Military Husband+Military Wife=Military Life

"Drop and give me twenty" is simply an old catch phrase that we Americans might think of when the Army is concerned. Well, "drop and give me a year" is the new sing song for the Collins family.

That's right. My husband, Sgt. David B. Collins of the 113th Cavalry in LeMars, IA has been deployed for one year to Afghanistan. Let's take a look at the inner workings of the Army National Guard, shall we?

The 113th Cavalry was put on mobilization alert back in October 2009, while Dave was in the process of applying for an Officer Candidate School (OCS). We were not going to find out whether he got accepted into the school, or not, until May 2010. If Dave were to get into the OCS program, he would have been able to forgo the deployment. Well, that's all fine and dandy, until the 113th decided that Dave was just too valuable a leader to let him hang back. So they called him last week with a promotion to Staff Sargeant (E6 rank). They gave him a little time to think about it before telling him there is no option; he is required to take this promotion, thus taking him overseas.

The thing that I like about the military now is the fair warning they give the troops about deployments. Back in the day, troops had day(s), to get their affairs in order before they shipped out. That's barely enough time to kiss good-bye, let alone figure out your next move.

Another good thing is the training. Four years ago, the unit had 3 months of training in the U.S. before they went to Iraq for 1 full year. Now, the training is considered deployment time, making it 3 months training in the U.S. and 9 months in Afghanistan. That's three months of worrying that hopefully won't be SO stressful as it will be when he's over the pond.

Okay. This may not exactly sound like an ideal situation for a young married couple that just graduated from college, and have the world at their fingertips. However, we have been through this before. WE CAN DO THIS! My heart has always gone out to the spouses and families of the soldiers, I know what you're going through. BE STRONG.This is not the end of the world. If David didn't feel like he wanted to go overseas, he wouldn't have joined the military. Dave is a strong person, and I believe that he gets a strong sense of fulfillment from serving his country and knowing that he's making me proud. I love that about him, and if proud were a paycheck, I'd have as much money in my name as the US has in debt.

So for the next few months, I will be searching for jobs (wink, wink) and trying to figure out where to go. I guess that will all depend on where I can find work. I think, for now, we will move into my parents basement, as we are eager to end the USD/Vermillion chapter in our life. Plus, that will give us a little more time to be close to family, save some money, and just be husband and wife with all thoughts of wars and deployments set aside...yeah, right.

Bring on the rain. Bring on the worry. If God didn't want wars to go on, he wouldn't have created the strength of military men and women to go off and settle some disputes. This is the hand He had planned to deal, and we are ready to play. Faith, love, and trust.

Thank you for the kind thoughts, prayers, and advice,

Megs and Sgt. Collins

ONE MORE THING:

Our families have been so VERY loving and supportive of David and I, and now they've upped the anty. We would not be where we are without them, so to you family, THANK YOU. We will get through this TOGETHER.