So long, USAF

Well, after 8 and a half years of being a member of the Air Force, Wes is once again a true civilian. Its been a long road, but we have been so fortunate! He deployed once for 3 months about a year after September 11th. His deployment wasn't to a "war zone" and he was relatively safe. We have been so blessed to be stationed close to home, in fact we were at the same base his entire enlistments. He had originally planned to stay in until his time was up in September '09 but we were thrown for a loop in early February when he received orders to Bethesda, Maryland. We were pretty surprised to say the least! If you were wondering, Bethesda is about 6 miles outside of Washington, DC. We (briefly) considered taking the orders and moving our family to the nations capitol. Wes's heart just wasn't in relocating us for Uncle Sam. He would have had to re-enlist and at that point we would have really needed to plan to stay in until retirement at 20 years. So Wes went to his part-time employers, Haynes Ambulance, where he works as a paramedic and asked them if they would employ him full time if he turned down the orders to Maryland. They not only said yes, but offered him a managment position that would start him at the same salary he was currently making! So, he turned down the orders and requested an early discharge in order to take the job. Five and a half weeks later he got word that his request was approved. He was beyond ecstatic! So, while the Air Force has been a wonderful experience for our family and brought us to this lovely town of Millbrook we now call home, we are no longer a "military" family. At least not on paper; I think once you have been a part of one of the branches of service, you will always feel a part of it, whether you were the one serving or a "dependent". Congrats to Wes on your new job. This has been his first week and I think it is going to be a perfect fit for him. He loves emergency medicine and he is at last doing what he really wanted to. Thanks so much for the 8 and a half years of selflessly serving our country. I have so much respect for you and all of our men and women who choose to serve in the military in this great country!