Where Are They Now?

Scout, apparently that warning should have been issued BEFORE son and crew arrived. Let's just say, those porta-johns are too far away from the lovely accommodations provided.
 
DD and I did St. Patrick's Day in Ireland on a Academy break. Parade in Killarney for the day and great fun. Her whole Plebe USNA Class was bigger than the Irish Navy. Now Pendleton.
 
I have an update to share. Son has been a solid bachelor since graduating from USAFA in 2011. A week ago he finally gave in and got engaged to a wonderful girl who is a wildlife biologist in the Florida Keys. Time to start planning for a wedding after he gets back from Korea!

Stealth_81
 
DD and SIL did Main Chapel at USNA (both Marine 2011). Try for that wedding at USAFA. It is a great experience at any Academy and all family and friends loved it. Congratulations to your Son and your future DIL. It may be the one and only time the family and friends might see one of the great Chapels. We were all solid bachelors once upon the day.
 
AF6872 said:
DD and SIL did Main Chapel at USNA (both Marine 2011). Try for that wedding at USAFA. It is a great experience at any Academy and all family and friends loved it. Congratulations to your Son and your future DIL. It may be the one and only time the family and friends might see one of the great Chapels. We were all solid bachelors once upon the day.
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I have always thought it would be great to have him get married at the USAFA Chapel, but that isn't going to happen. Both families are from Wisconsin so they are getting married here. The reception venue is the EAA Air Museum in Oshkosh, however, so that will be pretty spectacular.

Stealth_81
 
Congrats Stealth! I know it's exciting news. Hope mine stays a solid bachelor for several more years though!
 
Welcome to the new ride STEALTH. As both mine are 2011's they might know him? I assume from the venue he might be Navy/Marine Air? Those Gold Wings do look good at the wedding.
 
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Sorry forgot he was AF. They would only know each others at exchange of prisoners.
 
Stealth_81 said:
I have an update to share. Son has been a solid bachelor since graduating from USAFA in 2011. A week ago he finally gave in and got engaged to a wonderful girl who is a wildlife biologist in the Florida Keys. Time to start planning for a wedding after he gets back from Korea!

Stealth_81
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Congratulations.

As a side note, your son is quite the catch to get a Wildlife Biologist to move from the Florida Keys, although it can get a bit isolated there after a while. Have fun planning the wedding, sounds like it will be great.
 
The whole thing was a nightmare for Fathers. Best of luck for all.
 
I am going to bring this one back up for the newer parents and candidates to see where the future can lead. There's a lot to read on this thread if you can wade past the fast-food discussions. I would love to see updates from everyone on the site, new or old.

My son started this week to prepare for his Majors board next year. It is scary how much time has passed and how far things have moved since I was a new parent looking for information about the SA process here.

Son is now at this fifth duty station and is an Instructor Pilot and FLT/CC in the F-16 FTU at Holloman AFB. His wildlife biologist wife made the most of the move to middle-of-nowhere and got a job as a zookeeper at the zoo in town there. Bloom where you are planted, right? Son has three combat deployments and a 1-year tour to Korea under his belt. With 5 years to go on his UPT commitment he has not decided whether he will say until 20 or not. A lot will depend on promotions and his next assignment. The money at the airlines is definitely pulling at him, but he really loves flying fighters. It will be a tough choice. I am excited that they will be coming back to Wisconsin for Christmas since it will be the firs time in 3 years that all 3 of my kids were back here for the Holiday.

Happy Holidays to all of you and hopefully we get to hear many of your updates here soon.

Stealth_81
 
Thanks Stealth!

DS just got back to the states after 2+ years at his first duty station in Okinawa. He'll be home for Christmas for the first time in three years. He will be stationed on the opposite coast from Mom and Dad. For some reason he wants to be near his girl friend. Mom and Dad are praying we don't blow it when she comes here for Christmas with him.

Merry Christmas everyone!
 
