goodness for good neighbors who arrived with dinner and an air mattress.  Since we have been unpacking, I have noticed the lack of our broom and mop.  I had a breakdown in Lowe's over that because they did not have the step on it dust pan that is now lost to me.  Thank goodness for Amazon.com. So, we are in, we have broken stuff, but we are determined to make this home!

Nellis Base Housing