Farewell to Tango Battery

I guess it is time for me to say goodbye to 5th Battalion 11th Marines and especially to Tango Battery since Nick is officially no longer part of 5/11.

When I met and married Nick, he was on the drill field.

He was bounced around in 2nd Battalion from Fox Co., Golf Co., then finally with Hotel Co.

I was on recruiting duty working 12-18 hours a day and Nick was working 12-24 hours a day (yes 24 hours...he didn't come home a lot when he was in the middle of a cycle)...AND I became a new mom.  I was soooooo busy, I hardly had time to really get to know anyone he worked with or his job.

When Nick returned to the fleet, he received orders back to Camp Pendleton with 5/11.

It was not the choice he wanted.

Mainly because 5/11 is one of the few artillery units that don't shoot "arty".

They shoot HIMARS.

Something that Nick was not familiar with nor wanted to be familiar with.

If he would have had it his way, he would have gone back to 2/11 Golf Battery where he started as a Marine (something I praise God everyday that he didn't end up with 2/11).

Like the good Marine that he is, he took his orders and was determined to learn as much as he could about HIMARS despite his "disgruntledness".

I was still on recruiting duty, so I continued to work ridiculous and stupid hours while Nick was getting familiarized again with the fleet (he'd been away from it for 3 years). 

He was the Platoon Sergeant for 2nd Platoon.

Then he deployed.

And I was alone for the first time since we had been married with a 6 month old.

It didn't even dawn on me to make friends with any of the other wives before he left.

I had always been the type of Marine that did not want to get involved with Marine wives.

It was ignorant of me, but in the back of mind, I always thought that I was WAY too different than them and there was no way I could get along (let alone be FRIENDS) with any Marine wife.

I was too busy working, being a wife, and running a household to even really care about friends.

When he left, I was alone.

I had Marines that I worked with that were AWESOME, and they took GREAT care of me.

In the end though, none of them really knew what it felt like to be a wife to a deployed Marine and a mother.

It's something that male Marines will never quite understand.

I struggled the entire deployment...

trying to do EVERYTHING by myself and beating myself up when I didn't accomplish something I wanted to.

While deployed, Nick became extremely close to his Platoon Commander, Capt Boera (1stLt then).

He emailed me one day and suggested that I friend his wife, Sarah, on facebook.

My first time meeting Sarah was right before the boys came home.

We went to lunch and she introduced me to THREE other Tango Battery wives.

Becca, Lindsay and Victoria.

These women became the first friends I have ever made since being a Marine that were Marine wives...and not Marines.

They were the first group of Marine wives I had ever met that were just genuine women who did not make their identities as a "Marine Wife" (my biggest pet peeve).

They were their own women who did not allow their husband's title as a Marine become their reason for existence.

They treated me like one of the girls, a wife, and a mother.

For once, I didn't have to be a "Marine".

In fact, Sarah and Ben became Dannika's Godparents.

And since meeting these amazing women, I became friends with and met several other incredibly sweet 5/11 wives (with a little help from facebook).

Some whom I plan to spend more time with in the next year or so when Nick is gone.

So 5/11...

Thank you for the awesome 3 years.

Thank you for introducing me to some amazing women.

Thank you for making me feel like a "wife" and not a "Marine".

Pics from my all time favorite 5/11 Ball!