Monday, April 25, 2011

First holiday away from "Home."

Easter 2011 was my first holiday away from everything I've known. Growing up, my siblings and I would wake each other up at the crack of dawn just to find our easter baskets. Mom was always great with holidays. It was always too cold for her to hide the eggs, so she would make do with the plastic eggs hidden around the house. After we would go through our baskets, we would get dressed in our best and go to church. Then around noon we would head to my grandma's house and spend Easter with the rest of our ginormous family.




This year since it was just myself, Jeff, and the dog, I had bought a couple baskets and some little gadgets from the dollar tree. I had to play bunny this year. I hid Bella's basket and let her find it. It was so cute. Jeff and I got ready for the day and went to church. It was a beautiful service. Afterwords we got some lunch at Golden Corral (I had never been), it was amazing! We also decided to go for a drive. So we took the dog and went to a couple lakes on post. It was a beautiful day and it was just filled with love, even though it was only the three of us. When we got home, our neighbors came over and we all watched "Passion of the Christ." I had seen the movie before but I was a child and I never really understood. After watching it again, I feel like I found the true meaning of Easter.



Life is beautiful. Life is short. Jesus died for my sins, and yours, whether you believe or not..

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Twister..in real life.

As most of you have heard by now, yesterday 16April 2011, tornados ripped through the east coast. North Carolina got hit really badly. As of right now there are 22 confirmed casualties and many many injured. The whole state is under a state of emergency. I decided that tomorrow I am going to red cross and am going to volunteer as much time as I can to help these victims.

Growing up in Michigan, we do get tornados every now and then. However, none are really "deadly." Michigan does a test every first saturday of the month with the "tornado sirens." I didn't hear this down here. Yesterday morning and Friday evening everyone kept talking about how horrible and severe this storm was going to be. Myself along with others didn't think anything of it because back in the fall, we were supposed to get hit with a hurricane. The end results in this hurricane was sprinkles and sunshine. The weather yesterday was kind of over cast, the sun peaking out here and there and pretty humid. It started sprinkling a little bit and Jeff and I had decided to go to Sonic because I am completely obsessed with Route 44 sweet teas..extra ice. As soon as we pulled into the sonic booth, the power went out. Oh great, I thought. I looked behind me to look at the major road, all the traffic lights were out. We decided to leave and head home. Within the .2 miles of driving back home we saw almost two accidents. We get home and sit on the porch because it starts thundering a little bit. The neighbor had her little boy out playing in the rain with his spiderman rain boots and yellow poncho. Then is started to pour cats and dogs, and when I say cats and dogs, I mean elephants and velociraptors.  (Oh yeah and we lost our power too at this point) So we're sitting out on the patio, and we hear this loud thunder that didn't stop for almost 20 seconds. It was loud and kind of sounded like a train. I don't know if this was the tornado or not. But it scared the heck out of me! We went back inside, the power turned back on and the sun was out. The crap? I get online as fast as I can and I hear about two tornados. One in Fayetteville/Ft Bragg and one in Sanford which is like twenty minutes from me. I thank God that this thing passed us. I see pictures, watch the news, see videos, and hear stories and it breaks my heart. I haven't volunteered in a very long time so tomorrow my goal is to get down to red cross and do WHATEVER I can.

Those of you that are in any of the areas that got affected by these tornados, God bless you and your family.
For information on how you can help visit: Highland Hills Red Cross


Sunday, April 10, 2011

Tell time like a soldier.

I hate using military time, being around so much it sort of starts to grow on you. Here's a little help on learning military time.

If it's past noon, add 1200 to it. Example: (1:00pm)  1+1200= 1300

If you watch the show Army Wives, they're not 100% right on everything. If it's before noon, it's ZERO and then the time and not OH. Example: 8am...0800 (Zero eight hundred)

Talk like a soldier.

