Bahrain: My Return (1)
Well we (my family and I) have been discussing going to Bahrain pretty much for the last year or so. That was until quite recently, we started to reconsider. Reason: I think that I am nearing my end…ready to call this life on the run quits after this assignment. And so instead of taking the family overseas for 2 years and then making the leap then, we agreed it would be best to have them settle back down in Florida now, I do a one year stint and then come back. We will have lots of time to do the world travel thingy afterwards…hopefully. Now don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy what I do, but the realities of the profession and the emotional needs of my family are proving quite the challenge.
Now, there still remains a possibility that I might hang in a bit longer, but that will depend on the selection board next year. If selected, I think…I would probably opt for the war college followed by 6th Fleet in Italy…(not sure if I want to be a ship’s IO)…that would require a bit of brain time.
At any rate I spoke to my detailer and switch back from 2 years with my family to 1 year by myself this week and he gave the ok. I think that’s the best move for my family because financial, we can put some other things in play before I jump ship; furthermore wife’s mother is not doing too well and I would hate to have her fretting about her from so far away.
I am pretty familiar with the area and since I am a bit more senior I am hoping that I will get a few more perks than the last time.
In a few months when I am re-reading this from there, I might think then it was a bit naive to redo this again, but for now, I am pretty optimistic. I don’t have the heavy stiffling cloud of career doom hanging over my head anymore and my family is relatively set. I have a few more promises that I have to carry out and then I will be complete. More about that later.
Links to line up expenses:
– DOD Rate Lookups – Find official rates for oversea living, BAH, etc…
– Florida Zip Code Lookup
– Lifelines – Awesome resource for information specific to Navy.
