My Brother's Joining the Army

Last night, my brother Chris came into town, and took me out to dinner for my birthday. He is the sweetest, kindest, most considerate guy I know (and he's still single, so if anyone has a sister or friend we could set him up with...)

We went to Brio, and he ordered me a glass of preseco before I could say anything. It has been a long time since we'd talked, and over dinner, he told me he was joining the Texas Army National Guard. He wants to do this so he can get flight training and experience all while keeping his current job. The Army will pay for all the training, so he sees this as a great opportunity. Our great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all Army officers, so he's carrying on quite a tradition. Being in the Guard is different-- his commitment would be for 8 years (6 years active, and 2 years inactive), one weekend a month, etc. and the process to join is pretty intense. He started taking private flying lessons a couple of months ago, so in a way, he's already started.

First, if all goes according to plan, he's getting sworn into the Guard next week in San Antonio. He's hoping to start Basic Training (10 weeks) right away, and have it coincide with Air Traffic Controller Training (AIT). This would go for about 4 months. Next would be Warrant Officer Candidate School for 3-4 months. Finally, he'd have flight school for about one year. All the training will be at Fort Rucker in Alabama. After that, he would get his assignment (deployment). This doesn't mean he'd go overseas though (most likely it would be stateside). He's confident the Iraqi war would be over by then, because he's not really interested in going there-- and neither am I! He's 6 feet tall, but he's still my little brother.

He's decided upon this track because he ultimately hopes to fly helicopters (Apaches, Blackhawks, etc.). I wasn't nervous until he told me about the "Jesus Nut." On a helicopter, there's essentially one nut that holds the entire rotor mechanism together. So flight crews typically say something like, "You know...if that nut fails, the next person you're going to see is Jesus." I can tell you already I'll be praying for Chris like you wouldn't believe. I'll be asking for all the saints intercessions and then some. And his guardian angel better be doing double duty.

Chris is excited, and I'm really happy for him. I've been praying lately, asking God to please give him a great path for his future. Apparently this is God's plan for him. The Army still has the GI Bill, so he could go to graduate school after his commitment is up, and they would pay for all his school expenses. My brother is one smart guy.

Chris is also Gabriel's godfather, so we made sure to snap some pics before he left. I couldn't decide which was cuter, so I posted all three. Gabriel has a couple of lovely mosquito bites on his forehead, but he went right to Chris and put on a great face for the camera.

I couldn't remember the last time I got a picture of us together, so we had David take one for us.

So my brother's off to join the Guard. I am so proud of him, and I love him to pieces.

After dinner and dessert--a piece of heavenly chocolate cake, he let me drive his BMW home. It has a manual transmission, (yes, I know how to drive a stick!), and it was SO much fun. If you're a recovering control freak like me, you'll understand. :-) The day I ditch the mommy van, I'm going to get a fun car like that.

Chris is very fit, but he says he's working on his push-ups :-). I know he'll be just fine. I told him to be careful, and he promised he would be. I'm still going to look up whoever the patron saint of pilots is.