Darby, Mountains, Mountains,Mountains, Florida, Florida....

Class of:

4-13

5-13

6-13

7-13

What ever it takes he will complete his goal in getting that tab, and in so complete his childhood dream of becoming an Army Ranger (tabbed).

He is strong in mind and body, I continue to be amazed at the person he is. I will thank God everyday for his life and the luck of our two paths meeting. i thought i knew what love was, and then i met Dale.

class starts back up this saturday...he has to endure another 16 grueling days in the field and in the swamps. God willing this will be our very last phase. i have a really good feeling about this one.

Back in the game!!

we are now back at it! re-doing mountains for the third time and you know what they say, the third time is a charm! and! Dale got a 7 out of 7 on his knot test! one proud lady right here!

things i wish i knew when he started RS

When my guy started RS I considered myself to be pretty well prepared, and I was for the most part. I knew he would be gone for a while, I knew the basic address for the first phase and thanks to him I also had 3 books to read about RS, a show to watch, and a support group to join! He gave me the books, told me about the show and the group! But the things he couldn't give me I learned on my own and with the help of the other wives in the Facebook group I am a member of.

What I had to learn about RS:

 The first phase known as the Benning phase or Darby SUCKS! I hate to say it, but DO NOT expect any mail this phase…I couldn't understand why I wasn't getting any letters! I know my guy and I know if he can write he WILL write no questions about that. I was a complete mess, it was ridiculous…in reality he had sent me two letters during this phase and I had sent him…oh about 1 a day for everyday of Benning phase… I would suggest not doing that because I am still receiving returned letters from Darby and he went through Darby in February, it’s June. I suggest sending one letter a week while he is there. My guy only received two things from me while in his first phase, and that was his care package and a bubble mailer of pictures and he didn't even get those until his 8 hour pass after Darby.

Darby is a crappy phase for all of us! But once it’s over it’s over! After Darby is Mountains, and guess what! The mail system works so much better!! When my Ranger went through phase 2 (the first time) I got my two Darby letters and 4 letters from the second phase…unfortunately my guy recycled Mountains and ended up doing phase 2 Three times! The second time through I received 8 letters! Wow! What sucked about him recycling the second time around was The Best Ranger Competition… he had to sit out for like, 5 weeks! I was lucky enough to talk to him every single night (except one night) sometimes 4 times a night, it was amazing. And he also sent me letters!  12 of them and one package. On his third and final trip through Mountains he sent me 4 letters.

Communication in mountains is so much better than any other phase, so enjoy it! Use this phase to send daily letters!  And know that some of the mornings your guy is eating blueberry pancakes and he’s loving it!

One thing to remember is that even if you don’t know his SQD, or PLT the letters will still get to him, just be sure to have the address written correctly and make sure you include his rank and name and it will all be ok.

Phase 3, known as Florida, or Swamps…this is the current phase my Ranger is in. I have received 2 letters from him, one written halfway between phase 2 & 3 and one written on the first day of Florida’s FTX. He told me in that second letter that it would probably be the last one he sent out, I really hope it is because that means I get to see him!! So as far as sending letters this phase, I sent one before he made it to Florida, I’m not sure if he got it or if it is waiting for him for the end of the FTX or not. I also sent a letter a few days ago telling him about  my travel plans, when my plane was landing, when I would be in Columbus, and what hotel I was staying at so he could meet me there if I didn't make it to pick him up for his first pass in time.

another thing to keep in mind:

I know waiting can SUCK! but please DO NOT call staff duty! your guy will call if he recycles. if you do not get a call by the end of the weekend you can rest easy and know that he is most likely in his next phase. 

recycles,ranger competitions and waiting! always waiting!

