forwaters

Unless you get on-post housing most people end up in Mililani or Kaneohe. Both are really nice areas. Takes about 20 minutes from either place to get to Tripler (assuming you are leaving at about 0545, later than that and traffic starts getting worse and worse). Kaneohe is on the windward side which is beautiful, close to the Marine Corps base and minutes from some really nice beaches. Again though if you have older kids (junior high, high school) make sure your home over there is zoned for the schools used by the military kids (mainland kids can have a really hard time in schools without large military populations). Mililani is about as central Oahu as you can get (so no beach), but then again it's not a huge island so it really doesn't take that long to get anywhere. literally takes us 15 minutes to get to the North shore (much closer than Kaneohe) and about 30 minutes to get to Waikiki (traffic). There are tons of military kids at the schools in Mililani due to Schofield and Wheeler being here. You can also get more house for the money in Mililani. Years ago Mililani was also nationally recognized as the #1 all American city. Hope that helped. Both places are great areas to live. Kailua is also very nice, but keep the schools in mind if you have older kids. Then again if you can afford to send your kids to private school then that is a non issue.

We have been here for 3 1/2 months now and we love it. Like the floor I ended up on (medical oncology), like where we are living (Mililani) and am happy with the schools my kids are attending (Mililani middle, and the Hawaii center for the deaf and blind). If you have school age kids just make sure you are living where they can attend a school with a lot of other military kids.

No confidence course O.k., now I bummed.

Don't mind your asking at all :) I think it's a great idea to talk about how we are all dealing with family concerns. We have been very happily married for just about 15 years now; neither of us were married before. We met just as I was leaving AD AF back in '92. We have 2 kids; one 14 and one who will be turning 12 while we are in OBLC. Our little guy also happens to be deaf. Both of our kids are very proud that I used to be in the military, that their mother is still in the military, and that we will both be continuing in service to our country. Service to country is something we have always tried to impress the importance of upon our children. Military families have unique challenges, and dual military families take those challenges a step further. Without a commitment from the entire family (single or dual military families) military service can prove to be a very difficult path. We have always felt as though anything is possible as long as the whole family is on the same page though. It also helps that our kids are a bit older now... not really sure if we could have made this work while our kids were younger. I think our individual perspectives play a large part in it as well... growing up a military brat myself, I think I see things differently than someone who may not have, especially with regards to our children. When I sometimes worry about our children (who doesn't) and wonder if having both their parents in the military will be a good thing or not, I am able to draw on my experiences as a kid growing up in the service. No matter what was going on, whether my father was at home or separated from us, knowing he was doing something as important as serving our country was always a sense a pride for me. The military life style and sense of community was also something that I thrived off of as a kid growing up in the service. Drawing on those personal experiences and knowing that my children share many of those same thoughts helps me to overcome many of the doubts we all have when considering military service. My wife and I also try to think beyond today or tomorrow (doesn't always work though :wink2:). What I mean by that is this: Yes, we know that dual military service will bring hardships on our family. But we also try to keep in perspective that our children, no matter how much we love them, are not going to be at home forever. That we have our futures (the part without kids) to plan for as well. 6 years from now both of our children will more than likely not be living in our home any more (unless they choose to go to college locally... wherever that may be). Keeping the above in mind, we also look to our parents and recognize the struggles they are having at this point in their lives... with the exception of my father (help of a military retirement; pension and medical benefits), none of our parents are in any position financially to retire. The prospect of having to work until we croak or physically just can't work anymore... then becoming a burden on our kids is something neither of us wants. When we think long term for the reasons mentioned above, the sacrifices that our family will face in the short term become in our minds a very reasonable "price" for the prospect of an actual semi-comfortable retirement at a reasonable age. Between the thrift savings plan, 2 military pensions at Major or Lt. Col. (think thats a realistic expectation) and the retiree medical benefits my wife and I just might be able to pull off what none of our parents have.

2Soldiers, You're right, your son definitely needs to push for the records from his BMT injury. You never know what the future will bring, if he ends up with some sort of exacerbation from the injury once he leaves the military he will need those records for any sort of recourse.

I am my love Just for everyone elses benefit (who didn't already know), airforcecapt and I are married.

Hey 2soldiers, My wife and I know the feeling with the lost paperwork. Seemed like every couple of weeks one of us was being called back in for something we had already filled out... very frustrating. I even had to do two physicals. 9 months prior I had done a physical for the AF Nurse Corps, but when I began the Army application the AF claimed they could not locate my physical results (actually it was my entire package they said they could not locate). I think "losing things" is the status quo.

