I was asked what it exactly means to be an EOD Wife. EOD, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, is unique in and of itself. They are a group of mostly men (but there are some women in the field) who, as best I can describe them, are a bunch of cowboys bent on fame. LOL..I'M KIDDING CHRIS! Just wanted to get you going! Love you! ha ha. OK...on a more serious note...and correct me if any of this is wrong, Chris. And Becca, if you read this, by all means give us your perspective, too.
EOD spans all four major services (AF, Army, Marine, Navy). They all go to the same school, training together. They deploy in teams always. Their job by nature is quite dangerous. Their motto: Initial Success or Total Failure, if you think about it, is so very true. If they don't dispose of the munition correctly the first time, there usually isn't a second chance at it. Of course, they are very heavily relied upon in Iraq and Afghanistan, but if they aren't deployed 6-10 months out of a year, they are TDY (temporary duty -- business trip in the corporate world) quite a bit elsewhere. They are always training. They work closely with federal agencies doing bomb sweeps. It's a line of work that isn't for the faint of heart. Most of them are Type As who, because they need to always be right, tend to forget they don't always know everything. (sorry hon...) They work hard. They play hard. They face death every time they encounter their work. I think you have to be a tad on the crazy side to do that, but that's just me. I do love my crazy man, though.
Now, the wives. Well, I think you will find a whole lot of different perspectives on this actually, based on age, number of deployments, coping abilities. Like I said, even when they are home (not deployed), they are putting in long hours, TDY for this or that...heaven help us during election time! An EOD wife would benefit from being a little self-sufficient (as all military wives should be). It really is hard for me to give an overview of what it means to be an EOD wife. I have such different perspectives. But, when they are gone, it will never fail...something will go wrong at home. I don't care what it is. I had a truck tire blow out on me going 50 miles an hour. I had a leak in the A/C unit in the garage. I had to put down a much loved (and my own) dog. I retired just weeks before he left on another deployment. My stang gave me fits with the battery...again! It's always something. There's all the emotion of deployment prep, then the departure, then the first weeks of truly feeling alone. Finally, you find routine (and that's usually when something goes wrong). Depending on the mission they are on during deployment, you hear from them daily, every few days, etc. That always varies. Now most of that is true of any military spouse. What EOD wives already know is the danger our guys are in each and every time they go on a mission. You have to somehow come to grips with that. You have to rely totally on their abilities, their training, their level-heads. You don't tell them much about what's going on at home...they have enough to worry about...this is an unwritten rule...don't stress your spouse while deployed. SO, you're truly alone sometimes in dealing with life. You don't have a spouse to bounce things off of. I guess that's where other EOD wives come in. I've not ever been a member of the group here in Tucson, so I don't really know how it works. I had my own career for some of my marriage to Chris, and that kept me focused and supported. It was only when I retired and did not have that daily adult interaction that I came to understand a bit more what being a spouse of a military person is truly like. If you don't work, and you are at home with your house and/or children, and you don't have a network of friends...oh baby, you're gonna be a huge mess while your spouse is gone....and you're going to stress your spouse out every time he/she calls! WOW, can life without a spouse get lonely....if you're used to having one. :) That was a huge adjustment for me in 2009. Huge. I didn't have daily adult interaction and I was feeling slightly outta my mind. :D It is important for EOD wives to stick together and take care of the ones whose husbands are gone. They need to be able to talk to others, not just kids all day, day after day. They need breaks from the kids. I'm somewhat rambling now.
EOD is dangerous. All of us wives know this ahead of time. If not, shame on our husbands for not enlightening us to that fact. EOD is gone quite a bit, leaving us alone quite a bit. There is a huge amount of pride that goes along with being EOD, and I think wives tend to have it, too. They don't know everyone in the career field, but they know a lot. If they're not deploying with them, they are going TDY with them. EOD is small compared to most other fields in the military. That also means the wives probably know a lot of other wives. It's a community. It's a community of wives whose husbands have one of the more dangerous jobs in the military. lol...something funny came to mind. I'm guessing EOD
Well, my dear friend, "Lisabob," I hope this answered your question. If not, shoot me an email.
In Christ
hugs
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