FDS: Fort Campbell!

Last night we had the Red Leg Social for the BOLC students. It was storming out! We'll discuss that first. So I thought MI weather was bad, but man! Oklahoma weather is bipolar! One minute it's sunny out and I get an alert on my phone that we're under a tornado watch and a thunderstorm warning. I get in the car and it's sprinkling out. Five minutes later it's raining so hard I can hardly see the car in front of me and the wind feels like it's going to blow my car away! By the end of the formal the sky was light again and no rain in sight. So strange!

We arrive at the social and crowd into the entryway of the building. We were not invited into the dining room yet. Three hundred students and some of their spouses all crowded in a small entryway... and most of us were wet from the rain! The attire for the formal was business casual so I wore a conservative dress with a short sleeve ruffle collar cardigan. I was shocked to see a few wives in jeans and T-shirts. I brought Jackson with me since "lap children" were invited as well. He was the only child and I dressed him in a white polo and khaki shorts. Word to the wise- pay attention to dress codes! You reflect on your soldier.

We are welcomed into the dining room and there are two sheets at the front telling soldiers which table they are assigned to. We find our table and there's a frame in the center that says 101st Airborne. We look at each other and say, "Campbell!" There were other officers from those posts at the dinner so we could ask them questions about the post and our next steps. We talked over dinner- it was nice and informal.

Campbell was not really on our radar at all. While it wasn't at the top of our list, it certainly wasn't at the bottom either. Being part of the 101st Airborne certainly won't hurt Matt's career. He'll go to Air Assault school, possibly Airborne school, and will have opportunity to compete for a Ranger School slot. Matt wanted to go to these schools anyways so this will be a good opportunity for him to take advantage of getting in the training he needs/wants. Matt didn't necessarily want light infantry for his specialization, but if he is going to be light he wants 101st.

I have already begun looking into what is available at Campbell. Matt's sister and her husband (Infantry Captain) are currently stationed there so they will be a lot of help in this move, I'm sure. We have applied for on post housing, but we hear the wait is long so we may not be at the top of the list by the time we move. We don't mind living off post as we know there are a lot of nice rentals in the area. We are very ready to get out of our small townhouse and get into a single family home. As we will be stationed at Campbell for at least a couple years we hope to find a comfortable home with enough room to expand our family.

I honestly was a little disappointed we didn't get Fort Lewis or Fort Carson, which were our top choices, but I am getting more and more excited about Fort Campbell as I research it. I certainly won't mind living in TN and being close to Nashville.

Fort Campbell, here we come! We most likely won't move until September, but I am very excited for this next step in our journey.