TACAMO E-6 Lifestyle?

[e6bflyer]

Surely, I am just misinterpreting some of the responses as having sexist undertones.

First, yes I am an SNA spouse.
Nonetheless, I am intimately familiar with the the support needed and challenges faced by an active duty service member as I have been one myself. I am not some fly-on-the-wall, stay-at-home wife, however, my husband is a grown man and makes his own decisions.

He has already been selected for TACAMO so I am not here searching for information to "change his mind". Conversely, I am looking for some insight for both of us as we have not had any prior contact with this community and would like some information on what to expect.

I don't need any comments or advice on how to be a supportive spouse. I am just looking for a small glimpse into the community my husband is about to enter so I can best prepare my family.

Thanks!

Mee-ow!

I think we all got off on the wrong foot here. I will try to provide some more info:

From my spouse's perspective: TACAMO is awesome. It has provided us with a lot of stability for our family to have a life.
I have never missed a childbirth, major illness, funeral, or any other major event while in TACAMO. Leave can almost always be scheduled given enough advance notice and without abusing it.
Your hubs will be gone a lot, but he will be home often too.
You can afford a palace in OKC for what you would pay for a shack in San Diego. The reasons are obvious, but OKC has a lot to offer too. If you have a fairly portable career, there is a lot of opportunity to work here too, especially in energy and military related jobs.
As far as being a "military spouse", you can go that route or not. My wife doesn't do the knives club, and I have never nudged her in that direction. She has a full life and set of friends that have nothing to do with the Navy along with plenty of squadron friends as well. Being in a fairly big city where the military isn't the only show in town allows her to do that.
If you have kids, there are excellent schools in the burbs.
In short, most people really like it here. It is mostly going to depend on your attitude and ability to see through all the shitty parts of living here (the barren landscape, no beach, the weather) and see all the really great things about this city and the TACAMO community. We were ready to leave after my JO tour, but we are both glad to be back.

 

[zippy]

Surely, I am just misinterpreting some of the responses as having sexist undertones.
First, yes I am an SNA spouse.
Nonetheless, I am intimately familiar with the the support needed and challenges faced by an active duty service member as I have been one myself. I am not some fly-on-the-wall, stay-at-home wife, however, my husband is a grown man and makes his own decisions.
He has already been selected for TACAMO so I am not here searching for information to "change his mind". Conversely, I am looking for some insight for both of us as we have not had any prior contact with this community and would like some information on what to expect.
I don't need any comments or advice on how to be a supportive spouse. I am just looking for a small glimpse into the community my husband is about to enter so I can best prepare my family.
Thanks!

Once again, it would have helped to have some sort of profile information, or background to what was fueling your inquiry, off the start would have helped us answer your questions. As for your idea that there sexist undertones, if referring to my, post- you are indeed extremely mistaken. You seem to be the only one here degrading the role of traditional stay at home spouses.

There are a lot of misconceptions about maritime community lifestyle so I've given the same talk to my male and female students regardless of their relationship status. I've seen too many people choices based on their relationship with their significant other or their perception of stability for a family life. I've also seen many spouses who didn't grasp the concept that their husbands/wives served in a military at war, even though their nation wasn't, and had problems coping with the idea that they were working 3-4 weekends a month for the last 6 months when they're about to leave on a 6 month deployment. Sometimes, as much as it comes off as harsh, students and spouses need to be reminded that the service member is there to serve and the military doesn't revolve around family life as much as we all wish that was the case. Better to get exposed to the idea early.

 

[BusyBee604]

Damn...this is a much better place to use this.

WOW, "What we've got here... is a failure to COMMUNICATE"!

*"Cool Hand Luke" - The Captain, 1967
BzB

 

[Kaitydid]

Once again, it would have helped to have some sort of profile information, or background to what was fueling your inquiry, off the start would have helped us answer your questions. As for your idea that there sexist undertones, if referring to my, post- you are indeed extremely mistaken. You seem to be the only one here degrading the role of traditional stay at home spouses.

There are a lot of misconceptions about maritime community lifestyle so I've given the same talk to my male and female students regardless of their relationship status. I've seen too many people choices based on their relationship with their significant other or their perception of stability for a family life. I've also seen many spouses who didn't grasp the concept that their husbands/wives served in a military at war, even though their nation wasn't, and had problems coping with the idea that they were working 3-4 weekends a month for the last 6 months when they're about to leave on a 6 month deployment. Sometimes, as much as it comes off as harsh, students and spouses need to be reminded that the service member is there to serve and the military doesn't revolve around family life as much as we all wish that was the case. Better to get exposed to the idea early.

I can appreciate that. I have heard a lot about the maritime community from others and wanted more first-hand information so I wasn't blind-sided. We've been through work-ups and deployments before and I know there is a lot of sacrifice on both the AD member and family's part. I was mainly just curious as to how the maritime community works.
I plan to make the best of whatever situations I am handed... I just like to have a little knowledge going in

 

[Kaitydid]

Mee-ow!

