Qualified!

From left, Mike, John, Troy, Kurtis and Colin. They're standing a little too close to the edge for my taste!

Hooray! Mike successfully completed his carrier qualification! He spent Monday and Tuesday of last week bouncing, landing and catapulting his jet on/off of an aircraft carrier off the cost of San Diego. He said the feeling was unbelievable. His adrenaline was in overdrive. He said being catapulted off the ship was really cool, and that the force of being shot off was much more extreme than he expected. He had a great time out there with his buddies/classmates. He couldn't tell me enough how fun it was. Above is a picture of them on the back of the ship sporting their 'staches. And of course here's a close-up of Mike's mustache for your enjoyment. Unfortunately, it's so blonde that you can't appreciate the utter hilarity through this picture.


Another tradition is for the spouses to create a congratulatory sign/banner to hang when their husband CQs. Here's the one I painted and displayed the day Mike came home.

Mike in front of the USS Stennis while it was still docked. It traveled nearly 100 miles off the coast before Mike and his classmates landed on it.


Hanging out on the ship between flights. They also slept one night on the carrier. Mike said he can't imagine having to live on one.

He qualified in this jet.


Looking down the carrier's runway.

This is the mechanism that catapults the jet. It connects to the front of the plane and pulls it down the runway.

This lighting device is what the pilots look at while they're landing to determine if they are too high or too low before hitting the deck.

Relaxing oceanside after all the hard work is done!

Mike has a handful of Air Combat Maneuvering flights left before he'll (hopefully) graduate on May 30. There will be a big winging ceremony on base and lots of parties to follow. We are very excited to get done here and move on to the next phase. I can't wait to share the news of where we'll be moving next. We should know sometime before May 30.