When I checked aboard here I told how my son was recruited for football at USNA when Paul Johnson was head coach. They dropped him when those slated higher committed so he decided to chase the sports dream to include baseball at three different schools until the dream ended. He did though go to class collecting credits and graduated from George Mason. He commissioned via OCS seven or so years ago.

He has yet to do a B billet. He deployed twice to Central America and was told he was going to Camp Barrett to teach TBS. Didn't happen. He got orders to CENTCOM Forward and hopped around the ME doing security type stuff with a small joint service team. Did that for a year and expected orders to a B Billet to come in. Didn't happen. He was ordered to and is currently a company commander in the 1st MARDIV. He was hoping to chop over to the MEU for work-ups but the BNCO won't let him go. After the first of the year he will turn over the company and become the S-3. The Marine Corps works in mysterious ways.
 
Stealth_81 said:
I am going to bring this one back up for the newer parents and candidates to see where the future can lead. There's a lot to read on this thread if you can wade past the fast-food discussions. I would love to see updates from everyone on the site, new or old.

My son started this week to prepare for his Majors board next year. It is scary how much time has passed and how far things have moved since I was a new parent looking for information about the SA process here.

Son is now at this fifth duty station and is an Instructor Pilot and FLT/CC in the F-16 FTU at Holloman AFB. His wildlife biologist wife made the most of the move to middle-of-nowhere and got a job as a zookeeper at the zoo in town there. Bloom where you are planted, right? Son has three combat deployments and a 1-year tour to Korea under his belt. With 5 years to go on his UPT commitment he has not decided whether he will say until 20 or not. A lot will depend on promotions and his next assignment. The money at the airlines is definitely pulling at him, but he really loves flying fighters. It will be a tough choice. I am excited that they will be coming back to Wisconsin for Christmas since it will be the firs time in 3 years that all 3 of my kids were back here for the Holiday.

Happy Holidays to all of you and hopefully we get to hear many of your updates here soon.

Stealth_81
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If he wants to go, now may be the time. I suspect the changing global economic winds will soon reverse the demand signal from the airlines. I have an old F-16 friend who went to HBS, did consulting for a year, and now flies for Delta. The money is good and he hated consulting.
 
My DS is not yet active duty, but nearing the end of his college/ROTC experience, so I will describe his journey thus far.

Almost five years ago, when my DS first began showing signs of interest in the Academies and military service, I began scanning this forum. He applied and was nominated but did not receive appointments to USNA and USMA. He was accepted to The Citadel but did not receive the NROTC scholarship. Also he did not apply for an Army ROTC scholarship. He chose to attend a local state university which was affordable, offered Army ROTC and also allowed him to snowboard on weekends. In his freshman year he started good study habits, maintained fitness and earned a three and a half year campus based Army ROTC scholarship.

Fast forward to today, my DS will graduate and commission in May of 2019, as an Army officer. He did well in school, loved being a snowboard instructor all four years, earned Active Duty component, and received his first choice of branch: Armor. It was not easy-peazy. Almost half of his fellow freshman (MS-I) cadets did not make it to MS-IV, dropping out, or being dis-enrolled along the way. Some just didn't like the military, others had difficulty with fitness and still others struggled academically. DS did solidly well, not top 10% but enough to make Dean's list more than a few times. He kept up a solid APFT and was recognized for his leadership in organizing FTX this year (that was apparently a great lesson in project management). He worked as a snowboard instructor and a busboy all four years of school and banked a bit of cash.

He had one major scare. He broke three bones snowboarding in his second year, and his cadre was extremely supportive in helping through that period. We thought he would have to take a leave of absence. He powered through, attending classes on crutches for 45 days. Fortunately, we found an orthopedist who specialized in treating rodeo injuries! Within three months he got a 285 APFT score and was back on the mountain snowboarding again.

DS is thrilled at how his Plan 'C' school worked out perfectly for his personality and interests. His goal was to become a military officer and he is on the home stretch to that finish line this coming year. He's looking forward to ABOLC at Ft. Benning.

Many thanks to this forum for helping us navigate all of the hurdles to get here.
 
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