August News

Hi everyone,

Its been a while since our last post, so I'll update you on what's been happening...

Jenna is busy in Oklahoma working at her squadron. She will be going to Aircraft Maintenance Officer Course (AMOC) at Shepard AFB next week. AMOC is a 3 month long course where maintenance officers learn the ins and outs of supervision and aircraft maintenance. Maintenance workers in the Air Force are some of the hardest working and best people in the Air Force. They also have a reputation for getting into trouble sometimes so I am sure Jenna will have a lot on her plate when she gets back to Oklahoma. Jenna has been busy decorating the house, and making frequent trips to Panera Bread!

I have been busy with training in Florida and am entering the "tactical control" part of my training. Tactical control involves learning MU-2, F-15, and F-22 tactics. Next week I will be getting my second flight on an MU-2 (small twin engine prop). We learn to control MU-2s first since they are slower - we call them Decafs! We will have our first live control mission the following week where we will control 2 vs 2 Decaf flights. I am enjoying the training so far and learning a lot. I have a whole new respect for fighter pilots after going through some of our lessons!

I have also been ffinding time to enjoy my new hobby - surf fishing! I found a nice fishing spot a couple miles outside of mexico beach called Crooked Island. I have caught many different kinds of fish including Ladyfish, Catfish, Whiting, Bluefish, Sand Sharks, and even a stingray! I managed to catch 4 nice keepers (Bluefish and Whiting) this weekend, and should be able to have 3 or 4 nice fish dinners! My next goal is to catch a Florida Pompano, which are supposed to be the best tasting fish in Florida. I will keep you posted on my fishing adventures in the future!

Jenna and I are meeting at Keesler AFB next weekend before she goes to AMOC. It will be nice to spend some time together for a few days!

That's all for now, hope everyone is enjoying the last part of summer!

OKC House Pictures

Living room...The paint does not look the best, but that is because of the flash on the camera.

Dinning room, with new table and wedding pictures. And new curtains I just put up!

Kalen, when he can up for my graduation from ASBC.

Oklahoma City

A lot has happened since our last post... I have moved to Oklahoma City to Tinker AFB, and Kalen has moved into his next phase of training!

First, on the 20th of July I arrived to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City, OK. Right away I was able to get an on-base house and have embodied the phrase “hit-the-ground-running” perfectly! I am assigned to the Maintenance Group for the AWACS, I have been attending many meetings a day, and learning about the planes as well as doing a lot of classes while I in-process to the base! So far I have really enjoyed the fast-paced job, hundreds of people also working in the group….and even the long, long hours!

Next, I have been working on getting moved into the new house. It is pretty bare, being my household goods are still somewhere between Superior and OKC… But I have been able to get the essentials, including a bed, table, 32” LCD TV and a weather radio! (I was even able to get some great deals on the furniture after a local store had its roof blown off in a storm!) Last weekend I took advantage of the lack of furniture and painted the living room/dinning room area! Even the local JC Penny welcomed me to the area with a window sale, so I was able to get some great deals on curtains! If you would like a better idea of what the house looks like, I would suggest watching the movie “We Were Soldiers” (a Vietnam War movie) the housing shown in the movie was build around the same time as our house…very similar…

Last Saturday, Kalen got another new car for us! A very pretty, red, 2010 Subaru Forester! Although I was sad to see our second old jeep go…Kalen was very happy to receive $4,500 for getting a vehicle with better fuel economy! (My tolerance for the current administration and Congress has been pretty high this week! Thanks guys!) By this time, the jeep has probably been crushed. Again, we needed to replace it and Kalen has already grown very fond of the new Subaru! When he moves up to OKC, it will be a struggle over which vehicle will get the garage! His Forester, or my Impreza!

Again, it has been very busy few weeks for us. Kalen has moved into his next phase of training to become an Air Battle Manager! He has already excelled at the numerous early-morning mission simulations he does for training a couple times a week! Working with the AWACS in OKC, I have even learned more about his training! We usually dedicate 10-15 minutes of our nightly phone conversations to talking about AWACS Mission! (Also known as “America’s Mission”)

This weekend the two of us are getting some R&R and preparing for the next week! I will be very busy with work, probably pulling 12 hour shifts the next two weeks (possibly even some night shifts!) and Kalen will be back to class and training simulations next week! I have already started my weekend with 12 hours of sleep, and Kalen is on his way to the golf course!

Hopefully we will get another post up in a couple of days and a picture of the new car…no promises though, our weeks are flying by!!

Jenna