Please wish me luck...

skinz74 · Post by **skinz74** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:32 pm

This time tomorrow, I'll have volunteered to augment a Marine Air Traffic Control unit in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The Marine Corp is requesting 19 Naval

Air Traffic Controllers to assist them to provide deployed Marines some much needed R & R. For every 10 Naval AC's, there might be 1 Marine Corp AC.

These proud warriors are overstretched and deserve a much needed break. If I'm selected, I'll be on station for 365 days, followed by a psych eval, then

return to the Navy. Obviously, I'm a bit nervous, but anxious at the same time. My wife is very supportive, and has blessed this without hesitation. For this

I love her deeply. If deployed, I'll be leaving behind my pregnant wife and a two year old who I love greater than my own life. I don't want this to appear

as grandstanding. I have grown to enjoy our online dialogue as a community and wanted to share this moment with my extended "family." If you have a

God, please pray for me and my family...if not, than wish us well. Upon completion of my possible deployment, I'll only require 4 years for retirement.

So, once my name is emailed tomorrow, there is no turning back. Let the wait begin...

$.02

Hoss · Post by **Hoss** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:50 pm

skinz74,
you and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers. My thanks go out to you and your family for your service.

God speed, and my wish for you is in my sig.

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:56 pm

Thanks for your service skinz74.

Good luck man. Our prayers are with you and your family. Please post as soon as you get back if you do in fact go.

NikiH · Post by **NikiH** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:03 pm

Our country needs more men like you! And I know this is going to sound weird but you tell your wife if she needs anything she can let us know. As your THN family we'd be more then happy to help.

Would you still have access to the internet to let us know how you were doing? We'd love to hear updates and keep you up to date on the happenings in football land! ;-)

Take care and everyone in my household is pulling for you.

Fios · Post by **Fios** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:21 pm

Thank you for sharing some time here with us, I have the deepest respect for the men and women of the armed forces

1niksder · Post by **1niksder** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:30 pm

Good luck s74

and be safe

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:49 pm

If I am reading this correctly, you are becoming a Marine for a year. Will you be changing uniforms, or just wearing the cammies that the corpsmen wear and keeping your naval roots?

Either way, good luck brother. The Marine Corps is a band of brothers, and even though you will likely take a ribbing from the jarheads, they will protect you and back you as if you had been with them from boot camp.

Give 'em hell. Ooh Rah!!

redskindave · Post by **redskindave** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:15 am

Good Luck and thanks for all you do for the country.

Irn-Bru · Post by **Irn-Bru** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:23 am

Good luck 74, and stay safe!

I will pray for you and especially for your family.

BossHog · Post by **BossHog** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:10 am

Best of luck brother. Keep us in the loop and get home safely.

If you need anything to help you bleed burgundy and gold over there, just lemme know...

BadgerKing · Post by **BadgerKing** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:16 am

UK good wishes too buddy; take care and remember you;re doing a great an important job

skinz74 · Post by **skinz74** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:05 pm

I would like to sincerely thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. Today was a very long day...wondering if my unit would even release me. They are telling me that because of my qualifications, they're not sure they can afford to let me go. It makes me want to vommit. I can forsee that this will be a frustrating evolution, but my resolve is much stronger than theirs. All I can do is wait for an outcome. All I want to do is help.

And to answer your ?, Jansenfan, I'll wear desert fatigues, but will remain branded by the Navy. I'm concerned that I won't fit in for a while...but am willing to do what is necessary to earn their trust. I'm joining their club, not vice versa. One thing I wish for besides returning home safely to my beautiful family is a chance to catch a Redskins HOME game, tailgate, whole nine yards. I would love to meet many of you in person. I'm sure by then I'll have some real stories to tell. Until then, I'll keep you posted.

$.02

Almost forgot. Due to possible lack of email, one thing I would ask for those willing is letters. I know it may sound odd...but sometimes on long deployments its nice to read comforting words from home. If I go, I'll leave my address, and those interested can p.m. me if they need to keep it private.

