Helicopter Slot

These past few months have been stressful for Jake. He has been avidly trying to find a helicopter slot. I've come to learn the Army is really difficult to work with, and the right hand doesn't really know what the left hand is doing. They've told Jake there were slots open in Utah, and then there weren't, and then there were, then they transferred him to a new unit without him knowing, then there weren't any slots. It's been frustrating and stressful, and we have prayed every night that Jake would be able to get a helicopter slot.

Jake came home this last Thursday and told me we finally got a helicopter slot in Utah. We were both so excited! (Me especially because he was starting to get ornery.) I felt so blessed and knew the Lord knows our situation and knows the desires of our hearts. He wants us to be happy, and we are living right and trying to do all the things required of us, and He can't not bless us when we are obedient.

Jake wanted to give the details about getting the helicopter slot:

Well, Shannon is making me give the details about the helicopter slot so here it goes... just kidding Shannon. She pretty much summed it up already. Anyways, I did make a lot of phone calls and talked with a few people who should have been sure-fire authorities on telling me whether or not there were slots open and how I could get one. I wanted to know sooner rather than later so I could call other states if I had to. I was surprised more than once that no one seemed to know what they were talking about and what was going on. The 211th even sent a representative down to talk to all cadets at our school two weeks ago and told us there was no chance any of us would get a slot this year. That was right after I was transferred into the unit on the suggestion that it would improve my chances of getting a slot. Well, one week later I got word that the commander of the 2nd battalion of the 211th, a Lt. Colonel Adams, was coming to Logan to have a meeting with two of our cadets. If he didn't know the answer, no one would!

I wasn't one of the cadets invited for some reason and to my disappointment but one of these cadets told me I should come anyway, so I did. After talking to us for an hour about the history and situation of the unit being so full I thought he was going to tell us sorry or maybe just give one of us three a slot. In the end he just said, "well, this is what I can do..." and he gave all three of us a helicopter slot to fly blackhawks! I couldn't believe it! I was so relieved and happy!

I'd given up on this dream a long time ago and it just recently came back to life a couple years ago after they loosened the standards and let me get eye surgery. Sometimes I thought that maybe Heavenly Father had something else in mind for me and that I needed to learn to not get my way sometimes and that I needed to remember that there were other things that were more important. Shannon and I feel so blessed! We prayed for this every day and now it's actually going to happen! So, probably about a year and a half from now is when we'll report to Fort Rucker, Alabama for flight training and "other fun" (SERE School). We'll probably be there for about two years. On my way home from the meeting with Colonel Adams I skipped and sang "I got a golden ticket" at the top of my lungs!... in my head.