After seven incredibly long years here at Fort Bragg, we will be packing up and experiencing our first ever PCS (permanent change of duty station). I wish I could say we were going somewhere fun, but we are only moving a whopping three hours away to Fort Gordon, GA!
I can't say that I'm exactly thrilled to be moving to Georgia -- I always dreamed that when the day came we could get out of North Carolina that we would move far, far away from the South, not further into it. But part of me is truly looking forward to the change. We have been here for a long time, practically a lifetime in Army standards, and to say that we are both ready for a change is understatement. But at the same time, we have been here SEVEN YEARS. Our friends are here. People we consider family. People that have become near and dear to our hearts.
One of the things that I have learned in my time as a military spouse is that the ones closest to your heart don't need to be closest to your home to remain meaningful. Some of the most amazing, influential & important people in my life have been those that I have actually met online through the blogging & twitter community. But there is a familiarity and routine that we are used to with the ones who physically live closest to us. It will be weird to suddenly have that taken away from us while we figure out a new life somewhere else.
I know that we are lucky. Stability is not something you join the military for, as least not in the physical presence. Seven years at one duty station, in one job (for my husband) is a LONG time. Like I said before, almost a lifetime. There is a good chance that we won't get a stint like that anywhere else and that our time has come where every two to three years, we will uproot our small family and go where the Army tells us to go. Hopefully, someday, to one of our dream duty stations (Colorado. Washington State. Alaska. Italy.)
But for now, we start the process. I don't even know where to begin, in all honesty. First and foremost, most likely, will be a very long list of things that will need to be done to the house to make it rent-ready. Then a massive purge of all the unnecessary crap we have in our home. Followed by tons of packing. I am sure there will be some frustrations along the way & I plan to share them here. We have never PCS'ed as a family before, so this could get interesting.
All in all, this will be a good change. A change we are ready for. Augusta, GA is a very nice town. We have visited friends there before and with Gordon being a very small installation, it will be a welcome change from the hustle & bustle of Bragg.
Here's to a very busy next few months!
3 comments:
Wish you were moving to WA! I have politely requested that if D makes senior before retirement that he requests one of the two bases in Georgia so we can be close! lol don't know why he laughed at me! ;)
lol, i almost laughed at the three hours thing...its funny but its not. we also were at our last duty station for a prolonged period of time...I think I would have laughed with a mixture of crying if we got stationed that close....its like so close you feel where you were..but too far to keep the same life in the same way.....although i hear Fort gordon is super great and I'm a huge fan of Georgia! None the less, its super exciting and I know you will handle it with ease :)
Oh wow. I think that's the shortest PCS I've ever heard of. Good luck with everything! I hear you on being on the south. After WA, Alabama is a foreign country. But we are trying to make the most of it. But I'm still counting the months until Mike's re-enlistment window opens again.
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