Charlie and I are almost down to one year left in Okinawa. In the military, pcs means permanent change of station. There are a bunch of lists to look at and "choose" from. The overseas list for us comes out in Oct. This list will have all the positions open for a Master Sergeant 2E17something (I forget the numbers). That's the only positions Charlie can "choose" from. The higher rank you are, the smaller the list is. And I say "choose" because you put in order 1-10 of which base you'd like but it doesn't always mean you'll go there. If someone has been overseas longer than you (I find that difficult to believe anyone has been overseas more than our 12 years) or if they are coming from a remote like Korea, Lages, or Turkey they will get first choice over you. If you turn down an overseas assignment, then you have to move to the states.
So another list comes out in Nov. for stateside bases. You choose from the list given 1-10 and hope to see something you want. Charlie's first assignment out of tech school he put all east coast and was placed in Wyoming. We would dread it if that, or ND or Washington state comes up for us. We want to be back home. NC would be perfect but anywhere on the east coast we would be happy. So out of that list we won't find out where we will be moving until Feb./Mar. of next year. and we actually move in June. I hate how they don't give you much notice. Is that really enough time to research the area, schools, houses, etc.?
We have a lot to think about still. But I wanted to show you this article. It's funny and anyone in the military can relate:
We’ve still got a year to go, but recently my husband received an email from his detailer (Navy speak for the person who gets you your orders) saying he should start looking at “the list.” And as I got to thinking about my friends who are PCSing this summer, some STILL without knowing where they are going, I realized there are a LOT of different ways we all react to this whole crazy process. These are some characters that I’ve met...
“Choosing” Orders:
1. The Traveller: “I can’t WAIT to see the possibilities... maybe we could go to Europe, or somewhere else in Asia no one has ever been to before... man, I’ve gotta get my globe out so I can imagine our new life somewhere on that sphere!!”
2. The Homebody: “Please, oh, please, let there be an opening at the base near Great Grandma Nan. I don’t know what I’ll do if I have to live another minute away from home.”
3. The Hippie: “Wherever we go, there we will be.”
4. The Good Spouse: “I’ll just let him/her choose what is best for their career.”
Awaiting the Word/Official Orders:
1. The Neurotic: “WHERE THE *$(#&@& ARE THE ORDERS!!! I can’t live like this – not knowing. I’m making myself totally crazy!!! (and everyone around me)”
2. The Pragmatist: "Well, ya know, there's a lot of work that goes into generating those orders. It just takes a while sometimes. I'm sure they'll arrive shortly."
3. The Yoda: “The orders will come when right the time is.”
4. The Oblivious One: “What? We need orders? They said they want us, don’t we just go?”
Receiving Unexpected Orders:
1. The Planner: “WHAT???? But I’ve been researching ____________ for 3 months now. I’ve spent countless hours online and meeting people who live there. We HAVE to go there! Where in the world is this other place anyway?? WHERE’s MY GLOBE????”
2. The Processor: “OH MY GOODNESS. OH MY goodness. OH my goodness. . . . . . . Oh my goodness. . . . . . . Ok. . . . . . Oh my goodness. . . . . . Well, ok. . . . . . Oh my goodness. . .”
3. The Adventurer: “Hmmmm. Well, I guess this is a chance to be somewhere different! I didn’t even know we had a base there. But that’s near the mountains, right? Well, I’ve always wanted to learn to ski!”
4. The Ostrich: “We may be going there. But I’m just going to pretend like we’re not. I’m going to pretend we’re going home instead. I’m sure that will work.”
