HOOAHfied

The view from my room

At my Army Family Team Building (AFTB) Master Trainer Course graduation, we were told that we had been HOOAHfied. I'd like to think that before heading to Florida last Sunday, I had already established that status, but perhaps not.

Well regardless if that really is what happened to me last week or not, the reality is that now I am an Army Family Team Building Master Trainer (woohoo go me!). Actually, I really am proud of my new title. I have a great passion for the AFTB program and what it encompasses. I look forward to helping the program progess and hopefully I can bring new ideas or something constructive to it.

My week in Florida was interesting to say the least. The journey there itself was something to write about. On my flight from Dallas to Orlando, I had the pleasure of sitting next to a young Airman who had recently finished some training and was headed to even more training. His attitude was refreshing. He was so fun to talk to, his patriotism was enlightening. We conversed pretty much the whole flight. I think what impressed me the most was when he told me that he was 11 on 9/11 and that day he knew that he would be joining the military. He told me he was thankful for what my husband did and how in awe he was of the Army and all we had to endure. I found this touching, as he himself will end up in the Middle East someday. He was just a sweet young man and I wish him all the best.

My time in Florida comes with mixed reviews. It was an ok course, I felt that a lot of the information I was receiving was repeat stuff from the local instructor course. Some days I felt quite ADD and had to work hard to stay focused. There were some blocks of instruction however, that really energized me and helped me to refocus and hopefully learn how to be a better instructor. Honestly, I think the best part of the week was the networking I got to do with the other students in the class. We had people who came from military installations all over the world. South Korea, Alaska, Hawaii, Belgium, Germany, Georgia, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, New York, Texas, Washington and many, many more.
Presentation Day..a lot of people were stressed about this assignment..
I had a lot of fun with some of the people I met, almost every evening I went to dinner with the same group of crazy girls. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. I really was blessed to meet these remarkable women and know that I'll be in touch with them for a long time to come.


At the Rainforest Cafe

Of course for all of you who know me, know that I didn't just love everyone. I want to at this moment make it known that I was on my best behavior and worked hard on not going off on crazy, ignorant people. I want everyone who knows me, to know that I accomplished this goal and behaved very well. I also want it known that this was not always an easy task!! We had a fairly large group of people involved in this course and I can say it was diversity at it's finest. We had a lot of people with very stong personalities. I will admit that there are some people who I came across this week that I hope to never cross again in this lifetime (I know I just jinxed myself and I'm sure they will all be PCSing to TX in the near future, lol).

My trip home was somewhat of an adventure. All my flights were delayed and that was not fun. On my flight from Orlando to Dallas, I sat next to the neatest man, we chatted the entire flight. I talked to him a lot about what the AFTB program was all about and he was quite impressed. I get really energized when I talk about anything to do with the military, it really is my passion. He told me that he appreciated what my husband does and what our family does for our nation. I was almost in tears. At the end of our flight, he shook my hand and told me that we were a remarkable family. I don't go out in search of compliments or even moments of gratitude but I will say they sure are wonderful to hear.

Just a cool pic of the clouds

When I arrived in Dallas, I found out that my flight home was delayed. I went into the USO for a snack and just to hang out. I love the USO, I've decided that when we retire we need to live near a USO so I can volunteer. I helped the volunteer there put out some cups and other things as her volunteer who was supposed to work that night didn't bother showing up. It was neat and I wish we lived closer. I really am grateful for the USO and all it does to support our troops. I chatted with a few young Soldiers who were coming home on R&R or some who were getting ready to go to the sandbox for the first time. I was quite emotional but so grateful. I gave them all hugs and walked to my boarding area. After a couple hours we finally got boarded and our short flight arrived in Killeen. As we landed, the flight attendant got on the speaker and thanked our military for their service and sacrifice, it was a nice ending to a long week.

Overall, I am glad that I went and at the end of the week, I felt like I accomplished something...I made some new friends, I learned some new techniques on instruction and I found that my family can survive without me, although they do miss me very much when I'm too far way.

I hope that I can embody the hooahfication process. I really do believe in this program. I am all about empowering Army families. I hope that with the skills I have learned or expanded I can take care of my Soldiers and their families. I hope that I can help others become Hooahfied or at least teach them what Hooah means...

(Here's a few pics of my days in Florida)

My bed Cool TV (with lame channels)
My visitor...actually he owned the balcony and trust me he could have it. He was not at all intimidated by me at all, he let me know who's house it was...

Remember when I blogged about my iron issues a couple weeks back? Apparently it is not in my destiny to iron because the hotel iron literally fell apart as I was getting ready to iron my shirt. The housekeeper thought this was quite amusing when they came to replace my iron.