| I went
to TBS right after graduation from the University of Washington
and that is where my wife’s family was so we had the choice
of her following me to TBS for six months and then to whatever
school I got after that for an unknown time, and then finally
to my first duty station… or …. the family stay rooted
until the situation stabilized. With the kids in school, it was
a hard call but I couldn’t drag them around like that. Plus,
as my logic went, I would need all my “free time”
to do as well as I could at TBS because it would determine the
rest of my career.
We all drove from Seattle to Kansas to visit family
and then they flew back while I drove on to Quantico. I spent
6 months there and then went to Lejeune for about 6 weeks of
adjutant school. From there, I drove back to Seattle to visit
but because the kids were still in school, we decided that it
was best for me to go get settled in our new duty station (29
Palms) and then the family would follow after school let out
(about a month). Long story short, I only got to see my family
for about a month out of that year.
I can tell you that I was miserable and missed my family
terribly but having them there at TBS, while it would have its
perks, would be very difficult due to the pace. When I came
“home,” I would not really be at home, if you know
what I mean. Carrie and the kids would be left adrift on their
own in a strange place and only in a temporary situation. Then
the short school afterwards would play more havoc and then onto
the final duty station where the kids would finish out a month
of school in a strange area. So from my personal point of view,
it was very difficult to handle. But for the family, I think
it was the best thing. I think that without kids, it would have
been a closer call.
But some guys did it and it worked out. It requires
a Marine to get up a little earlier to make early muster and
sometimes he won’t get home until late and grumpy. There
is a lot of studying and uniform maintenance (and sleep, when
he can) plus there are a lot of field evolutions that will have
him out in the field many times over the course of the training.
But I can tell you that I would have changed my tune in a heartbeat
many times over just to have my wife there at times but in hindsight,
I think we made the right choices for our situation.
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