Monday, April 28, 2008

Sailing On Very Soon

It feels like it's come upon us so fast, but here we are again, nearing the end of another phase of Mike's flight training. He's been in Advanced Flight Training here in Meridian since last May. He's hoping to wrap it up here by the end of the month. I say "wrap it up" like it's a quick and easy process, but that is of course not the case.

At the moment, Mike is flying in the skies over the Naval Base learning to 'bounce.' Bounce off an aircraft carrier, that is. They practice here on the ground for a couple weeks before leaving on May 9 for San Diego to land on a boat in the ocean [shiver up my spine]. After he lands successfully a few times (and gets catapulted off the boat a few times - think Top Gun) he'll then "get his wings of gold" as they say.

I am super excited to get the call that Mike has completed the boat landing thing. He'll be in the jet all by himself when doing it for the first time, so I'll be very nervous back here in MS. To get a better idea of what it looks like, here's a video of the students that have gone before him... I can't believe my husband will be doing this, but I'm so proud of all that he's accomplished!



If all goes well, he'll have a winging ceremony at the end of May. And then it's just like before: we'll be told what jet he'll be flying (this time it's for the rest of his military commitment) and then we'll be told where we're going to be living next. This could be lots of different places. I won't go into all the possibilities here. I'll just tell you it'll be either east coast or west coast. We are hoping for east and have requested it.

So, lots of stuff happening in our lives over the next month. We are looking forward to the next move!

3 comments:

The Helm Family said...

That is really neat. I sure hope it is the east coast so we can see you more often.
Meredith

Cristy, Nick and Caden said...

That is great for Mike. I am so glad your dad is doing much better. He is a man who deserves a long healthy future. AK is so cute and very smart!!! It was great to see you both. Take Care, Crisy

The Adventures of Maverick & the Mrs. said...

Hey Casey! I'll keep my fingers crossed that you guys get what you put on your dream sheet--trust me--I know how crazy of a time that is. Patrick put supers east, charlies east, and supers west, so here we are in Prowlers in Washington, go figure right? We have enjoyed living in a place we never would've lived otherwise though. As for the sign to welcome Mike back, I actually didn't get the chance to do one for Patrick because I hadn't gotten back from being in one of my friend's weddings yet. Bad, huh? Oh well. Wish Mike luck for me, and I'll say some prayers for him.