Welcome to Recruiting Duty, ma'am!

Today was the spouse brief for B's recruiting station. 

There were only two other Marines there, one married with two kids and the other was not married, with no kids. They were really nice, but their stations were over two hours away from us. So much for making friends!

Anyways, the purpose of the brief was to meet the CO (Commanding Officer) and the Marine Family Readiness Officer. The CO was extremely nice and seemed very understanding. For lack of better words, he came off very "cool." He briefly explained recruiting duty to us (although, I feel I have a good grasp on it already).  He told us about the long hours, making mission (their quote or goal for the month), poolees and basic information about being on RD. I already know about the long hours and making mission and all that fun stuff, but it was nice to hear it from him. He explained everything so well and admitted that he knows this is tough duty. I have heard HORROR stories about RD. Everything from husband's working til 2am to sleeping with the female poolees to working on Christmas to mission comes before family. But this CO did not seem like that at all. He said knows the hours are long, expect your Marine to work 8-8 and two Saturdays a month. But he also said that your Marine needs to schedule time with you once a week, whether it be a lunch or a dinner date, and his SNCOIC (Staff Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge, basically Brandon's immediate boss) must approve it! Score!

With this, he stressed the importance of marriage and making your relationship work during RD. He said the district is experiencing a lot of divorces right now and they want to do everything to prevent that. He mentioned the Marines will have time off if they need to go to counseling or if they have retreats, they will approve time off so that the Marine may attend. He also said that the Marines can have time off for birthdays and anniversaries. He explained that not giving the day off will cause problems and the Marine won't be as productive at work, so he said he will never deny leave for important dates. Score, again!

The CO went on to explain that RD can be very good for a Marine's career and that more meritorious  promotions happen on RD than anywhere else. And that if Brandon is making mission, he should have no problem getting promoted during this duty. That would just be lovely if Brandon. 

We almost met the Family Readiness Officer (FRO). 

He seems very nice, but no one can beat our FRO at 314, Jessica!

I suppose he can try though. He was really cool and asked for volunteers (yes!) and that we could call him if we needed anything. 

Everyone was really nice and friendly, but throughout the brief they kept saying "sorry" to me that I was stationed in Pittsfield and that I didn't live in San Diego anymore. The other spouse, who was very nice, even said, "I don't know how she is going to do it" and went on to say that she was already struggling, Thanks a lot everyone! It just gave me more motivation to have a better attitude. Yes, I miss San Diego with my whole heart, but I am not doing to let my new life ruin my life! I know I am going to be just fine. When we left the brief, I told B I was pumped! I just channeled everyone's negative comments into positive energy. I also told B that he will make mission each month! :) 

B has been doing so well already! He has been at training all week and he had one appointment yesterday with a kid and has two more on Saturday! I am so proud of him. He is going to kick ass at this. The kids have already said to him, "Where have you been Sgt. C? Why weren't you here earlier?" I know the kids are really going to love B and I know he can represent the Marine Corps in a positive way, as the Marine Corps has been very instrumental in building Brandon a good life.

No picture today. Boring.