Welcome to training!

Well, our 2 years of countdowns/meltdowns/waiting are finally through, the hubby has passed all his screenings, re-entered active duty, and pilot training has begun!  Matt was given a realistic introduction to the hazards of flight during his first day of briefings, where his footprints and photograph-in-Air-Force-blues were taken for use in the event of a worst case scenario (the former for identification, the latter for a funeral), which was a bit of a jarring wake up call for both of us (me, especially), as he has already deployed three times (including dangerous stints in Iraq and Afghanistan) where these measures were deemed unnecessary.

Now that he has passed his solo flight in Colorado-based Initial Flight Screening--and was able to accurately identify (and land thereafter) an engine malfunction while flying himself--my confidence in his abilities and this adventure has skyrocketed considerably.  Although, I do have to admit, I do not see us jumping up in the air with him any time soon, lol.  After having an ANG family from Matt's class over for dinner this weekend, and learning that Matt's classmate is a licensed pilot in civilian life, with over 300 flying hours under his belt, but that his wife and kid have still not braved the air with him, makes me think I will not be changing my mind anytime soon, lol.

Matt, in the plane he soloed in:

Interestingly, I rarely give a moment's thought to the pilots (civilian/military) who have flown us in the past, pilots who have never met us and are surely not as extra-motivated to safely perform as Matt would be, knowing we were passengers...maybe it is because I know that: a) my tendency to backseat drive might get the better of me and annoy the begeezus out of Matt (even though I would have, admittedly, no clue what I was talking about in-flight); b) in our 8 years of marriage, he has been involved in two pretty severe (yet, thankfully, injury-free) car accidents; or c) it is still hard to imagine him mastering something so amazing and cool.  I still get nerves over my abilities in nursing based on my own opinion of me and the line of thinking involved in option c, so it is probably more that than anything.  We have both worked toward and supported each other in pursuit our own respective dreams for so long that it is hard to imagine we are so close to realizing them.