Hello all!
I'd like to take a minute just sit right there, and I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air. I'm only kidding, but humor always makes introductions easier.
So, my name is Rob, and I am an Army Veteran. I Served 6 years active duty in the Signal Corps. I met my SO while stationed at Fort Campbell. Things went great, we fell in love and we ended up moving in with each other. We will have been together coming up on three years in February. I finished my enlistment in December of last year and have since become a civilian contractor in the same line of work I did in the Military.
This year started off a bit rough for us as I took a job that, while I was able to stay located in Kentucky, required me to travel to other military bases around the US quite often. It was rough, but I don't think either of us really considered it a LDR because I was usually gone for no more than a month at a time. Things were going okay, but not great, until I got laid off not 6 months after I started this new job. I've never really been good with money in the first place so we were already a bit behind BEFORE I got laid off. Losing my job just made things worse and added to the accumulating pile of stress that already existed.
Worried about money and numerous other things, I decided to take a contracting job in Afghanistan. The pay was good, but the situation sucked. The way I look at it is it's a temporary sacrifice for our long term goals. We both agreed to this and after much deliberation, I left home to secure our future. So here I am, sitting in a combat zone as I type this. It's not as bad over here as you think, it's actually pretty chill, but keeping that connection with your SO is where it gets difficult. I got lucky enough that my work schedule here lines up with me being able to call home and chat/text with her daily. While this is great, and we are able to communicate regularly, it does tend to get a bit bland after awhile.
This is the point we had reached when I found your website. I was looking for fun activites for us to do as a couple, from a distance. I have to say your list of 100 things for LD couples to do has been quite helpful. (That hoochymail has been a personal favorite. I can't tell you how many laughs we've gotten out of that.) That being said, I decided to pop over to the forums just to browse a little bit and see what type of community exists around this website.
Here is where I noticed a few things that could stand to improve. It seems like every thread I read is about a girl who's man went off and joined the military, or those that were already together and now he's deployed. What I didn't see was anything the other way around. Where are the soldiers looking for ways to keep things exciting with their spouses back home? How can another soldier expect to get advice from someone that shares their perspective? Maybe I'm wrong, and I would like to think I am, and there are at least a few other active users who are on the other end of the military LDR. If not, I will gladly offer my services to not only other soldiers/contractors/vets, but also for any of you military spouses or SOs (whichever you prefer) that would like a little insight on what it's like to be on the other side.
I'd like to take a minute just sit right there, and I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air. I'm only kidding, but humor always makes introductions easier.
So, my name is Rob, and I am an Army Veteran. I Served 6 years active duty in the Signal Corps. I met my SO while stationed at Fort Campbell. Things went great, we fell in love and we ended up moving in with each other. We will have been together coming up on three years in February. I finished my enlistment in December of last year and have since become a civilian contractor in the same line of work I did in the Military.
This year started off a bit rough for us as I took a job that, while I was able to stay located in Kentucky, required me to travel to other military bases around the US quite often. It was rough, but I don't think either of us really considered it a LDR because I was usually gone for no more than a month at a time. Things were going okay, but not great, until I got laid off not 6 months after I started this new job. I've never really been good with money in the first place so we were already a bit behind BEFORE I got laid off. Losing my job just made things worse and added to the accumulating pile of stress that already existed.
Worried about money and numerous other things, I decided to take a contracting job in Afghanistan. The pay was good, but the situation sucked. The way I look at it is it's a temporary sacrifice for our long term goals. We both agreed to this and after much deliberation, I left home to secure our future. So here I am, sitting in a combat zone as I type this. It's not as bad over here as you think, it's actually pretty chill, but keeping that connection with your SO is where it gets difficult. I got lucky enough that my work schedule here lines up with me being able to call home and chat/text with her daily. While this is great, and we are able to communicate regularly, it does tend to get a bit bland after awhile.
This is the point we had reached when I found your website. I was looking for fun activites for us to do as a couple, from a distance. I have to say your list of 100 things for LD couples to do has been quite helpful. (That hoochymail has been a personal favorite. I can't tell you how many laughs we've gotten out of that.) That being said, I decided to pop over to the forums just to browse a little bit and see what type of community exists around this website.
Here is where I noticed a few things that could stand to improve. It seems like every thread I read is about a girl who's man went off and joined the military, or those that were already together and now he's deployed. What I didn't see was anything the other way around. Where are the soldiers looking for ways to keep things exciting with their spouses back home? How can another soldier expect to get advice from someone that shares their perspective? Maybe I'm wrong, and I would like to think I am, and there are at least a few other active users who are on the other end of the military LDR. If not, I will gladly offer my services to not only other soldiers/contractors/vets, but also for any of you military spouses or SOs (whichever you prefer) that would like a little insight on what it's like to be on the other side.
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