A day can make a difference! Thursday was our day. Ryan deployed to Haiti and we found out we are getting reassigned this summer to Wright-Patterson AFB (he called me literally as he was boarding the plane for Haiti).
Ryan is with the 621 Contingency Response Wing. They started to arrive Thursday afternoon to Port Au Prince, Haiti. Within about 12 hours they had set up camp along side the airfield. Their 'tent city' houses all their supplies and equipment. 14 men to a tent. They were looking forward to port-a-potties arriving a couple of days after they arrived. Their unit is responsible for downloading 100 percent of the aid coming in from all over the world! They can unload about 2 aircraft each hour and they are streaming in 24 hours a day. After being there for 36 hours Ryan had gotten 4 hours of sleep and was getting ready to start his shift again. He didn't express the need for any more rest; I think he is running on adrenaline for now. Ryan is totally in his element as he has traveled all over the world to complete similar taskings. Two other humanitarian efforts he was a part of include Mozambique and Albania. As time moves forward they will have a day shift and night shift which will allow for more sleep. Since their mission is at the air field he hasn't left the airport.
Our assignment to Wright-Pat (in Dayton, Ohio) is great! He applied and was accepted to attend AFIT starting in August. He will be a full-time graduate student earning a masters degree in Fuel Management which is one facet of Logistics. It is an 18 month program after which, we will move again. During this time, he will remain active duty status and time/grade. Having graduated from Miami of Ohio myself, I am delighted to return the state and some VERY close friends who live only 30 minutes from base. With this said, it might nearly break my heart to say good-bye to friends, traditions and our lives here in NJ. We will have been here for 6 years...during which we got married, had two children and Ryan got commissioned...lots of big and exciting changes.
So, not only am I 'holding down the fort' at home, I am now trying to sell the fort too! Or at least get it ready.
