A dear friend of mine from AIT is allowing me to share the following story and photos regarding her husband, a true hero and amazing Soldier. Chloe enlisted in 2007 as an Intelligence Analyst and was stationed with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg. She has since left the Army but continues to amaze me with all that she accomplishes. Her husband, Dustin, is a Special Forces medic with 3rd Group and recently returned from his latest tour in Afghanistan. Thank you,

• Post Comment

Fellow Soldiers and Readers, This LT has a question. My S1 is a lost cause and does not even know when drill is for next month so I turn to y'all. Hypothetically speaking, say a civilian spouse of a Reserve Officer were offered a position to work outside the US of A, what will happen to said Officer of the civilian spouse? Say said Officer had less than two years left in his/her contract? IRR? Army pays to fly said Officer back to the States every

• 2 Comments

It's been a challenging, frustrating year so far in the Army (and in the civlian world too where I'm quite certain flourescent lights are sucking away at my soul). I channel this frustration into running, which is why I run so darn fast. And this is how I convinced a mean COL to let a lowly female LT be the alternate on the Division's Army 10 Miler team. Like a boss. PT Patch glory.

• Post Comment

Do you ever have one those days, weeks, months where you just want to throw things and say "I'm done!" That would be the theme of 2012 for me so far. Unfortunately, I can't throw things because a fire ant bite led to an allergic reaction which further led to a hand so swollen I can't use it. Just. Can't. Win. In Army news...I had another APFT at drill. Yes, another. That would be my third in four months because someone in the

• 1 Comment

Nobody else has that song in their head? No? Just me? Here's my Bottom Line Up Front, my BLUF: Stop the hate. Just stop. Here's a sampling of all the hatin' from one of my "friends" on Facebook: I'm being 100% serious. A Soldier posted these. Like it was nothing. There were more but I think you get the point with just these two. In fact, this was recent a status update: "Standing in line at the

• Post Comment

This past Monday I was supposed to be speaking at SXSW in Austin about this lovely blog. Instead, I was curled up in the fetal position on my closet floor wishing there was some magic pill to make me feel better. Also, I spent quality time with my two Beagles who refused to leave my side. A sick mommy means extra cuddles in their eyes. Feast upon the cuteness that is Lily and Oliver: Exciting stuff. That is all.

• Post Comment

I've received several Facebook messages, emails, and blog comments from readers (shout out to Jess Overson in particular!) that ask how did I become an officer. Here's how: I asked. When I was about 4 months away from graduating from college, I would ask anyone in my command who I could speak to about a direct commission. Naturally, no one had a clue. I ended up finding the Ascensions NCO through a random email and he was it! If you are looking to stay

• 9 Comments

This past weekend, the Hubs and I ran in the Texas Half in Dallas. Y'all, it was so incredibly fun! Sure, the wind was out of the north at 20 mph and it was frigid but I really and truly enjoyed every minute. My goal was to not stop and rest at all and I did it! Around mile 8, I looked around and thought, "I totally get why this is so addictive. It's fun!" Sure, that last mile into the wind uphill hurt like hell but crossing the finish

• 5 Comments

These past few weeks, I've received emails and a blog comment asking about what is my work out routine and how do I accomplish scoring high on the APFT. Thanks to C Riggs (shout out, girl!), I wanted to dedicate an entire post to this topic. I hear it all the time that guys complain that the female standards on the APFT are too weak. I kind of want to call BS. The female body is made completely different! I have an extra layer of fat, breasts, and hips (well, I

• 1 Comment

This article sums up my life: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/to_find_happiness_forget_about.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#.Txlb9xzLOtY.facebook I was talking to my dearest mother last weekend and told her how I applied to Teach For America. "Funny you say that, Kayley Rae," she said, "your dad and I were just talking about how you don't seem very happy and content. That you're happiest in an academic setting." Spot on.

• 2 Comments