Allons...

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:32 am

I will mail you each weeks content, so you can keep up with the Skins. Niki and I would also be happy to just write as well.

skinz74 · Post by **skinz74** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:00 pm

That my friend would awesome.

$.02

UK Skins Fan · Post by **UK Skins Fan** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:40 pm

365 days? Damn, that's a long time. My respect and best wishes go out to you.

1niksder · Post by **1niksder** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:44 pm

skinz74 wrote:Almost forgot. Due to possible lack of email, one thing I would ask for those willing is letters. I know it may sound odd...but sometimes on long deployments its nice to read comforting words from home. If I go, I'll leave my address, and those interested can p.m. me if they need to keep it private.

Allons...

I don't really do letters, I can print the news from your fav sites and mail them to you along with whatever portions of the FTU that you would prefer.

I hated the time lag in "news" when I was overseas.

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:21 pm

skinz74,

God bless you and protect you. Thanks for your sacrifice.

skinz74 · Post by **skinz74** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:37 pm

As much as it sickens me to report this, I received a much anticipated reply today regarding my deployment. "Not gonna happen, shipmate..." was the response from my chief as I cornered him in his office. My department never anticipated the level of support that fell at their feet...and was ill-prepared to deal with it. I'm too qualified, we can't afford to lose you were the most common excuses that were uttered. I learned today that they had never considered me from the onset, and was just dragging me along because they didn't want to deal with it. Making a joint decision with family to volunteer services to a war zone is not an easy discussion. I have more to say about this, but want to clear my head first. Again, thanks to all who shared thoughts, prayers, kind words, and offered to help out. I'll address this later in smack where it's appropriate.

$.02

BossHog · Post by **BossHog** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:26 am

That stinks man, sorry to hear that.

Not that you're not going, that's good, but that you feel you were put in a position to make a tough decision that you apparently had no need to make.

Try not to let the anger get in the way of the overall positive that you won't be putting yourself in harm's way. You may be upset, but your family is likely happy with the result regardless of the path.

skinz74 · Post by **skinz74** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:01 pm

Thanks for the kinds words, Boss. The issue I have with the whole scenario is that decision was VERY difficult to make. My wife and I had a nice dinner, discussed the potential complications and came to the conclusion that the positives outweighed the negatives. Additionally, walking into my chief's office and informing him that I wished to deploy to Iraq/Afghan was the longest short walk of my life. Through all of this, they never intended to allow someone in my position to go, yet allowed us to go through the process, anyway. THAT is what infuriates me. I am really going through a let-down right now. I really thought I had a chance to do something meaningful. Now, its continue with the 'ol same old. Mind you, I relish the opportunity to witness the birth of our new baby (which I would have missed.) I just feel somewhat betrayed by office politics and have completely lost trust in my chain of command. I'll get over this, but I'll never forget it. Thanks again, all for your support.

$.02

BossHog · Post by **BossHog** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:19 pm

Hey brother, I actually totally understand the source of your frustrations.

Obviously you're pissed, obviously you have a right to be, but it's a lot easier for an outsider to peel off the emotion of going through the situation, and that often makes it easier for someone to see the real good or bad in it.

Your wife will share your frustration, and perhaps even form some of her own, but deep down inside, she's dancing gleefully knowing that despite the tough route to get there, the end result is that you will still be there to patriarch your family.

You say you had a chance to do something meaningful? What could be more meaningful than watching your baby be born and being there to raise that child?

Ultimately, you haven't been cheated of anything except a better shot at death.

Eventually, that'll wash away the anger of having had to go through what you went through.

Really think about it... you're respected in your workplace enough that they don't want you to go anywhere, you have a family that needs you and that you can continue to be there for... you've honored yourself and your country with the decision that you made regardless of the outcome... the way I see it... you have a lot to be proud of, and even more to be thankful for.

