Communication on deployment. How do i keep in touch with my loved ones?

in #blog6 years ago

Welcome to the last 5 months of my life!

What have we had to conquer this deployment?

  • 12 hours time zone difference...
  • Not knowing what the other person is doing
  • My family not knowing where im going
  • My family not knowing when im coming home!

Its a rough ride dealing with this for 5 months.

Most of the days i have to wake up a little bit earlier than normal just to FaceTime my wife and daughter.

Most recent filtered picture of me and my daughter face timing!

facetime 3.jpg

Im one of the lucky ones!

see when i joined the navy i had absolutely no idea what i was getting myself into. I took this "aircrew" job, and had no idea what it was. All i knew is that i wanted to fly! 2 years down the road when im finished with all my training, i have never been on a boat in my entire life! crazy right?

In the navy and have never stepped foot on a boat!

What does that mean for me? Well, when i go on deployment, we deploy with our airplanes so we stay where there is a runway. What does that mean for our living situations? well it really depends where we go... But where im at now we have a room, and wifi! A nice air conditioned room with just one roommate and some nice fast wifi to FaceTime my family! this means a huge increase of quality of life for me, and i still get to talk to my two favorite people! That means i get all the time after work when she wakes up to put funny filters on our conversations!
facetime 2.jpg

I left my daughter when she was 4 months old.

It was probably one of the hardest things i have had to do in a very long time, walking away from them for the next 6 months. Heres the last picture i have with them!
facebook 4.jpg

The real hard part is just having the energy after a super long day of work to stay up longer.

How the time zone works is im 13 hours ahead of my wife. so when im trying to go to bed, she is just waking up to start her day. When i wake up for work at 5 or 6am every morning, its not bad because its only around 4pm her time but i have to head out to work. So if i really want to talk to her i have to wake up an hour before i even need to be into work.

The positives

  • Im not on a boat.. i have no idea how the boat works, i think that they can maybe call their families every once in a while when they are underway but apart from that thats terrible!
  • i get to talk to them as much as i possibly can!
  • I have internet and a gym and friends and i have a bike! i can ride to taco bell on base as much as i want! hahaha

Thanks for reading this short post! i would love to answer any questions that you have about how its like!

Please, feel free to ask me anything!
navy one.jpg
Me 3 years ago! THANKS!

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Your daughter is so precious!!! I'm happy you have facetime!! It would have been even MORE difficult even just 10 years ago!

oh man right? i think there was Skype 10 years ago maybe? but wow... how did they do it back in like vietnam when there wasn't even phones or anything.... just letters and love!

What’s it like on the boat?

Posted using Partiko iOS

idk if i know anyone that knows that could shed some light? hahaha

@steemengines it depends on the ship's size. I've been on 500 ft ships with 300 people and a 500 ft ship with 50 people.

Aircraft carriers are a 1200 ft ship with 5000 people. o_O

It gets cramped, you get too little sleep, and the days blur together like Groundhog Day the movie. :-)

Also, the rocking of the ship makes you sleepy...or seasick. Or both.

@protegeaa thanks for the info, I was actually just being a smart ass. I know him, lol and I was just messing with him. I have been stationed on a ship myself, I know exactly what you are talking about Groundhog Day! But I’ve never slept better than in my rack!

Posted using Partiko iOS

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