Our Duty Station Wishlist

After seeking the advice of many many mentors, Hubster submitted our wishlist for our next duty station last week. The largest factor when it came down to the ranking of list was availability for command, followed by where we'd actually like to go. Lucky for us, all of the better locations had slots open for command time. It truly was not the greatest list though. Ideally, he'd like to take command of a Company as quickly as possible and then move on to do bigger and better things in the Army.

We should find out next week where we are slotted to go. I'm beyond anxious waiting to find out. No matter where it is though, we'll have to make the best of it.

So here are our top five choice:

1. Hawaii x 3: There are actually three command slots available for Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, so in reality, Hawaii makes up over half of our top five. It would be the most amazing thing ever if we could get stationed in Hawaii, but there are also 20 other people in the class that have it at the top of their list. Lucky for us, since Hubs came home from deployment so recently, he could have a better chance of getting it. The one drawback of getting Hawaii would be that it's looking like there is a pretty long queue line to take command. We weighed the negatives though and Hawaii still came out on top. Plus, I really don't think I'll be too upset if we get stuck there for four or five years. I hatecold weather anyway.

2. Germany: Being stationed in Germany opens you up to a whole new world of culture. I would love for the girls to be able to experience German culture while they're still little sponges. An advantage of living in Germany would be the opportunity to travel all of Europe. You're at a stone's throw from many other countries and traveling there is a fraction of the price that it would be coming from the US.

3. Virginia: Alright, being stationed near DC doesn't exactly sound like the most thrilling thing ever, but it would be a nice experience. I'd imagine they do some pretty neat military stuff around some of the National holidays. Hubster has been stationed in the DC area before, and enjoyed it. It also doesn't hurt that some of our very best friends, Adri's Godparents live in the DC area. We were stationed together in Georgia, and although P isn't in the military any more, it would feel just like old times.

4. Georgia: Unfortunately, we can't go back to Fort Stewart (where we came from), but Fort Benning isn't bad either. Columbus, the town just outside of post, is nice with a variety of restaurants and shopping available. There is an airport in town and Atlanta is only a few hours away. One of the best things about going back to Georgia would be being close to home again. We'll save money by driving home instead of having to fly.

5. Japan: One of the best parts of being a military family, is being able to travel the world and experience new culture. Somewhere like Japan would be the ultimate culture shock. We've heard tons of great things from the people that we know who have been stationed in Japan, so why not give it a try. A bonus would be that we'd be just outside of Tokyo. How cool would that be? I picture lots of lights and technology. Downfall would be that it would be at least a three year assignment. That seems like an awfully long time to be away from family and the world that we're familiar with.

Some of the other locations in our top 10 were: Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Fort Riley, Kansas; and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Not that I have anything against Kansas (I do), but I'd rather not have to deal with tornadoes again.

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