Right now, I’m an Army wife in limbo. My husband is deployed from a unit that is stationed overseas, so we’re not in a traditional Army situation. And to be honest, I miss it.
I miss FRG meetings, shopping at the commissary, and going on post to eat dinner with Mac while he was on duty. I crave monthly coffee groups, the smell of the PX (you know it, too), and the many creative forms of mandatory fun. All of it. We’re missing out on balls, living on post, and the chaotic schedule of a traditional Army unit. Mac has a timeline in mind of what he wants (and needs) to do career-wise post deployment, and I’m excited to get back in the “real” Army life.
Have any of you military wives been in a similar situation? Have you ever missed the Army?
We will be, sorta. My husband is going National Guard so if he does get deployed, I know it will be different. Even if he doesn’t, I know it will be different. As of right now though we are staying put so I will be around a lot of Military wives. And there is always a Brigade that is deployed around here too. So we will see. I will still have the Army post right there as well.
This seems like such a fresh perspective to me – I feel like I hear a lot of Army wives talk about how they can’t wait to get AWAY from Army life… but I’d imagine, once out, a lot of them feel like you do.
It’s amazing how much you can miss the real army. It’s tough to be in limbo like that.
I half share this feeling with you. Johns unit kinda sucks and has no frg or mandatory fun. Even the “commanders cup” that they had yesterday was only open to the Soldiers participating.
My husband did an IA (Individual Augmentee) stint in Afghanistan. It was the pits because he wasn’t attached to a command. Thankfully I joined a local MOMS Club group, and they helped keep me sane.
This was us during my husband’s first deployment. He deployed with a unit out of Germany, but I stayed at our hometown in Dallas, so I could keep my job for another year and be near family. It was very isolating and lonely. I didn’t have anything to compare it to since he was fresh out of basic and we’d never been part of a traditional Army situation at that point. I can only imagine how much harder it would be after having a taste of Army life.