So much has happened....

...since Easter weekend!

Charlie has since graduated from OCS (Officer Candidate School) and left today, from Tampa where he spent a 2-week recruiting hiatus, to report to Ft. Knox, KY. He will only be there for a short time (maybe 3 months) and will bounce back to Ft. Benning until he goes to his permanant duty station in Fort Bliss, TX. (That is near El Paso in West Texas, sheesh!!)

I will add photos from the graduation tomorrow, but in the meantime here is a link to his announcement that was run in the Gulf Breeze News today http://www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2009/0528/community/017.html
and there will be another in the Pensacola News Journal tomorrow.

Hope this finds you all doing well! Keep checking back for updates!

CC&J

Easter!

So, it's been entirely too long since I updated this blog thing!
Charlie has officially been "branched" and has been assigned to Armor. (He will be driving tanks) While this was not his first choice (Intelligence), he does seem happy with his decision. I wish I could say the same for the rest of us, but in every effort to be supportive and encouraging, I am happy that he has a job he is proud of...finally!

I couldn't be more thrilled about Easter, as Jackson and I will be making the 5 hour journey North west of Tampa to Columbus, GA for the weekend! Jackson can not stop talking about, nor wait, to see his daddy! It brings my heart so much joy to see those two monkeys interact!

I am sure there will be numberous photos taken to capture the memories, and of course, I will post them when we return. As always, I hope this finds everyone doing well!

Until next week....

CC&J

Approaching the "mid-way" point...

Charlie has been in OCS for over 4 weeks now....He is finally adjusting to life on Fort Benning. They cycle all the candidates and allow them each to be responsible for certain duties throughout the week. Last week Charlie was Squad Leader and had to be responsible for all the men in his squad. They have participated in 7 mile marches (yes, they really march, knees up and everything. I asked.) fully equipped with all their gear; water survival test; book reports, essays and tests on their knowledge from class time; and much more. He seems to be in better spirits, but always sounds so tired when we talk. Jackson and I are planning to visit for Easter this year as he gets a long weekend. It will be nice as we haven't seen him since we left him for the wolves back in February.
Jackson is definitely missing his daddy being around, and perhaps even getting tired of mommy all the time! ha! We are learning how to live with each other (just me and him) again. Only this time he is 4-1/2 going on 25 and not my sweet little infant who can't talk back! ha! We have so much fun together, but this has definitely been a learning experience for us both!
Just wanted to send a little update. Life is good and as normal as it can be in my world! Hope all is right in yours!

CC&J

O.C. Jones

Charlie's training started this week. He sounds worn out again. They did their water survival test yesterday and he received 50/50 possible points. To complete the test, you had to put on all your gear, jump from the high diving board into the pool, and take off all of your gear before reaching the surface (actually, you had to remove your gear or else you would sink). Another portion of the test was to then swim the length of the pool (I am uncertain what that distance is) with their weapons above their heads and out of the water. Charlie said is was exhausting, but he made it! They have also completed a few obstacle courses and some early morning 5 mile runs. Talk about whipping them into shape!

Because all of the candidate's are competing at about the same level of training, this is a whole new ball game. More competitive, a little tougher and absolutely more is expected out of them all.  Last night when we spoke, he was finishing writing his 1st essay. His composition was about choosing the Hard Truth over the Easy Wrong as it pertains to the Army, and more specifically, Officer Training. He will also be expected to write a book report, more essays and some written tests as his training progresses (on top of all the physical training exams). 

He definitely misses his family and friends so much! Right now he is tentatively scheduled to graduate and be commissioned the week of May 14th. At that point, he will probably be about half way through all of his training. I keep telling him to accept any offer for more specialized training so that he wont be deployed! Selfish, I know, but I am so anxious and scared of that day getting here. Maybe by the time his training is complete our new President might have successfully brought all of our troops home and the war will be over. Wishful thinking on my part? More than likely, but I am always searching for that silver lining. 

On a side note: Jackson starts Tee ball in a few weeks. We went to pick out his cleats and gear last night so we are all set! Of course this is another piece of the puzzle Charlie doesn't like to think about missing, but as life goes, we sometimes have to make choices that keep us from home for an extended period of time. Thus, we miss out on some of the fun stuff.....but I keep telling Charlie at least he will be able to see Jackson on TV one day when he makes it to the Majors! haha!! You just never know.......

Hope this finds you all doing well....until next time....everyone be safe and take care of yourselves.

CC&J

BCT Complete!

Charlie has completed Basic Combat Training and has officially been promoted to Sgt. Charles W. Jones. We dropped him off at Fort Benning, GA for O.C.S. (Officer Candidate School) which will not officially begin until Feb 23, 2009.

Kelley (his mother), myself and Jackson had the most enjoyable time on our road trip! I would say we deserve an award for being the champion road warriors!

Charlie was honored at the graduation ceremony for being the Soldier Leader of the cycle. The highest honor a soldier in BCT can recieve. This means he displayed all the qualities and characteristics of a leader and also scored highly on all PT tests and knowledge of the Army insignia, Creed, core values, etc... After the ceremony, the family of the honored soldiers were invited to a private tent where General Dempsey (four star), Brigadier General May, and Command Sergeant Major Stall addressed the soldiers and family members. At this time, Charlie was "coined" by each and had the opportunity to share a little bit about what he plans to do as an Officer of the U.S. Army.

The entire day was fabulous for us all. We were able to spend a great deal of time with Charlie which was a plus!

I am so proud of his success so far, and I just know he will continue to shine throughout his training. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers, and continue to check back on the blog as I will continue to post updates.

Hope this finds everyone well!

Unitl next time.....

CC&J

Graduation

Not much has changed since the last post....I have only heard from Charlie 1 time since he returned to basic and that was via snail mail. Their phone privileges are a little more restricted now in the last few weeks.
In the letter he said that they would be tested on their marksmanship this week so he was looking forward to that and feeling pretty confident (charlie? confident? I know its hard to imagine! ha!)
He graduates from basic training on February 6, 2009 and almost immediately will be shipped off to Fort Benning for OCS.
Jackson and I are looking forward to making the trip....we are so proud of him! (Kelley, we need to discuss your plans!!!)
He is very homesick and can only receive mail up until two weeks prior to graduation, so if you are planning on writing, you will need to mail it in the next two weeks or he may never get it! Hope this finds you all well....we are doing good, just missing Charlie! Until the next update, you all take care!

CC&J

The "Civillian" Life

Well, Charlie made it back.....Jackson would not (and has not) let go of him since he came through the gate at the airport.

I didn't think I would be quite as emotional as I was, and granted, if anyone could have seen jackson standing in anticipation...watching as each group pf people unloaded the tram, hoping the next person was daddy, you would have all been crying like babies too!! He made Charlie a sign...too cute. The two of them have this "thing" they do together and Charlie always asks Jackson, "Who's the man?" To which, of course, Jackson's response is "you and me dad." So that was included in the script....

We will be headed to ole' Pensacola on Dec. 26th and not sure yet when we will return to Tampa. Charlie has to be here to catch his flight on the 2nd, but we may come backdown the 30th. Yet to be determined.
This will most likely be the last post until after the holiday, so again, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I will have more pictures by then!

OH YEAH....GO GATORS!!!! =)