And one more thing... time not deployed can still be short on actual family time, and it can actually be more challenging because it feels like he's home, perhaps after being away from 6 or 9 months, and you just want to soak up time together. But he's on the night train and you work days so you spend a few hours in bed together (sadly, sleeping) and that's the extent of your "togetherness". Then he's finally off the night schedule and you plan a lovely day doing a favorite activity. And he gets called in because he's the assistant maintenance officer and if the guys are turning wrenches on a Saturday, he needs (or wants) to be there with them. So you plan to cook an amazing dinner Tuesday night when he's done flying by 2pm. And someone discovers some issue with something and everyone works until 8 that day. But at least you have that vacation to Bali to look forward to... until leave is canceled because they might have to do a super last minute deployment.
All of these are very, very real things. So if your primary focus is on "time not actually deployed", it can be a very rude awakening when the time at home isn't quite the panacea you both imagined. Just one more thing to consider...
All of these are very, very real things. So if your primary focus is on "time not actually deployed", it can be a very rude awakening when the time at home isn't quite the panacea you both imagined. Just one more thing to consider...