I think we all got off on the wrong foot here. I will try to provide some more info:

From my spouse's perspective: TACAMO is awesome. It has provided us with a lot of stability for our family to have a life.
I have never missed a childbirth, major illness, funeral, or any other major event while in TACAMO. Leave can almost always be scheduled given enough advance notice and without abusing it.
Your hubs will be gone a lot, but he will be home often too.
You can afford a palace in OKC for what you would pay for a shack in San Diego. The reasons are obvious, but OKC has a lot to offer too. If you have a fairly portable career, there is a lot of opportunity to work here too, especially in energy and military related jobs.
As far as being a "military spouse", you can go that route or not. My wife doesn't do the knives club, and I have never nudged her in that direction. She has a full life and set of friends that have nothing to do with the Navy along with plenty of squadron friends as well. Being in a fairly big city where the military isn't the only show in town allows her to do that.
If you have kids, there are excellent schools in the burbs.
In short, most people really like it here. It is mostly going to depend on your attitude and ability to see through all the shitty parts of living here (the barren landscape, no beach, the weather) and see all the really great things about this city and the TACAMO community. We were ready to leave after my JO tour, but we are both glad to be back.

Great to know!

 

[Kaitydid]

Yeah, um... What?

I have no idea how you came to that conclusion based on anything written in this thread. Personally, based on what you wrote at the beginning of the thread I thought I was talking to a SNA.

No one is trying to tell you how to run your family. We are trying to give you a glimpse into our lives, and our experiences in a community that will dictate every facet of your lives once you report here. You could have just said thanks. That would have been plenty.

My response was not to you. I appreciate the info you provided!

 

[Pugs]

Surely, I am just misinterpreting some of the responses as having

I think this shows why filling out your profile would help people understand the context of your question.

Lot of good info here and interesting for someone who's never had any interaction with the community.

 

[Kaitydid]

I think this shows why filling out your profile would help people understand the context of your question.

Lot of good info here and interesting for someone who's never had any interaction with the community.

Thanks, but I am not sure stating that I am an SNA spouse on my profile would have stopped people from making comments regarding not having my husband select based on my perceptions of a certain platform's lifestyle.

 

[scoolbubba]

Thanks, but I am not sure stating that I am an SNA spouse on my profile would have stopped people from making comments regarding not having my husband select based on my perceptions of a certain platform's lifestyle.

That's not sexist. It's the truth, good advice, and it happens more often than you know.

 

[Renegade One]

(1) I am just misinterpreting some of the responses as having sexist undertones.

(2) I am not some fly-on-the-wall, stay-at-home wife...

Two things, with respect:

WRT (1): Please be wary of pulling the "sexism trigger" every time folks don't truly understand your situation (because your profile page is still a blank…), and therefore ask some harder questions…or try to respond meaningfully.

WRT (2): Now who's being sexist…or at least "stereotypical"? Now I find myself wondering, since I interpret your comment to mean that you are a "strong, career-minded working spouse", if you will regard the "stay-at-homes" within your unit as simply "dependapotamus" types. Probably not, but you see where I'm going?

Things that you COULD post on your profile page, if you ever wanted to help the folks trying to help you:

"SNA Spouse…and we're headed to the wonderful world of the TACAMO community…and looking forward to it! My spouse and I are "fleet experienced" (more info…when/where/in what capacity if it's relevant). We've been through work-ups and deployments before and I know there is a lot of sacrifice on both the AD member and family's part. Just interested in learning more about "our next community"!

THAT would have made all the difference…IMHO.

Peace.

 

[picklesuit]

Kaity,
We are Aviators, thus dicks by nature. Some more than others, this doesn't surprise you, I am sure. What the well meaning people meant to say was "Welcome to the O side, TACAMO is busier than it sounds, the knives club never changes (regardless of designator/pay grade,) Oklahoma is another flyover state with farmers, Indians, white trash, and military. Lots of Air Force bleed over at Tinker, being a Chair Farce base and all, but overall a great place to live. My roommate from OCS has been there since 2007, they like it.
If you want another another E-to-O spouse to talk to about it, PM MrsPickle.
Pickle

 

[Kaitydid]

Kaity,
We are Aviators, thus dicks by nature. Some more than others, this doesn't surprise you, I am sure. What the well meaning people meant to say was "Welcome to the O side, TACAMO is busier than it sounds, the knives club never changes (regardless of designator/pay grade,) Oklahoma is another flyover state with farmers, Indians, white trash, and military. Lots of Air Force bleed over at Tinker, being a Chair Farce base and all, but overall a great place to live. My roommate from OCS has been there since 2007, they like it.
If you want another another E-to-O spouse to talk to about it, PM MrsPickle.
Pickle

Pickle, thanks! I appreciate it. I will definitely PM MrsPickle
Thanks again!

 

[EM1toNFO]

Well basically I ride around in this white tube that as far as I know we work in an office building. I have a small day/night indicator that I sometimes get to use.

I keed, I keed, it's been pretty easy thus far, but I am only on my 3rd trip. However, I am deployed currently and a, sitting in a nice "hotel" room with Internet, tv, and a swimming pool. I just got off the phone with my wife and FaceTime with my son. Things could be sooooo much worse.

 

[FlyBoyd]

Things could be sooooo much worse.

That is about what I used to tell my students about my E-6 tour. You may not get to do some really cool stuff but the balance of that is you don't have to do most of the really shitty stuff either.

"The highs aren't as high but the lows aren't as low."

Kinda like when people wondered how I stayed VT and in Corpus for so long. It isn't a boat or a desert and I get (got) to take off, fly for 2-4 hours and RTB. Rarely did anyone question what I did <-- the polar opposite of TACAMO or just about anywhere else.

 

[Aviation Jones]

Thanks for this. I feel like a lot of guys in my shoes don't even know about TACAMO. Most are tailhook or bust mentality. I think "The highs aren't as high, but the lows aren't as low" quote is something to consider when looking 5+ years down the road. This thread changed my mind on how I previously viewed the TACAMO mission.