ASBC

This portion of our lives known as ASBC began right after our wedding....the time when most people go on a honeymoon. ASBC in an acronym for Air and Space Basic Course. It was a required course for all Air Force officers. It had been on the schedule for a long time. We had originally considered getting married over thanksgiving, but we didn't want to wait that long. So we got married the weekend prior to ASBC. What we didn't know until the week prior to the wedding is that the first week of ASBC would be a mock deployment! Now that I didn't know how I would make it through.....So we were married October 2nd, on a Friday. Saturday we traveled to Enid, OK where we unpacked the wedding gifts, packed what we would need (or rather Monika did as Jon was at priesthood session of conference) and tried to get some sleep. Then, very early on Sunday, we left Enid and drove the 15 hours to Montgomery, Alabama. If memory serve correctly we arrived in pouring rain about 1 am and were put in our little TLF (temporary living facility) and promptly fell asleep.

ASBC students on Mock Deployment (can you spot Jon?)

Wives on the field trip of the base

At about 5 am Monday morning Jon got up to start his day. He returned at 8am, I thought to say good bye before he disappeared, but it was also to tell me they were making us move to a different TLF. That was my first job as a new wife, move all our stuff (that we had just hauled in) back out and to a new building. Jon was gone only about 2 miles away, but I was not allowed to see him for the next 5 days. I really didn't know what I was going to do with myself. I had a small to do list such as write thank you cards, and that is about all. Thankfully I soon discovered I was not the only wife left behind for the week.
In fact, there was going to be a meeting to orient all the wives with the accompanied TDY (tour of duty) that evening. I met some throughout the day, and more that evening. In those 5 days some of us grew very close. We did everything together! About 3 of us (me included) didn't even have a dependant ID card, so I couldn't leave the base by myself if I wanted to get back on. We went out to eat together, we learned to navigate Montgomery (GPS didn't like the base and would always try and get us lost in the worst part of town), grocery shopping, and more.  In their group there was Danielle and Robyn who had gotten married in May, Sue Ellen who already had 2 boys, Anna who had been married a month, Laura who had been married two weeks, and me who had just gotten married that weekend. One night Laura, Anna, and I got together and spent all evening looking at their wedding pictures and videos.

At dinner: Jon, Monika, Natasha, Anna, Scott, and Zach

Mike, Robyn, Sabastian, Sue Ellen, Waylon, and Maverick

Friday morning we all got together to make posters and banners for our husbands coming home from their "deployment". Tuesday Captain Tradd took those of us that wanted to go on a field trip of the base....and he let us see where our husbands were training. But we weren't allowed to go see them or touch them. But we waved! Such a bitter sweet trick! Friday night when our soldiers returned we all went out to eat together. It was a great big party and we were all so excited. All of our doors had been decorated with the posters we had made. And we all made our husbands shower! After that we all went to our own living quarters and for the first time in a few days didn't venture back out to see what everyone else was up to.

Saturday Jon and I took a road trip to my mission of South Carolina! It was Columbus day weekend so Jon had 3 days off. We traveled Saturday and arrived at the Poe's house for dinner with them and Miss Debbi Lou. It was a wonderful reunion! We spent the night at the Lima's home. They are one of my favorite large families and Brother Lima is now Bishop of the Summerville ward. We drove to Columbia for church in Blythewood to catch as many of my awesome friends as we could! We then saw Brooke and Daniel Wright and their family. That was good to see them again. Jon enjoyed playing with their 2 little girls. They even wanted to dress up in their Halloween costumes for us. We then ventured into down town and saw my first convert Patricia. I could not track down Walter.  We stayed the night with the Greenley's. That is a wonderful couple that I spent much time with as a missionary. Sister Greenley had fought cancer the whole time I was a missionary, and she was wonderful. I was so grateful we took that trip. I enjoyed ever moment of it, but also Brother Kats (whom I saw at the Blythewood ward) and Sister Greenley have both passed away rather suddenly since then. If we had had more time we would have gone up and visited the Marion Branch. As it was I felt like we only got to visit a handful of people. But it was so worth it! Monday we returned to Montgomery.

