Busy Times

This week has been busy - and it's only Wednesday! Sunday did not go as planned - no snorkeling...yes, I'm married to an OSI agent. Drew needed to work Sunday in respond to an incident that happened on Saturday. Which you can read about here: http://www.kuam.com/news/24609.aspx Basically, he's a nut-case (the guy at the front gate...not my husband...although....)

Last week I received an invitation to attend a "Senior Spouses Orientation". At first I was going to decline, but Drew talked me into saying he thought I would enjoy it. And he was right! (Yes, I can admit when he's right!!) It really was a very interesting day - and I bet I got to do things not many of you ever have!!

It started off by the General of the base himself giving us a "mission" briefing. He explained what the different groups on base do and went into detail what the mission of the base was as well as how we will be growing in the next 10 years. It's amazing how much construction they have planned.

Then we went to an aircraft viewing. I got to sit in the pilot's seat of a bomber. Not the really cool Stealth, but one of the larger planes. Very cool...lots and lots of buttons...and yes, I kept my hands and fingers to my self. Then we were able to get up close and personal with a fighter jet - the F-16. I never realized how small that cock-pit was before. The pilots are really crammed in there. The last plane we got to tour was a tanker, a KC something or another. This is the plane that re-fuels other planes in the air. All the crews were there to answer our questions. All the crews are here only for short time then they rotate with out and another active duty crew comes or another National Guard unit. For the past few months we have had one from MS.

Then we had a tour of the control tower. On the tower is a "cat-walk" that goes all the way around the tower. With the day clear we were blessed with, we could see for miles and miles - Rota (the island 35 miles north of us) was clear as day. At this point I could not believe that I forgot my camera!! I so wished I was able to share the view with you. Seeing the base from that high up is amazing. We could see all of the north part of the island.

As few of our group went across the street to see the snakes the USDA had caught, the rest of us went into the tower and talked to the traffic controllers at work and got to see several F-16s do training. (Yes, I did say snakes. The USDA catches the brown tree snake and holds them in large pens...I felt that my life would continue on fine and dandy without seeing that.)

On the other side of the base is called "NorthWest Field". Back in WW II, it was as built up and as busy as this part of the base, but have since left it to go back to the jungle. Well, now several organizations/squadrons are moving from other bases to here and they will be on that side of the base. The General wanted to show us the work they are doing over there. Now, most people take the highway b/c if you use the old roads on the base then you have to go through the munitions storage area...not really the kind of place the military wants people to go through. But the General thought it was save time....by the end of our time there, he said it's only a short-cut if you know the way. Let's just say I have now seen more of the base than I ever really need or wanted to.

We did come back to the main base by the highway...which I learned something... Here's some background for those of you who have never gotten on a base before. We all have stickers on our cars in different colors marking us a officer or enlisted or civilians. And since 9/11 we also have to stop and show our ID. And if you are really lucky, you get asked over to the side where you have to open all doors and trunks, get out of the car, and let a police dog go through your car to make sure you mean no ill to anyone on the base. Of course, it's even more fun when you have kids in car seats - sleeping babies just add to the fun. But going through the gate with the General...now that was nice. The driver just put out a blue plaque thing with a silver star on the dashboard...he barley even slowed down...just went right on through. Nice.

We ended the day with a late lunch at the dinning hall. I just had to laugh at where they fed us. The dinning hall is a lot like a cafeteria at a college. It's meant mainly for the enlisted and TDY (the ones who are here for six months or less) folks. And we had to pay for our own meal. That was a little unexpected, but not a big deal as my "blue-plate special" with a drink was only $3.50. Hard to get a meal on this island for that!

Several people asked what my husband did. After I said, "OSI", I got that. "Ohhh....you people." And then they avoided me the rest of the day. Such is the life. When this happens Drew and I usually think,"Well, we now know who the criminals are if they want to avoid us."

So, that was my Monday. On Tuesday I host an OSI wives brunch. Drew asked if they had a good time. I said, "Well, on the invitation I listed the hours from 9:30 -11:30. They left at 1:30. So, I guess they did." I only put my foot in my mouth once....and since this is gotten to be a very long, I'll write about that another day.

love to all
Kelley