Fort Lewis did an appallingly bad job of promoting Armed Forces Day this year. I completely forgot about it until I woke up this morning and saw a handful of Facebook statuses alluding to the day. I’m really kind of upset about it, too, because it is one of two events the post really hosts all. year. long. And I would have liked to take advantage of it, even if it’s only 55 degrees outside, and it keeps misting. We took E last year, and were in agreement that she would do better this year–there just wasn’t much for an 18-month-old to do, but plenty of things for 2.5 year olds.

But, unfortunately, S was already out on the golf course somewhere, and by the time he got home, there really was just no point.

So… Happy Armed Forces Day?

As a gift, I leave this for you. I don’t know how to reblog, but I thought it was appropriate, considering even I didn’t know there was such an animal. Guess Fort Lewis failed to advertise that one, as well.

It looks like grey season is back. My poor child is going to be so upset that she won’t be able to “pay ou’side” for a few days while it rains/goes back to being ridiculously predictably cold.

Luckily, we got to soak up some of the sun and warmth before it disappeared, again, this morning and afternoon. Some friends had a little shindig, and we had a pancake breakfast and impromptu lunch at their house. In the sun. And warm. I may have gotten a little too much sun, and parts of me may look a little more colorful than normal. It’s a common affliction when your skin’s the color of office paper. I’ve been lathering myself with aloe lotion since we got home.

After great pancakes and company, we took E to her first in-theater movie. It was also a first for me; I’ve never been to an on-post movie. S and I tried to go once when he was stationed at Fort Sill, but the show sold out before we got there. Apparently, either few people go to the movies when there is nice weather, or the only people who go to the kid shows at 1400 on a Saturday afternoon are those with, well… kids.

E was a little bit of a handful. S says that there were plenty of other children who were restlessly getting up and down, speaking a little too loudly to their parents, and/or being bratty about who go to hold the drink cup, but all I could focus on was my child’s appalling behavior. Either we’re going to have to take quite awhile to recover, or go in with a different kind of game plan. Or both. Anyway, it was an experience–from the $3 per adult ticket (woo hoo! She was free because she’s under 3!) to the national anthem before the movie started. I’d do it again… when I feel brave enough.

We saw The Croods. Which was cute. I enjoyed it and wouldn’t mind seeing it multiple times at home. Which, I know, is just asking for it. I’m not sure how much of it E watched, so if it did end up a household staple, at least it would be new for someone.

If I don’t get around to it tomorrow, I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother’s Day!

All right, so I have a real update on our orders situation:

They’re not coming. For anyone. And no one bothered to let the “applicants” know.

*Insert frustrated scream here*

Okay, so when S got wind of this opportunity, the sequester issues were just rolling in. We were preparing for some changes, and there was absolutely no indication that the positions they were looking to fill were in jeopardy of not being funded. We asked–they were good to go. S was a very strong applicant (he was wonderful Officer Evaluation Reviews? Reports? OERs. I’ve seen them. They rock), so we were feeling pretty confident he would be picked up for something–it might not be his top choice, but something.

As you know, we waited. And waited. And impatiently waited. We put all of our possible summer plans on hold, we told family not to buy plane tickets out to see us (just in case), and we, in turn, didn’t buy any plane tickets to go see them. We let the OB know that a PCS was an option–not a guarantee, but an option. And we waited. Finally, when we still hadn’t heard anything in over a month, S contacted the person in charge of the program.

The response he got was less than helpful. Essentially, it said “due to the sequester, we don’t have all of the positions available, anymore. They might become available again when the fiscal year rolls over.”

Um… What? First, I was angry. Why would they let them apply well after the sequester was announced and being prepared for if this was a possibility? And why wouldn’t they let them know that things were falling apart sooner? All communications were with email, anyway! Why not just send out a mass email and be done with it? (Another LT in the brigade has also applied, so he and S have been eagerly awaiting news together, so we know that there was no email and S was just not sent a copy as an oversight). Not to mention: what does that even mean?! Were some of the slots filled, and S didn’t get one? Were they still making decisions for the few they still had? Would they have to reapply closer to October, or would they just keep the applications until then?

Worst response, ever.

Luckily, the other guy in brigade sent off an email for clarification–he hadn’t received any info until S let him know what he had heard. He got a response yesterday.

They are filling no positions until the end of the fiscal year. They will have them reapply if they are interested. In the meantime, they can go ahead and send in their request for Captain’s Career Course.

Good thing I had come to terms with staying in this hell hole for a few months longer.

Oh, but it becomes even more complicated. Rumors have it that the Army is increasing the time in service for promotion to captain… For the second time since S commissioned less than 3 years ago. We seem to be on the wrong side of all the new policies. Head/desk.

So, when he commissioned, the time in service (in his case, the time from when he commissioned–enlisted service doesn’t count) between commissioning and captain was 36 months. Which means he would have pinned captain in August. Well, sometime last year, about the time he made 1LT, they increased the time to 42 months, moving it back to February. Now, he’s looking at 48 months, or August 2014. Ugh. This is still just rumor–it was in Army Times and they listed no source, nor has anyone seen an actual DoD document indicating this is true, but we’re all taking it as the gospel.

This just makes the whole Captain’s Career Course thing seem like a very, very slim chance. He has already gone ahead and submitted his paperwork for a course date. He had to list his top 3 start dates, so beginning of October, middle of November, and Beginning of February are it. I can live with all of those–they were the timeline I was thinking we would be looking at before this other opportunity arose.

All of this sounds promising, but with a promotion date that keeps creeping further and further away, my guess is he will be the last on the list to send to CCC, because he will be at the end of the promotion line for his year group (he is evaluated with everyone who commissioned in fiscal year 2010, and since he graduated in August and the “year” ended on September 30, he’s at the very, very end. Not to mention, they are promoted by time in service, and then alphabetically, and we are not at the beginning of the alphabet).

Frustrated.

So, the paperwork is getting filed. The branch manager will hold on to it until the promotion list is published, probably around August, and then we’ll know if he got a CCC slot.

For the sake of my mental health, please keep your fingers crossed it’s that first one. Or that he has a JOBA position. I can’t do another year in WA. And I have definitely had enough of the Army BS for this year. And it’s only the beginning of May.