I recently had a poll on which topics I should discuss in my next entry. Military Jargon was tied with skype dates. So I figured why not do both. I'm the kind of wife that makes sure my husband doesn't bring work home with him, and I try not to get involved with the army because I'm not a soldier. However, at times, you can't really help but to want to know what's going on. Like, who the heck is Roger, and why are we still talking about Charlie? I've only been a wife for six months, but I'm SLOWLY learning the jargon. One weekend, Jeff and I went camping and I told him, "My goal for this weekend is to learn the army alphabet." "You mean the phonetic alphabet?" He says. "Well yeah, same difference." Sure enough, by the end of the weekend I could recite the whole alphabet. It wasn't too hard but certain letters were a little tough. I started thinking of way to remember them. Example, L is for Lima. I only remember that because that's the town the show Glee takes place. Hah. Anyways, below is the complete alphabet for you ladies, and a little extra on the jargon. :]

Phonetic Alphabet:


A....ALPHA
B....BRAVO
C....CHARLIE
D....DELTA
E....ECHO
F....FOXTROT
G....GULF
H....HOTEL
I....INDIA
J....JULIET
K....KILO
L....LIMA
M....MIKE
N....NOVEMBER
O....OSCAR
P....PAPA
Q....QUEBEC
R....ROMEO
S....SIERRA
T....TANGO
U....UNIFORM
V....VICTOR
W....WHISKEY
X....X-RAY
Y....YANKEE
Z....ZULU

Other Jargon you may or may not find useful. :]


---A---
AAA - Anti-Aircraft Artillery
AAFES - Army Air Force Exchange System
AAR - After Action Report
ABN - Airborne
ACAP - Army Career and Alumni Program (helps soldiers separating from the military)
ACP - Access Control Point
ACS - Army Community Services (provides family services)
ACU - Army Combat Uniform
AD - Active Duty
ADA - Air Defense Artillery
AER - Army Emergency Relief (emergency funds for families and soldiers)
AFN - Armed Forces Network
AFTB - Army Family Team Building (teaches dependents about military life)
AG - Adjutant General
AIT - Advanced Individual (or Infantry) Training
ALC - Advance Leadership Course (same as BNCOC, Army renamed it)
AOB - Armor Officer Basic
ANCOC - Advanced Noncommisioned Officer Course (needed to make E-7)
ANG - Air National Guard
AO - Area of Operations
APC - Armored Personnel Carrier
APFT - Army Physical Fitness Test
APO - Army Post Office
AR -Army Regulation
ASAP - Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program
ASU - Army Service Uniform (Class A's)
ATC - Annual Training Conference
AWOL - Absent Without Leave

---B---
BAH - Basic Allowance for Housing (money for rent for soldiers with dependents)
BAS - Basic Allowance for Sustinence (money for food for soldiers with dependents)
BCT - Basic Combat Training (formerly known as Boot Camp)
BDE - Brigade
BDU - Battle Dress Uniform (old camouflage uniforms)
BOGINT - Bogus Intelligence
BOHICA - Bend Over Here It Comes Again
BOQ - Bachelor Officer Quarters
BN - Battalion
BNCOC - Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course (needed for promotion to E-6)
BRAC - Base Realignments and Closures

---C---
CAC - Community Action Counsel
CG - Commanding General (in charge of the base or post)
CDC - Child Development Center
CENTCOM - Central Command
CIB - Combat Infantry Badge
CID - Criminal Investigation Division
CO - Commanding Officer
COB - Close of Business
COLA - Cost of Living Allowance (given in Hawaii, Alaska and overseas)
CONUS - Continental United States
CPS - Child Protective Services
CQ - Charge of Quarters
CY - Calendar Year

---D---
DA - Department of the Army
DCU - Desert Camouflage Uniform
DeCa - Defense Commissary Agency (run grocery stores on base or post)
DEERS - Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System
DEROS - Date of Estimated Return from Overseas
DFAC - Dining Facilities Administration Center (or known as the Mess Hall/Cafeteria)
DFAS - Defense Finance Accounting System (in charge of our pay)
DI - Drill Instructor
DITY - Do It Yourself (in relation to moving)
DLA - Dislocation Allowance (money to help with the cost of moving)
DoD - Department of Defense
DOR - Date of Rank
DPP - Deferred Payment Plan (military credit card, now called the Star Card)
DPW - Directorate of Public Works (maintains the base or post)
DSN - Defense Switched Network (secured communication lines)