Project X

There was a routine to the training. The men would go to classes or combat training, and the wives would hang out. Every once in a while there where some things we could watch them do. One of these things was Project X. This was a group of challenges that took brains and team work to accomplish in the given time. All they were told was they needed to get everyone from point A to point B using X, Y, and Z. Sometimes it was a later, or a couple boards, or buckets. It was very impressive to watch. We got to see our husbands genius and ingenuity at work. There was even one where that had to get an injured soldier (a dummy) across without dropping it.
As a group the wives became closer still as every day our husbands went and trained together and we hung out during the day. We had Sentsy parties thrown by Robyn, we had dates to Target and the Mall, joint commissary trips, morning jogs with Anna and I, many outings around the play ground which was in the center of the accompanied TLFs, and even chic-flick nights when the guys had tests to study for. Most of us were all learning together what it meant to be a military wife, and this was just the start.

wives wearing our "Team Colors" for the Icarus tournament

Icarus game

Another "fun" thing they got to do was a game called Icarus. Named after the mythology boy who made wings to fly, it is a glorified dodgeball game with far too many rules. They played a few times and we could watch, then they had the big tournament. Us wives (and our husbands too) thought the game was rather silly. We were mostly all hoping they wouldn't keep winning so they didn't have to stay and keep playing. But we still went and supported. Some teams really got into it. Good for them. I got a bit sunburned and I still have the sunmark on my back in a tear drop shape. Hehe. If I remember right, they won the first, lost the second then we got to go home.

Jon Handicap bowling

At the Alabama State fair

We often got together as groups and found somethings to do. One night we went to the base bowling alley. The first game went fairly normal, then they started getting creative. Backwards, between the legs, handicap bowling, and other such shananagains became the fair of the evening.

Zach and Alhanna

On weekends and early evenings we often got to go do some exploring of Montgomery. One evening we joined Scott and Anna and all went to the Alabama state fair. We enjoyed the sites and some rides, some dog shows, some pig shows, and the prize drawings.




A couple weeks into the program something tragic happened. Laura's husband Dan started having seizures. The first time it happened they took him in on base and they said nothing was wrong. The second time it happened at night and Laura witnessed it and called the ambulance. They took him to the hospital and there he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. They had only been married a month. On his birthday Dan had surgery to remove the tumor. His family came in from out of town and were put up on base. Us wives took turns cooking for the family and visiting Dan and Laura at the hospital. For someone who had just arrived in Alabama they had more visitors than any other patient at the hospital. We were all praying for them and cards and posters we made covered his hospital wall. It was a huge part of what we did and how we bonded at ASBC. Jon and I still keep in touch with Dan and Laura. They are just good people! They are back in Colorado Springs and his duty station is considered The Academy where he goes for physical therapy. As his dream to become a pilot was shattered he has been going back to school, possibly to be a doctor. We saw them when we were out in Colorado for IFS later on, Monika drove their car from Enid to Colorado Springs. Dan and Laura left Alabama to go to Colorado (where family was) before the rest of us were finished.

At Fort Pickens

One of our last weekends we decided, as we were still without any sort of proper honeymoon, we would escape to Pensicola for the weekend. We enjoyed our time at Pensicola Navel Air Station hotels, and went to the beach on Saturday. We went out to the state park beach and also found Fort Pickens. We happend to come upon it right as they were begining to start a tour. Lucky us. We enjoyed the time there and got some awesome pictures. We also learned a little more about the base and it's history.
We then spent a little time on the beach and playing in the ocean....but it was getting cool, so not too longs. We ate at the famous McGuires Irish Pub. The food is decent, but the place is awesome. There are dollar bills all over the walls!

Finally it was time for the guys to graduate ASBC. They make it into a very formal event. And we wives even got recognized (there were about 10 of us to the 500 graduating). There were some married guys who just didn't drag their wives with them. I know I was very glad I went. Some of my closes and most consistent girl frineds came out of that group. Many of them I have been with at additional bases and run into at other times.

Jon and I at ASBC graduation

Anna, Monika, and Alhanna (with baby Teddy)