Well we (my family and I) have been discussing going to Bahrain pretty much for the last year or so. That was until quite recently, we started to reconsider. Reason: I think that I am nearing my end…ready to call this life on the run quits after this assignment. And so instead of taking the family overseas for 2 years and then making the leap then, we agreed it would be best to have them settle back down in Florida now, I do a one year stint and then come back. We will have lots of time to do the world travel thingy afterwards…hopefully. Now don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy what I do, but the realities of the profession and the emotional needs of my family are proving quite the challenge.

Now, there still remains a possibility that I might hang in a bit longer, but that will depend on the selection board next year. If selected, I think…I would probably opt for the war college followed by 6th Fleet in Italy…(not sure if I want to be a ship’s IO)…that would require a bit of brain time.

At any rate I spoke to my detailer and switch back from 2 years with my family to 1 year by myself this week and he gave the ok. I think that’s the best move for my family because financial, we can put some other things in play before I jump ship; furthermore wife’s mother is not doing too well and I would hate to have her fretting about her from so far away.

I am pretty familiar with the area and since I am a bit more senior I am hoping that I will get a few more perks than the last time.

In a few months when I am re-reading this from there, I might think then it was a bit naive to redo this again, but for now, I am pretty optimistic. I don’t have the heavy stiffling cloud of career doom hanging over my head anymore and my family is relatively set. I have a few more promises that I have to carry out and then I will be complete. More about that later.

Links to line up expenses:
- DOD Rate Lookups – Find official rates for oversea living, BAH, etc…
- Florida Zip Code Lookup
- Lifelines – Awesome resource for information specific to Navy.

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