Four months ago our family was presented with an opportunity to make a huge shift in our life. We weren't sure if we were going to do it at first. It's ridiculous. It's crazy. It is--well, I'm sure there are some people who are going to think we're nuts. Honestly, we think we're a little nuts too. Regardless, after weeks of debate with each other and hours (and hours) of consultation with people we trust, we are taking the plunge.
The news: Jason is separating from the Air Force and accepting a civilian position with the government. He starts terminal leave on 1 July--which means that our days as a "military family" are officially numbered! And that number? It's pretty freakin' low. We are truly, extraordinarily excited--and scared to death!
The process of applying and getting accepted for this job was long and arduous. The uncertainties with the government budget have come into play a couple of times as well, further complicating matters. I wanted to shout all this from the rooftops weeks ago, but we have been trying to wait until things solidified a bit. I've stayed away from blogging a bit because this is, literally, all we've been able to talk about for weeks. (And, by way of apology, I truly did not mean for this to get dragged out as it has! We thought we would be able to announce two weeks ago but someone didn't push some paperwork as quickly as they should have and things stalled out for a bit. It's all good now though.)
Oh wait...did I mention where the job is? I didn't? Yeah. It's in Germany. We will be heading back sometime in August!
WOW! What a change and to go back to Germany. Do you know what part?
ReplyDeleteRight back to the KMC, same place we were before. Jason worked with two different organizations during our previous time there and he'll be working as part of one of those two organizations.
ReplyDeleteAre you thrilled? Shellshocked? Stocking up on things you can't get there?! Have you found a house yet? Congrats and best of luck to you all! Restart the writing group, eh?!
ReplyDeleteWhat?!?!?!?!!! But you just got back!!! That's crazy!!! Congrats to Jason and your family! That is a huge decision!! Is he within retirement time or he's just leaving? Wow!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sarah! We are definitely thrilled! And definitely shell-shocked. We're off-loading all our 110 stuff (most of it was stored throughout our last tour so by the time we get back it will be over 15 years old, most of it closer to 20), making lists of things we need, and going completely crazy!
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha! I know, right? We are completely nuts. Jason is just separating. The new job is a civil service position (many people refer to them as "GS positions"--I'm still not 100% sure about the proper lingo here since this is completely new ground for me) and he'll be able to apply his 16 years of military time toward retirement time there. I'm going to try to put up a better explanation here in a few days. It's just so freakin' crazy around here right now.
ReplyDeleteWow...congrats you guys! At least you'll be going back to someplace you know. Is it controlled tour thing or is this a "permanent" station for you guys?
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