Ground Control to...

Plans still in action.  I am going to try to devulge my experience as I go, for those interested, in a similar situation, or my kids later in life.  It will most likely be at a rate reflected in the lapse of time since my last post.

December of next year I will separate from Active duty after 8 years of service.  It has been a fantastic experience.  But I am quite ready for a little more "freedom" and all the headaches that comes with it.  Mostly, I will be growing a beard.

When I get out next December, we will be moving back to Dayton Ohio, where I will finish my degree at Wright-State University in Computer (or possibly Electrical) Engineering.  Formal engineering degrees are notoriously difficult.  The graduation rate for WSU Computer Engineering seems to be about 30%.  This is low, but overall graduation actually seem pretty low, assuming the traditional student enrolls and finishes within 4-6 years, they are around 60%.

To explain why I am doing this, at 30-some years old and with five kids, we need a little history.

I was homeschooled.  I don't regret it.  With one MAJOR exception.  Math.  I meandered through math, and spent more time creating complex cheating mechanisms than actually learning any math.  I hated math.  The closest I got to any kind of interest in math or science was watching Star Trek the Next Generation (strangely, one of the only shows I seemed to be allowed to watch.)

When I graduated High School, I had little interest in attending college.  I was afraid of it.  I was a bit of a pseudo punk (I had pink spiky hair!) and detested the thought that "You have to either get a college degree or join the military to have any kind of 'career'!"   So eight years of working in gas stations and factory assembly lines, and a year or so of community college more to put off the future than get anyway, I joined the Air Force.

To be...Continued.

It is getting... Official.

As you may or may not know, I have an official ship date of January 13th. I went today to sign my contract. I didn't end up signing it yet because they had to redo my entry rank, instead of going in as an E-1, I will be going in as an E-3 due to my college credits.

However I did find out that my field will be Electronics (as my Father before me.) Right now my two top picks are Space Systems Operations, and F-15 Avionics (soon to be F-22/F-35)

That is all.