I had never known anything of the military until I was with Nathan. I always swore up and down I'd never marry anyone in the military. All I attributed it to was moving every two years. Well, clearly the Lord had other plans, and gave me an AMAZING husband, who just so happened to be committed to the Air Force for at least 4 1/2 years. I had never been on a military base before we got to Montgomery. So I thought I would write some things I have found interesting, and really really nice (some weird too):
1. Every building on base is the same color- terracotta roofs and tan walls. It's really easy to get lost.
2. You have to go through security gates every time you come back on base. It's kinda scary the first time a man with a machine gun walks out and asks you for your ID. But I felt really cool the first time I flashed my military ID without Nathan in the car, and they let me in. "Oh yeah, that's right."
3. I was reading one afternoon at 5pm only to hear our national anthem playing outside. They play another song outside at 6am. It's kinda creepy.
4. It's strange to walk outside at 7am and see masses of people in the same clothes walking toward the same place. It's eerie.
5. They have just about everything you would want on base. It's like it's own small town- grocery store, department store, post office, library, pool, chapel, thrift store, golf course, bowling alley, movie theater, furniture store, gas station. Literally, you don't have to leave.
6. It's strange to be walking into the grocery store with a huge cargo plane taking off from the runway across the street from the parking lot.
7. You can only drive 25mph on base. And you get pulled over and ticketed for talking on your cell phone!
8. EVERYTHING is in military time (2:00pm=1400 hours). I am constantly trying to translate to figure out what time I am supposed to be somewhere.
9. There are abbreviations for everything. One wife saw a book called Air Force as a Second Language. I'm constantly asking, "What does that three-letter acronym stand for?"
10. It was awesome to get a doctor's appointment on the same day I called! And I picked up my prescription and didn't have to pay a dime. Government insurance beats the cheapo plan we had!
There's probably a lot more things that I may remember later. This really is a culture shock, and its own little world. But I'm beginning to like it.
(the picture above is the overhead view of the base we're on)
Ashley, I am loving your blog!! Keep it up! I can't believe how different your life has become in just a matter of a few short weeks! I like your list, because it helps me to imagine what your life is like on base...Military time drives me crazy, so I think that would be a hard adjustment...and how weird that you'll now be woken up by the sound of the national anthem every morning - guess you'll never need an alarm clock now=)
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