The Big Day....

I didn't think that any day could be happier than the day Jas and I graduated from college, but boy was I wrong! His graduation from Officer Candidate School (OCS) was truly a wonderful day in our lives. It marked a new beginning for us, a new career as a naval officer for him and a new duty station (Port Hueneme) and masters degree opportunities for me.

OCS was a rough experience for poor Jason. Everything in his life was controlled. He couldn't even take an Advil for a headache or get a drink of water without permission. Often while he was gone I wondered if he was really at OCS or in jail! He could call me on Sundays for 10 minutes. There were 49 other guys who needed to use the phone, so each was given 10 minutes. Planning our lives for the next few months was very difficult to do in ten minute weekly intervals. Plus, usually he was so exhausted when he would call that he would fall asleep on the phone.

Finally the day came. Sept 9, I packed up my kids and flew seven and a half hours to Rhode Island to watch him graduate. Thank goodness my dad decided to go with me and help with the kids! I am pretty sure I couldn't have survived that trip without him.

Graduation Day: Friday, Sept. 11
The day started at 5 am. That's right, I got up at 4:30 to go watch Jason's chow hall procedures. I was pretty amazed. They had to eat in a 9 step format. Before the chow started, they did some push-ups and sang cadence. Then, on the command of the drill instructor, they ran at full speed into the chow hall and began to get their food. There were 50 potential officers in Jason's class, and each had to get their food and eat in twenty minutes. No one could eat until the last person got his/her food, so you can imagine that when the command was given that they could eat, they went at it in full force! They had to stand at attention until each person got their food and was ready to eat.




Part of the eating procedure was that they were only allowed to use a spoon, and they could only hold the spoon in their left hand like a child would hold a spoon. Some of the guys had apples. Imagine trying to eat an apple with a spoon! They did, though, and they tried to eat as much as they possibly could. Jason said that they slept very little, if at all and exercised CONSTANTLY, so their only source of energy came from calories. If they couldn't get enough calories, they were really hurting!



Jason's actual graduation ceremony started at 9 that same morning. When we walked in, his class was standing at attention ready to welcome the main speaker, the secretary of the navy, the honorable Ray Mabus. Jason graduated second in his class, so he and four other guys got to stand apart from the rest of the class and carry swords.







The top five in the class were specially honored by the secretary of the navy and the commanding officer of the Naval Support Newport base. Watching Jason get honored for hard work was awesome. It brought tears to my eyes and my heart swelled with pride. He not only excelled in his class, but he and one other person commanded the class and proved their leadership capabilities. Our entire married lives I have told Jason that he is an extraordinary person, but to get to hear it from the secretary of the navy was an amazing experience for him.





At one point during the ceremony, families were allowed to come onto the floor and take pictures. However, the officer candidates couldn't move or even look at us as we took the pictures. They meant business, too. Seeing those officers in their full military bearing was more than a little intimidating, and even Abrie didn't dare get out of line! Jason looked incredibly handsome in his dress white uniform and sword. He looked like he could've stepped out of the graduation scene of Top Gun. He told me that it's common knowledge that no woman can resist a man in the dress whites, and I would have to agree!







Here's an interesting couple of pics. Directly following the graduation, Jason's drill instructor approached him and was talking to him. He never once looked at her until she gave him a command to look where she was pointing. He snapped his head to the right, then directly back to center where, once again, he did not make eye contact with her. I thought it was interesting. I wondered what she was telling him, but he wouldn't tell us.





When the graduation ceremony ended, the class took a picture with the secretary of the navy and did their final salutes. Then Jason was finally FREE--for a little while at least! He gets to spend the next four weeks in Idaho with the girls and me, and then he is leaving for a three month deployment in Spain. I am so bummed that he has to leave again so soon, but I am going to do my very best to enjoy every second we get to be together.







Love you Jas! I am so proud of you!!!!