Through the Eyes of a Flight School Spouse

This is a special feature column that will follow a flight school spouse for several months as she gets acquainted with her new role in the military. We hope this column will share the insight on life on Fort Rucker and how Family & MWR can help make the transition from being a civilian spouse to a military spouse an informative and fun experience! Check back each month to see Family & MWR thru the eyes of a military spouse.

By Kathleen Montion

Poisonous snakes, a field of chin-up bars, and ninety degree weather with one hundred percent humidity. These were some of the first things I noticed upon arriving on the Fort Rucker post in early June, and needless to say, I was not the happiest person in the world. My name is Kathleen Montion, and I am a brand new military wife. I moved to Fort Rucker with my husband who is going through flight school, and I truly had no idea what to expect.

Getting back to my first impression of Fort Rucker, I had been driving for fourteen hours straight and arrived here at midnight and I was not a happy camper. The hot weather and the threat of being forced to be a stereotypical military wife seemed too much to bear. However, a long night’s sleep did me good, and I woke up excited to find out more about what was now my new home, whether I liked it or not. After moving into a cute little house on post, I went with my husband to get an ID card at building 5700. Apparently it was quite obvious that we were new, because a nice man asked if he could help and showed us around a bit. He took us to ACS where I signed up for several trainings like Get REAL and Family Resilience, even though I had no clue what they were.

I quickly realized that signing up for these classes was the best decision I could have made during my first days of military life. By attending these classes I not only met some great people, but I also was able to witness the passion that the instructors had for living the military life. It might sound cheesy, but they inspired me to make the most of being a military spouse by getting involved on post in every way possible. On top of completely changing my perspective on military life, I also learned acronyms, rank structure, how not to dress for a military ball and other important bits of information at Get REAL. And at Family Resilience Training I learned how to be a person who can “bounce back” from adversity, not just when it comes to military lifestyle, but in every aspect of my life. After attending these two trainings, I decided that I was going to make a point to take advantage of every activity, training, and event that is offered on post. I immediately went through the Fort Rucker At Ease magazine and made a list of everything that I want to do while living here, and over the next several months I plan to make it through my entire list, just consider it my bucket list for my stay here at Fort Rucker. Each month, I will share my Family & MWR experiences and insight to great programs and activities that every military spouse, whether a newbie like me or a veteran spouse, can appreciate it.

Maybe this military life won’t be so bad after all!

Thanks,

Kathleen Montion, a military spouse!