So I think it's about time I posted here!

Since this is the Geib family blog I think I'm overdue for a post. Obviously if you've been reading from the beginning you've been very well updated from what Crystal has posted so far. I can always use the excuse of having to work or study... right?

So much has happened in the last couple of months, it's crazy. The biggest thing is obviously finding out that I'm going to be a father in seven months (from now). I'm sure you could tell from Crystal's post, but in case you missed it, we're both elated to know that we'll be parents soon! The upcoming birth of our child is definitely the most important update you could possibly get from us, but since Crystal has covered all of the news related to that I'll update you on some of the other things that have been going on.


SERE... Survival, Evasion, and FIRE!
Mom calls it "survival school," but SERE stands for Survival, Evasion, Rescue, and Escape. I was recently a student at SERE because the Navy sends all aircrew (pilots are included in "aircrew")members through the school. Lots of the information covered is classified, but I can give you a generalized summary of what I learned while I was there. The first and most important thing I learned is that going to SERE in California during wildfire season can really suck! (The Navy operates SERE at a location in Maine as well, but when was the last time Maine caught on fire?)

The first week of the two week course is all academic. Students learn about the core subjects of SERE in a mostly "death by powerpoint" style presentation. After the first week we take a bus out to a remote training site for field exercises. I won't get into what all I did while I was there, but I will say that I'm not looking forward to going back. I did a lot of land navigation (which was actually fun, especially looking back on my experiences as a Boy Scout), some "evading," and a whole lot of "roughing it." When I say we were roughing it, I mean ROUGH. At least compared to the modern day conveniences I'm used to having when I go camping or hunting. You learn how to make the most of what you have with you when you're at SERE, but you also gain a respectful appreciation for all of the little things you took for granted before you got to SERE. For example, when I used to hunt all of the time in college I always ate well, had a shower, and had clean clothes to change into. Weekends at the deer lease were about as "roughing it" as I got... I saw no reason to do otherwise. SERE is a lot different. Besides the fact that you don't really get any food, you also don't have much of an ability to take care of yourself (in a personal hygiene sort of way). I did brush my teeth with my finger and some ashes (a trick I learned at Philmont), but besides that the only thing I could do to keep myself moderately un-miserable was to wear one pair of socks during the day and sleep in my spare pair. Other than that I wore the same clothes for 4 days. I would have worn them longer, but as you're surely aware, southern California caught fire recently. The fires threatened to cut off our evacuation routes both to the north and south of the SERE remote training area. The powers that be decided to have us leave early while we still could. It was a good thing, too! If you saw any TV coverage of the fires you're aware of how bad they were. Anyway, here's a link to SERE.

Guam
Everyone knows that we're heading out to Guam soon. Yesterday I found out that by "soon" I really mean January. That's right, JANUARY! This is wonderful news because it means that short of a major catastrophe I'll be able to go home for Christmas! It's not 100% official, and we definitely don't have the details worked out, but I'm a lot more optimistic about making it to Texas for the holidays than I was as recently as last week.

I'm set to deploy in a matter of days after arriving on the island. I'll be counting on my sponsor and other squadron mates to take care of Crystal and get her settled in since I will be headed out of the area before our belongings make it to us. Hopefully we can get our priority shipment sent early so that some of our stuff will be there waiting when we arrive, but that's going to be things we can afford to do without in San Diego. So, basically, we're going to do without some essentials in one location or the other.

I'm kind of bummed that I don't get to unpack and settle in before I ship out (literally), but that's out of my hands. I'm confident that my squadron will do a lot to make Crystal feel like part of the family even though I won't be there. Hopefully I'll make it back in time to see my child's birth!

That's it for major updates from me, but I'm sure I'll post more in the future. Hopefully internet access won't be too bad in the future and I'll be able to update while I'm deployed.