Kevin Selected...

OSPREY'S! 

In the aviation community once you have completed "Primary Flight Training" they have a selection ceremony for the aircraft which the command has chosen for you. As I'm sure many of you know, Kevin was ALL about flying jets. It was all or nothing. In fact, I remember him saying years ago when he first got his flight contract at Norwich: "If I don't select jets I'm going to be a miserable man." Back then he put all of his eggs in one basket, and that basket was called a jet. 

Jets this...jets that...jets, jets, jets. Thats literally all the man talked about for years. 

But something interesting happened over the last few weeks. He began realizing that maybe selecting jets isn't what he wanted. That nearly knocked me off my feet. The most important thing to Kevin was to be among Marines again. He's been away from the fleet for almost 7 years being a recruiter, a student at Norwich, and then a student here in flight school. He knew that being a jet pilot would yet again make him solitary and alone; separate from his men. The changes that he's gone through in the past 2 weeks were astonishing...and frankly hard to keep my emotions in-line with his. I didn't know if he was simply trying to ease my anxiety, or if he truly meant it. For nearly the whole duration of flight school he was all about jets, but suddenly the Osprey started looking good. 

On Thursday when Kevin was officially assigned "tilt-rotor" (the Osprey), I honestly didn't know if I should clap or give him a consolatory look. He was standing at the front of the room with all of the flight students waiting for their selections, and I was at the back with the other spouses. He glanced over his shoulder at me; I looked him in the eyes and gave him a half smile...I was unsure as to what emotions he was feeling and I didn't want to reflect the opposite. After years of wishing to be placed in a jet, in a moment his whole career was decided for him. 

I silently mouthed to him: "Are you okay?" to which he said with a big smile, "Yeah, I am." 

When we got home we talked for over an hour about how he was feeling and what this means for us. The longer he talked, more excitement was building in his voice. Not only will Osprey's give him the opportunity to do more once he is retired, but it will give him the community feeling he's been missing for so long; not to mention it will give us more stability because once you're assigned an Osprey there is no more competition. An Osprey is an Osprey. With jets, there are several stages that the students have to go through, and in the end they still have to compete to get the final jet of their choice. Its high pressure, high competition, and high stress. Not that Kevin wasn't up for the task, but knowing that he doesn't have to go through that anymore is very relaxing...for the both of us! 

• So in the end, although sometimes you don't always get what you originally want...sometimes its a huge blessing in disguise that allows you to reflect on what you DO want. 

• Sometimes you realize in the last stretch of the game, that what you've been desiring for so long may not be what you truly want in your heart...

• Sometimes having one door closed, means many more exciting opportunities exist in the door ahead of you. 

Kevin is stoked that he's going to be flying an Osprey and if he's happy, then I'm happy! 

Osprey's have the ability to take off vertically like a helicopter, but tilt the rotors horizontally to fly like an airplane (that's why it is called "tilt-rotor").

One of the main things Osprey's do is transport Marines...

Kevin starts his training at the end July

12 weeks in Florida

6 months in Corpus Christi, Texas

6 months (?) in New River, North Carolina