Duty Station Choices

Mr. H. received a phone call on Tuesday from his recruiter. His commissioning service is scheduled! I can't wait. Any friends and family who would like to attend are welcome to. I have no idea what the address is. The service is at 1pm on October 3rd in KC.

The same day, Mr. H.got a phone call from his detailer. A detailer is the guy who advises Mr. H. on his chaplaincy career. He gave us 6 choices:

Crete, unaccompanied
Japan, deployable
Japan, non-deployable
Florida
Georgia
California

Crete was out for me. I didn't want to start our military life off with a separation like that. Japan (deployable) was out for me because once again, I didn't want to start out with him being gone AND in a foreign country all by myself with 4 kids. At first my choices were California or Florida. Georgia didn't seem exciting enough. Mr. H. wanted Japan, deployable, above all the others.

Mr. H. and I discussed the different assignments and what his "job" would be at each one. His heart's desire is to be deployed with Marines/Navy. So, I decided that he should do what he wants to do. Why not start off with something you're excited about? So, we chose Japan, deployable.

I'm excited and nervous all at once. I'm excited to begin this phase of our life, but I am a little nervous about being in Japan by myself. I've been researching it like crazy in the last 2 days. It looks beautiful, housing looks fine, and there is so much to see and do. Ancient ruins, an awesome aquarium, Tokyo Disneyland, deep sea fishing, beaches all over the place.

Our island is pretty small and there is at least one million people living there. Check out this map. If you "grab" the map and move it around you can see it in proportion to the rest of Japan. I have heard that the island is about 450 square miles, with 1.3 million people living there. Let me put that in perspective: the county I live in is 800 square miles with only 7,000 people! This will be a whole new ballgame for us!

Check out these photos. Feel free to vacation here with us! Start saving for that 15 hour flight!