---E---
EEO - Equal Employment Opportunity
EER - Enlisted Evaluation Report
EFMB - Excellence in Field Medicine Badge
EFMP - Exceptional Family Member Program (helps with special medical needs)
EIA - Excellence in Armor
EIB - Excellence in Infantry Badge
EM - Enlisted Member
ERB - Enlisted Record Brief
ETS - Estimated Time of Separation (date that you may leave the military)
EWC - Enlisted Wives Club

---F---
FAC - Family Assistance Center/Family Advocacy Commitee
FAQ - Family Advocacy Program
FCP - Family Care Plan
FDU - Full Dress Uniform
FLO - Family Liason Officer
FM - Field Manual
FORSCOM - Forces Command
FRG - Family Readiness Group (provides support to families)
FRO - Family Readiness Officer
FSA - Family Separation Allowance (paid to married soldiers gone for 30+ days)
FTX - Field Training Exercise
FY - Fiscal Year (begins 1 Oct and ends 30 Sep)

---G---
GO - General Officer
GS - General Schedule (pay schedule for civilian employees)

---H---
HFP - Hostile Fire Pay
HHC - Headquarters and Headquarters Company
HHT - Headquarters and Headquarters Troop
HQ - Headquarters
HQDA - Headquarters, Department of the Army
HS - Home Station

---I---
IE - Initial Entry
IET - Initial Entry Training (basic training)
IG - Inspector General (investigates questionable situations on base or post)
ITO - Information Travel Office

---J---
JAG - Judge Advocate General (military lawyers)
JUMPS - Joint Uniform Military Pay System

---K---
KIA - Killed in Action
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
KP - Kitchen Patrol

---L---
LES - Leave Earnings Statement (Military Pay Stub)
LN - Local National
LOD - Line of Duty
LZ - Landing Zone

---M---
MACOM - Major Army Command
MEDDAC - Medical Department Activity
METL - Mission Essential Task List
MI - Military Intelligence
MIA - Missing in Action
MILPO - Military Personnel Office
MOS - Military Occupational Specialty (Job Title)
MP - Military Police
MRE - Meal Ready to Eat (Food that's vacuumed sealed)
MTF - Military Treatment Facility (Military Hospital)
MWR - Morale, Recreation and Welfare

---N---
NBC - Nuclear Biological Chemical
NCO - Noncommissioned Officer
NCOER - Noncommissioned Officer Evaluation Report
NCOIC - Noncommissioned Officer in Charge
NG - National Guard
NPD - No Pay Due

---O---
OBC - Officer Basic Course
OCONUS - Outside Continental United States
OCS - Officer Candidate School
OD - Officer of the Day
OER - Officer Evaluation Report
OIC - Officer in Charge
OPSEC - Operational Security
OWC - Officers Wives Club

---P---
PAO - Public Affairs Officer
P-38 - Small can opener for C-Rations
PAM - Pamphlet
PCS - Permanent Change of Station (moving time)
PERSCOM - Army Personnel Command (in charge of promotion, movement, etc.)
PERSEC - Personal Security
PFU - Physical Fitness Uniform
PLDC - Primary Leadership Development Course (needed for promotion to E-5)
PLT - Platoon
PM - Provost Marshall
PMOS - Primary Military Occupational Specialty (primary job)
POA - Power of Attorney
POC - Point of Contact
POV - Privately Owned Vehicle
POW - Prisoner of War
PT - Physical Training
PX - Post Exchange (store on base or post)
PZ - Primary Zone (in reference to promotion)

---Q---
QM - Quarter Master

---R---
R&R - Rest and Recreation
RA - Regular Army
RC - Reserve Component
RCP - Retention Control Point (gives cutoffs for promotion)
RD - Rear Detatchment (soldiers who stay behind from a deployment or exercise)
RDC - Rear Detatchment Commander
RDF - Rapid Deployment Force
REG - Regulation
RIF - Reduction in Force

