Please welcome Mandie from "Life of a Recruiter's Wife". I'm very excited to have http://thestallingsjourney.blogspot.com/ as my very first guest blogger!
We're both recruiter wives, (very small community) in the blogosphere, ok, so there's only 3 of us that I know of- lol, but hoping to connect with others. I recently did a "halfway" through recruiting duty post and thought that now would be a good time to bring Mandie in. Here's a little insight to both of our worlds. :)
The "OTHER" Military
Hi everyone! I'm Mandie and Suomi has asked me to be a guest on her blog - Thanks I'm honored! She's asked me to share a little bit about our recruiting experience with you. But stop by and visit me over at Life of a Recruiter's Wife and help me with my mission ;)
I bet you didn't know this but there are really two military worlds...I bet you're scratching your head going "whaaaaat?" I'm going to let you in on a little secret - DO NOT BE FOOLED - Recruiting duty is not regular military! At least that's my perspective. And from this little seat I'm sitting in right now as a Recruiter's wife...it ain't no regular army. (p.s. my husband is a crazy adrenaline junkie also known as the airplane jumping, gun loving combat soldier)
Like Suomi and her sailor, the SSG and I are halfway through recruiting duty. My husband was DA selected recruiter - meaning it's not his regular job or in his words " I didn't join the army to do this!" He's not a fan...in fact I think he loathes it. But like any military man - he's been given a mission and he's going to give it 110% no matter what. Yeah that extra 10% - I have my qualms with that one. You see I have a love hate relationship with recruiting duty. I LOVE the fact that we were able to move back to our hometown and be around our family and the fact that I got to give birth to our daughter here as well. I LOVE the fact that I always have a babysitter and people to keep me company. Oh and having SSG home every night - that's always a plus. (wink wink)
On the other hand...
The early mornings of leaving at 4am to take recruits to the MEP station, the late nights, the stupid freaking work phone ringing ALL the time and in the middle of the night...just you wait drunk recruit...one day HH6 is going to answer the phone ;) The constant lack of leadership. Always needing money for something or other. The civilian workers oh and the number 1: the politics! Yes, SSG brings his work home with him everyday and everyday he comes home stressed out and annoyed. Who wouldn't be with quotas and deadlines - especially if it's not really your thing. Of course this is his beef - which is kind of mine too. My beef includes: no FRG, no other wives, no PX/BX, no commissary, no contact to the military world, my POA is worth nothing here, SSG has to handle all paperwork including mine, telling my anxious little girl that daddy isn't coming home until after she's in bed and did I mention no post and no wives!
I can only speak for myself and for this area (which is good ole' Georgia by the way), that spouses of soldiers don't exist in recruiting. You are NULL and VOID. It's sad really. I miss having contact with other wives - yes I have friends but none of them around here are military spouses. And if your MOS (you joined the army to be a recruiter) is Recruiting then your spouse doesn't know any other army and doesn't feel the need to get to know you. They generally have their own lives. Not that I don't have my own life - I do - but having support is a huge facet of the military life. You can't do it alone all of the time. And let's face it...as women...we need to talk, vent, laugh and cry.
Now about that second military...well recruiting isn't really "normal" in a sense. You have no post/base, you have quotas(it's ALL about the numbers), there's not really a whole lot of training, there's not really any encouragement, and the politics (have I mentioned the politics). You are kind of out here in "no man's land." You are still considered "Army" but without the camaraderie, the training, the PT and the support. It's TOUGH WORK!
The jury is still out on whether it is easier to be a spouse of a deployed combat soldier or a recruiter's wife. It could go either way.
But I will say this...it has given us TIME together and that's the most important thing any spouse could ever ask for. Just FYI, this 1 1/2 is the most time SSG and I have had together since we started dating - crazy uh? Want the quick rundown:
Grew up together but went our separate ways after high school
Reunited at his Aunt's wedding - October 2004
Started dating December 2004
He deployed 12 months January 2005
Returned and Proposed on December 31 2005
Married June 2006
Moved to Ft. Stewart, GA
He deployed January 2007
Extended deployment March 2007
Returned March 29, 2008
Came down on Recruiting orders and went to school in SC October 2008
Had the baby girl December 29, 2008 if you do the math it's 9 months to the day he came home from deployment
Started Recruiting duty January 2009
Crazy uh? Sometimes I feel like I live in an olden day love story - the girl and her soldier :) Makes me smile.
I hope this has enlightened you a little to the recruiting world. It's not really all it's cracked up to be. Occasionally it has it's perks. But like any military wife...we keep on truckin and wait for the next adventure - which in mine and Suomi's case - is coming soon!
September 03, 2010
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6 comments:
mandie - i feel your pain and joys!! my hubby just finished his recruiting tour with the navy (along with his active duty contract after 10 years). he used to say that he was home more when he was deployable, but i think it just felt that way to him. i loved that he was home every night, even if i had to eat like a single girl for dinner. and those drunk recruits calling in the middle of the night? yep. got those too. and after they're in boot camp and in their first schools... they still call... and there are NO spouses who want to meet each other!! what's up with that?
but we're currently working on a conversion so he can be a recruiter for the ANG and stay at home but finish out his military career. it'll be a big change in some ways, but hopefully a good one.
I love your humor, perspective and insight! Thanks for opening my eyes to 'your military'. I think I'll keep deployment...LOL
Suomi, thanks for introducing me to Mandie!
Wow, I'd heard things about recruiting but never seen it written out so well. It really does sound like it's a different military world. My sister's husband is active duty Guard and so they are basically military living in a civilian world as well. She has shared some of the same challenges that you mentioned.
So happy to find your blog! (I dropped by today from the Mil Spouse Weekly Roundup.)
Hello! I just found your through the weekly milspouse roundup! We have never been on recruiting duty before...but I have a friend that is, and she says that she NEVER see's her husband. But then again, being in the military means you really don't see your hubs that much anyways.
Thanks for linking up so I could come and find you! I look forward to reading more from you!
Our BIL is an AF recruiter and he's shared a lot of the same frustrations you have. On the plus side, of course, his kids have never had to go through a deployment, so when SoldierMan joined the Army, they thought the difference was that the AF has "safe" desk jobs and the Army gets killed. They freaked. It was actually kind of sweet, how much they cared, but it reminded me of just how different our lives were, even though we're all military families.
Thank you so much for the insight into the other military! It's so interesting to hear about different jobs in the military and how those jobs affect the wives. Great post!
Thanks for joining us in the Mil Spouse Weekly Roundup! Hope to see you again next week.
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