Hurry up and wait: The first military lesson I've learned so far

A good friend told me with the military you have to "hurry up and wait." A lot. Being an extremely impatient person I hadn't really taken this to heart. This past week, that changed. Even looking back, I totally see it now.

As my husband began his journey to join the military he had chosen the Air Force first, due to his experience in high school with JROTC. He was told he needed to lose weight. Which turned into something else, and another something else. It was looking that my husband wouldn't even be able to join till the spring of 2010. He looked into other branches instead, and chose the Army. Or, maybe the Army chose him. Anyway now he is in a job that will most likely have us stationed on Air Force bases anyway.

When my husband left to boot camp it took over a month for us to get our first paycheck. I was freaking out, since that is our only income. I remember when he called on Thanksgiving and told me we should finally have money in our bank account. Thank goodness! The next day I was able to the car payment and even go to the black Friday sales at Walmart and Old Navy.

When it was time to get my military ID I waited on the side of the road as I was questioned about already having obtained a sticker to get onto base. I had to explain that my MIL works on base and sometimes I pick her up in my own car. Apparently the sticker was expired (they didn't tell me) and I had to wait while they took my drivers license number, registration, and license plate number and watch them scratch off my sticker. Then I needed to wait for a temporary pass, wait in line for my ID, and then ask my MIL to come with me to obtain a new sticker since nothing is in my name, just hers and my husbands.

I wait every week for my husbands weekly phone calls. As we try to cram a whole weeks of conversation and love into the span of a few hours.

And right now, I'm waiting for someone to get back to me about obtaining a new secret pin to make a login for my husbands my pay. First I had to wait for the original pin and since it's expired I have to get a new one. Without it I can't get his LES (pay stub) or his W2 information. And without his LES, I can't move out of my in-laws house. So I had to wait everyday as I tried to get through only to be hung up on because there are too many callers.

Moral, to be clear of the message, Hurry Up And Wait! Sometimes you get help right away and sometimes it's a long wait, so grab a good book. Oh, and make sure EVERYTHING is in your name too, before your husband leaves.