On the Verge

I left my comfortable job at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday and on Monday I'm reporting to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama for Day 0 (Day 1 is Tuesday) of Commissioned Officer Training ("COT"). A little background first. I'm a lawyer. I graduated from Temple Law School in Philadelphia. I've been working as a staff attorney at the 11th Circuit for the past 2 years. In September of last year, I decided to join the Air Force as a JAG officer. I applied, was chosen, passed the medical exam (with a waiver for my color-blindness), and was assigned to to Aviano Air Base in Aviano, Italy.

My wife and I couldn't believe that we had been so lucky as to get Aviano as our first base. We spent money like drunken sailors when we found out. We went out for Italian food. We bought the Rosetta Stone Italian language disks. We bought a Ferrari. OK, we thought about buying a Ferrari. I think I checked the AC Milan score for the day.

Anyway, I am now preparing to leave for COT. I'm pretty nervous. But at least the payoff is 3 years in Italy. The purpose of this blog is 2-fold:

1. to keep friends and family apprised of our Aviano Odyssey (hence the title); and
2. to help future military folks manage their training and overseas (or "OCONUS") permanent change of station ("PCS").

By the way, the military uses a lot of acronyms. I will try to define those whenever I can.

As for my specific schedule, I head to Montgomery for the 5-week COT course. After that, I have Saturday and Sunday off and report to Aviano, Italy on Monday. I have a direct flight from Atlanta to Marco Polo International in Venice. 2 weeks later, I report back to Montgomery for a 9-week Judge Advocate Staff Officer Course ("JASOC") in Montgomery. We will do the permanent move to Italy in mid-December.

Our main concern with the move is our 6-year-old dog, Niky. She gets sick in a car and I don't know if she can handle a 10-hour flight to Europe. We dealing with our vet to figure out if it's safe to fly her. If not, my parents have offered their home. What great folks!

Also great is my wife, who is, at the moment, packing my things. I'd be a disaster without her.

I plan on posting as often as possible from here on out. For the first few weeks of COT, my posts will be limited. I also will post pictures when I can. Below is the first batch.

Aviano-area pictures:

My wife and I at Mt. Baker, Washington:

Niky (the dog):