Any GC Military girlfriends here?
 

Back when I first started posting on GC, I was a military GF.

One thing I hated the most was the fact that GFs weren't given as much info as the wives got...we were second rate because we were "just girlfriends". Luckily I made friends with another wife who kept me informed with developments whenever the guys weren't allowed to get in touch with us. Do you know of any other wives/girlfriends in your BF's unit? It was a nice support unit whenever he was gone.

And KR knows all about this -- temporary happiness, aka spa days, manicures and pedicures, Kate Spade, a new haircut? Anything to make you feel better! ;)

Will your BF be able to send and receive email when he's gone? Instant messenger? If so, you're going to be a maniac checking that inbox regularly and online at weird hours depending on what time it is where he's at.


PM me anytime you like if you want to chat!

Yeah I know a couple of the other gf's and that helps alot. Most of the guys in the unit are younger (21 to like 25-ish), so most of us are "just girlfriends". I try to stay informed and the other girls are pretty helpful in that area.

A couple of my friends and sisters have guys who are currently or have been deployed. We've talked alot about what to expect, how it feels, and the different things that you go through.

Yes, he will have e-mail and phone access once he gets to his base. Once he gets to Iraq he'll have e-mail and limited phone access. So that's comforting. :)

Must be nice to know he'll have email and phone access. My ex bobbed around the Pacific Ocean for months at a time and while we had email, it was a general email for the whole ship and someone had to print out the actual emails and give them to the guys. Keep in mind that this was almost 5 years ago. They hadn't quite figured out how to give each guy his own email. Oh well.

But man...whenever I got word that the ship pulled into port my phone was with me at all times because I knew I was gonna get a phone call soon.

He got to go all over the world, so the presents I got when he came back were always appreciated!

Ah yes, nothing quite like the restorative powers of a Kate Spade bag!

kddani, if you're reading this, that Kate that I gave you was originally a "shopping therapy" present I gave myself when Mr. KR was in Dubai for 6 months :)

Jocelyn, I PM'd you!

I am married to a military officer who goes TDY constantly. I dated him while he was at USMA and I was at my own school in PA back in the days before email. Letters, letters, letters....there is something about the written word vs the electronic message. Even though we've been married for a century or so, I still like to read the old letters when he's deployed. It may be a generational thing.

In terms of Family Support Groups, where we've been stationed, they are only for the military spouses. Since there is no relation through marriage, the military can't give out info to non-related people.

I am active duty and date another officer. He just got back from a deployment and will go again this summer. If you need any advice about it PM me anytime. Its a crazy time but it can make the relationship stronger.

It was the same thing (sorta) for the Canadian Armed Forces as well - spouses only... with long-standing SO's in the picture only through friends who were spouses...

However, I do know that for us there was an "emergency contact" space that you could fill-in, as well as a space to fill in a name for someone who would attend briefs held by the unit staff back-home... now it was a direct link to the support network, but it included the girlfriends and boyfriends pretty fast once the spouses got to know them at the unit weekly briefs. Perhaps the US has something similar that could at least kinda put people into the "official loop?

If not one bit of advice: the padres are always another easy route for info, especially if they get an okay from the guy/girl... most understand that no news is more nerve racking than bad news.

my fiance is out on 6 weeks right now. I'll get to see him for 2 weeks during April. He leaves for his 6 MONTH deployment right smack dab in the middle of Finals. Luckily, i've already made arrangements with my professors to reschedule some of my exams so that I can go to Virginia and cry on the pier as they pull away...

This is the first time I'll be doing deployment from "this side." So far, just the buildup to it is harder than it ever was for me to go on deployment myself.