We have a Moving Date!

We finally know the WHEN and WHERE we will be moving on our first Army move! Cam's first duty station will be Ft. Bliss, located in El Paso, TX and our official move date is scheduled for April 30th. The relief of finally knowing the last part of the puzzle was soon replaced by the stress brought on by the thought of all the organizing, packing, and cleaning that must go on in the next two weeks! Good thing Cam's staying in Port Orchard until we move so that things will get done during the day while Kristy's at work. While we are very sad to be leaving the state that has been our home all our lives, but we are looking forward to the challenges of living in the desert.

Since we knew our last days in the Puget Sound were approaching, Cam and I decided to catch one last Mariners game. And boy did we pick a good one! Not only did we get to see the 400th homerun with the M's by the returned Ken Griffey, we even saw the very rare Ichiro grand slam. What a night!

Aren't we cute in our matching shirts?!

The Smiths are moving to ... El Paso!

Cam just found out today that Fort Bliss, TX will be our new home for the next 3 years. Still no news yet on WHEN exactly we (and by this I mean me and all of our stuff) will be moving there; we just know that it will be some time in 2009.

We're not all that surprised by the news as Ft. Bliss is home to one of the largest Air Defense Artillery units. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to stay closer to family by being stationed at Ft. Lewis, WA. Regardless, we are looking forward to the new adventures a new city, climate, and geographical region can bring (and we'll definitely be packing our sunblock!!!)

From Wikipedia: "Fort Bliss today is vastly different from the original post created in 1849 to guard the area from Indian and Mexican raids. The mission of Fort Bliss has changed to providing anti-aircraft and missile defense capabilities, a role which Fort Bliss retains. As one of the largest military posts in the continental United States, Fort Bliss is also uniquely suited to conduct live fire exercises of nearly every type of military weapon in the current US Army arsenal. Fort Bliss routinely conducts joint military exercises with other units from other US bases, and has trained soldiers from several nations around the world."

As always, as soon as we know anything concrete we will let all our friends and family know. Besides, we have to invite you all to the killer going-away party, right!?!

OCS Update #4

Cam has spent the last two weeks "in the field" as part of his OCS training. This includes running tactical exercises and team events, sleeping in tents every night, and not showering for days! I'm just glad that I don't have to smell them when they get back!!!

He has one more week of field work before returning to the classroom for a "Week of History". (Yay for something right up Cam's alley!!!) The Candidates will also have a ruck march and PT test during that time. They have a week to turn in all their gear and prepare for all the Commissioning events in mid-March.

On a more exciting news front, Cam has received information regarding his upcoming training. He must attend Basic Officer Leader Course II and III (BOLC) before arriving at his permanent duty station. BOLC II is similar to the Basic Training Cam has already attended, but it is geared more towards newly commissioned officers. BOLC III provides job-specific training. The 6-week-long BOLC II training will be from July-August 2009 at Ft. Sill, OK. Immediately following that, BOLC III will be from August to December 2009 at Ft. Bliss, TX.

Please remember that these dates and locations are all subject to change. Further, we have NO idea what our plans are beyond Commissioning in mid-March. As soon as we have any further details and/or more concrete plans, we will let you know!

Until then ...