---S---
SBP - Survivor Benefit Plan
SCO - Squadron Commanding Officer
SDNCO - Staff Duty Noncommissioned Officer
SDO - Staff Duty Officer
SGLI - Soldiers Group Life Insurance
SIDPERS - Standard Installation/Division Personnel Reporting System
SMO - Squadron Maintnence Officer
SOP - Standard Operating Procedure
SRB - Selective Reenlistment Bonus
SSI - Single Soldier Initiative
SSN - Social Security Number
STRAC - Skilled, Tough, Ready Around The Clock
SZ - Secondary Zone (in reference to promotion)

---T---
TDY - Temporary Duty Assignment
TIG - Time in Grade
TLA - Temporary Living Allowance
TLE - Temporary Lodging Expense
TM - Training Manual
TRADOC - Training and Doctrine Command

---U---
UCDPP - Uniform Clothing Deferred Payment Plan (military credit plan for clothing)
UCMJ - Uniform Code of Military Justice (military law)
USAR - United States Army Reserve
USARC - United States Army Reserve Command
USAREC - United States Army Recruiting Command
USMA - United States Military Academy
USO - United Service Organization
UTA - Unit Training Assembly

---V---
VA - Veteran Affairs
VHA - Variable Housing Allowance

---W---
WMD - Weapons of Mass Destruction
WO - Warrant Officer
WOAC - Warrant Officer Advanced Course
WOC - Warrant Officer Candidate Course
WOCS - Warrant Officer Candidate School
WOSC - Warrant Officer Senior Course

---X---
XO - Executive Officer



Numbers
4-F - Classification given to those deemed unfit for military service
50-cal -.50 caliber machine gun
51-cal - heavy machine gun used by the enemy
79 - an M-79 grenade launcher
82 mm - a mortar used by the enemy
105 - a 105-mm howitzer
201 file - a US Army personnel file

Terms
Alert - call to be ready on short notice
Allotment - deduction from pay to bank or individual
Allowance - special pay or compensation
Article 15 - punitive action
Blanket Party - unofficial punishment of company goof off
Billets/Barracks/Dorms - where single soldiers live
Brownnoser - person who sucks up to seniors
Cherry- Soldier fresh out of basic and ait
Chit - paper given by medical to be excused from certain types of work or exercise
Chow hall - dining facility (AKA mess hall)
CQ - 24hr watch over the barracks
Dependent - family member entitled to military benefits
Detail - job or assignment
Dining in - social gathering for soldiers only
Dining out - social gathering for soldiers and spouses
Dog And Pony Show - doing something for the Brass or the public
Fartsack - Sleeping bag
Full Bird - Colonel
Garrison - post or community
GI Party - cleanup duty
Grade - pay level
Guidon - unit flag
Grunt - Infantry Soldier
Hash marks - stripes on uniform to show time in service
Hoo ah - slang meaning something is acknowledged and understood
Insignia - indicates branch of service
Jody call - cadence
Klick - slang for Kilometer
Latrine - restroom
Legs - Non-Airborne Soldiers
Motor pool - area where vehicles are kept and maintained
Orderly room - company office
Orders - written or spoken directive
Organization day - outing that is usually mandatory for soldiers and optional for families
Poge - non-combat MOS
Police call - cleanup duty
Puss Pad - the little pad used for sleeping on
Rank - official title of the service member
Re-up - reenlist
Reveille - bugle call at the beginning of the day
Retreat - bugle call at the end of the day
Sick call - where soldiers go for medical treatment
Short timer - someone who is about to leave the military
Short tour - unaccompanied overseas tour
Staff Duty - 24 hour watch over the unit area
TA50 - field gear
Tricare - our medical insurance
United Concordia - dental insurance for family members
Zero Dark Thirty - very early in the morning








80% of information is from bragg wives page on facebook.