With a second mountain recycle under our belts all we can do now is hope and pray this is the last one. If he gets another one he will be sent home to come back and try again at a later date. hope and pray when ranger school starts back up this time he makes it all the way through, no more recycles. the number of days we have left are more than the number of days of ranger school all together!!! that would be thanks to the best ranger competition.


my life has been in a bit of an up roar lately....i a currently staying with a friend in NC and there ain't no tan berets on fort bragg.

here is a plus side to the ranger competition and this looooong recycle status. PHONE CALLS!!!! he calls me every night, sometimes 3 times a night! we are trying to plan our wedding over the phone! silly us!

a second chance at Mountains

i got another letter in the mail today! i was so excited! it was dated the 7th and post dated the 9th, today is the 14th, this letter took forever to get to me! lol. i am including a little bit of his letter, he wrote this as he was in recycle land, telling me how it was in mountains FTX


"day 2, it's crazy what happens in the field when it starts raining. no one wants to move, take a knee or lay down if it's cold and rainy. so i've been gone for eh, like a month now my hands are pretty messed up and it's mountains FTX day 2. another ambush day, we were so busy i had no time to write in my book. i did security at the ORP which is our staging area for an ambush. we picked up and went to our next location, it started to get cold then, being cold and dry sucks. now imagine being cold and walking through a small river in 33 degree weather. cadre said we could harden ourselves to an extent, but at some point hypothermia will get you. so we walked through the creek a few times, the cadre decided it was too cold to sleep in a patrol base. at one point i fell in the water and was wet to my knees. we were gonna get tents but we had to go through one more creek to get to the tent. so we get to the tent form up and get in the tent. it was about 15 ft wide 30 ft long and there was 42 of us plus our stuff. i was so numb it took me an hour to change into a whole dry uniform. i can change into uniform in under 15 minutes on a regular day, typically 5-10, but i was messed up."


thinking about him practically killing himself out there in mountains breaks me into a million pieces. i know why he is doing this, and he and i both agree it is better that he does this now and get it over with...it doesn't make it any easier. i am making it a day at a time...he told me he takes it a meal at a time i have over a month until his new 'tentative' graduation . i just have to keep going....just keep going, they say Ranger School isn't for the faint of heart, well that goes for us significant other too.

although the time apart really really sucks i know it is all worth it, it is going to be so amazing when i get to look into his beautiful brown eyes again, when i can see that beautiful smile beaming across his beautiful face. when i can hug him and smell him again and here him tell me he loves me...that is something you don't realize how much you will miss. don't ever take it for granted, not a single second....when i finally get to be in the arms of my Ranger i am never going to let him go, i am going to hold on to every hug, every kiss, every stare. no matter what he wants to do, if he wants to run around in a parking lot some where acting absolutely stupid, i will be there next to him....it doesnt matter. i cant wait! the countdown is on and each day i make it through is one day closer to the love of my life!!!

Silly Lori, bad at math!

so far this week i have managed to make two major math flubs! one, not so serious, unless you count my sanity! was mistakenly thinking i only had 4 more weeks of missing my ranger, ah i was wrong! i have 5! the other mistake....i have a traffic ticket, i thought my court date was the 28th, guess what! i was wrong it was yesterday! i called to confirm the time of the court date and they told me i missed it, i asked if i could reschedule and the lady said (very rudely) "no you have already missed and rescheduled then missed again!" i said "no ma'am i didn't  the only time i have ever missed was yesterday and it was a mistake, i thought my court date was set for the 28th, the court rescheduled my last court date due to a clerical error, i have never missed! what am i supposed to do!? i have never been in trouble and i don't want a warrant because of a traffic ticket!!" the only thing she said was something about "but may....(i have no clue what that was about..) march 4th that's Monday." that was pretty much the end of the convo.....thank God i got it rescheduled, hope the judge doesn't rip me a new one! lol...i was turning pretty hysterical and i think she could tell....after i got off the phone i sat on my bed and cried...these little petty things are the ones that get to me the most, the ones i need my ranger for, to make me laugh about... how he can't have me going to jail :) his 'hardened' criminal...

one of the hardest things about him being in ranger school is not being able to talk to him, he always makes everything ok, and with out him i feel a little bit lost.....like i am just thrown out in this cruel mean world alone...i wish i had the luxury of a mother who cared more, or friends who like me, didn't have much of a life, lol..i work and i sit at home, i guess that is part of being an adult.

i knew getting into a relationship with a man in the army would be hard, i wondered if i was tough enough...i know i would go to any lengths to love this man, so i guess i am strong enough. because here i am. only 38 more days! that is 5 weeks 3 days! yay

Delivered!

YAY! his package is waiting for him at the fort benning post office! i am so excited!