66 Hotel, That was a great heads up!!! Thank you.

Good luck on the physical 2Soldiers.

O.k., I feel like a complete idiot asking this, but I really don't feel like looking back through the 100+ posts we have on this string :). Which of us are heading to Ft. Sam this January? Not sure if the AD and reserves share any instructional time there, so If you could reply with a AD or reserve reference that would be great. I am going this January, AD. I don't want anyone thinking after seeing this post that we don't want them posting here if they are not going in January. We have had some really good discussions from everyone on this string and I don't want it to end. I just wanted to get a clearer picture of who the January people are :)

You also need to look into the dispersal schedule for the bonus. Depending on which bonus and the size of the bonus dispersement is different. When my wife went into the AF nurse Corps 4 years ago the bonus was only 10K and it was paid in one lump sum after COT. With the $ value being so high now, they might be giving a percentage after COT and disperse the remainder equally over the next 4 years (once a year).

:yeah:this is exactly what we have been referring to. :yeah: i don't believe any of us think of ourselves as "old", i surely don't. i always have the mindset that i can perform on par with any 20 something. the point is as you get older (i did not say anyone is old) you cannot push your body to perform at x level quite as quickly as someone who is younger. yes, the older person most certainly can perform just as well as the younger person... no one has even hinted otherwise. but the older (again not to be read as "old") person just needs more time to reach that level of fitness. i personally learned this the hard way! 2 years ago when i began an exercises program (because i knew i wanted to come back into the military) i approached that program like i would have when i was 25... why not, that's what worked for me then... and i payed the price. for the next year i suffered from shin splints and my running program took a nose dive. not sure if you've ever had shin splints, i never had before that point, but they are not fun. because of that personal experience there is absolutely no way i would suggest for anyone to approach a new exercises program in any way but slow, steady and controlled. i still don't believe anyone here has ever had any intention of aiming for and never surpassing the minimum apft scores. at this point the only safe option for some of the individuals is for them to realize that their initial scores may only meet the minimum, and that has been the point all along. no one ever said to be happy with the minimum or not strive to improve. when anybody has been sedentary for an extended period of time and they begin their physical preparation 2-3 months before oblc (i agree you should start earlier than that) you cannot push them too quickly. the whole point has been to help our fellow future soldiers to reach a point where they can at least pass their initial apft without causing themselves harm.

Sassysailor, I like the workouts from Stew Smith. He has different workouts for varying starting fitness levels and different workouts for individuals with differing fitness goals.

I like what AirForceCapt had to say . Yes, we all realize that an officer with a higher APFT score (when all other things are equal) will be chosen over an officer with a lower APFT score with regards to career enhancing opportunities. And yes, an officer should always strive to perform at their best, both physically and professionally. But the key word here is "their"... if an officer is giving his or her best (assuming their best is not sub-par) then that officer will earn the respect of his or her soldiers. I for one would have a lot more respect for an individual who took their training seriously, was continuing to improve and only scored a 60+ on their run, than for someone who was naturally physically gifted and scored an 80+ without putting forth their best effort. With regards to officership I also agree with what AirForceCapt was alluding to... being an officer is not about your own personal accomplishments and professional gains (those things are nice and we should all strive for them) like being chosen for special schools or choice assignments because we performed well on our APFT. Being an officer is about being an effective leader, about standing up for your soldiers, being fair and consistent, providing discipline when appropriate, and ensuring that the work of the United States Army is being done effectively and appropriately. Yes, one could argue that a higher APFT score will help an officer accomplish those things, but again... if the officer/soldier is taking their training seriously, showing steady improvement and not quitting, what more can you possibly expect from them? With regards to leadership, I'd like to end this post with a quote from Gen. George S. Patton, "There's a great deal of talk about loyalty from the bottom to the top. Loyalty from the top down is even more necessary and is much less prevalent. One of the most frequently noted characteristics of great men who have remained great is loyalty to their subordinates." And in my opinion that is one of the central keys to being an outstanding officer.

GetnPhD, Good to hear from you again. Hope all is still going well down at Ft. Sam for you. With regards to the nurse who ended up with stress fractures... what happened with her? Are they dropping her on a medical? The closer I get to OBLC the more I have been worrying about injuries. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to work as hard as we all have to get to this point in our lives only to have it slip through your fingers because of an injury.