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:25 pm

skinz74 wrote:Thanks for the kinds words, Boss. The issue I have with the whole scenario is that decision was VERY difficult to make. My wife and I had a nice dinner, discussed the potential complications and came to the conclusion that the positives outweighed the negatives. Additionally, walking into my chief's office and informing him that I wished to deploy to Iraq/Afghan was the longest short walk of my life. Through all of this, they never intended to allow someone in my position to go, yet allowed us to go through the process, anyway. THAT is what infuriates me. I am really going through a let-down right now. I really thought I had a chance to do something meaningful. Now, its continue with the 'ol same old. Mind you, I relish the opportunity to witness the birth of our new baby (which I would have missed.) I just feel somewhat betrayed by office politics and have completely lost trust in my chain of command. I'll get over this, but I'll never forget it. Thanks again, all for your support.

$.02

That sucks, brother. I went through something similar as a Marine. There were chances to deploy that I was willing to go on, and all three times, they sent other people because I was married. While I appreciated them thinking of my family and as a husband, I probably shouldn't have been sent anyway. As a Marine, I thought that I was being left out of things that I felt were part of my duty because of some standard my command felt I had to meet.

skinz74 · Post by **skinz74** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:20 am

Thanks Boss. I feel a little better and yet scolded at the same time. Just kidding. I'm obviously pleased that I'll be here for my next child's birth, and have been fortunate through military life not to miss any big moments so far.

My greatest frustration was due to the lack of honesty, not the overall result. I can no longer trust my chain of command due to their lack of sincerity...and that's a terrible thing. These individuals are supposed to mold me further into leadership positions, yet I now want to be nothing like them.

The positive I've derived from the situation is yet another lesson learned. My chief once chided me "I've taught you alot." I replied "You sure have...I know exactly what not to do based off what I've learned." Needless to say, 'twas not a pleasant conversation. But shallow people hearing the truth usually don't respond well.

So, on with the show. I am anticipating my next duty station as Patuxent River, Maryland. There are two positions open and hopefully will still be there when I can choose orders in January. If so, I understand that it's only an hour from D.C. This being said, obviously I'll be coming to some games and tailgates. If it all works in my favor, I look forward to minicamps, scrapple, and meeting as many of you as I can.

$.02

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:33 am

skinz74 wrote:Patuxent River, Maryland.

That's 15 minutes from where I grew up and Isaac's Restaurant. It's also about an hour from FedEx. Seems a bit closer than FL. :lol:

BossHog · Post by **BossHog** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:47 am

skinz74 wrote:Thanks Boss. I feel a little better and yet scolded at the same time. Just kidding. I'm obviously pleased that I'll be here for my next child's birth, and have been fortunate through military life not to miss any big moments so far.

My greatest frustration was due to the lack of honesty, not the overall result. I can no longer trust my chain of command due to their lack of sincerity...and that's a terrible thing. These individuals are supposed to mold me further into leadership positions, yet I now want to be nothing like them.

The positive I've derived from the situation is yet another lesson learned. My chief once chided me "I've taught you alot." I replied "You sure have...I know exactly what not to do based off what I've learned." Needless to say, 'twas not a pleasant conversation. But shallow people hearing the truth usually don't respond well.

So, on with the show. I am anticipating my next duty station as Patuxent River, Maryland. There are two positions open and hopefully will still be there when I can choose orders in January. If so, I understand that it's only an hour from D.C. This being said, obviously I'll be coming to some games and tailgates. If it all works in my favor, I look forward to minicamps, scrapple, and meeting as many of you as I can.

$.02

I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to come off that way. it's just a lot easier to see the good in something when you don't have a completely vested interest.

I do understand the trust issues this brings up, and the wasted emotions that it put you through... and obviously that sucks... but there's also no undoing it.

You were faced with a challenge... you met it head on... you obviously learned some things rom it... and now it sounds like ultimately you may get back closer to the Redskins as well...

That's all good isn't it brother?