The assignment

I can't even believe I've waited this long to make this post.

Matt got his assignment!!!

We've been waiting for this moment for three+ years. Back when Matt graduated pilot training, he really wanted to fly the A-10, but that's not what God had for him or us. We stayed here in Wichita Falls, both of us teaching our remarkably similar students. And while we've enjoyed this experience and learned A LOT, we've always kind of been waiting for this assignment! The FAIP thing is and was good, but it is and was something we could always wrap our minds around. But that next assignment felt like it would be the "real" thing, that unfathomable thing that was unknown that we longed for so desperately. Neither of us could wait! We've done a lot of preparation these last few years; "mission marriage" we called it so that we would be ready for whatever God had in store for us.

In early August, it came down the chain of command that Matt and his cohort-buddies were to submit their preferences or "dreamsheets". They ordered the planes, put in the form, crossed their fingers and prayed to God that he would hear their prayer loudest! Then we waited, and waited some more. Then we went to Michigan. And for three weeks we water-skiied our hearts out, all with this assignment in the backs of our minds. We wondered if it would come when we were away. We wondered if they would call or email or Pony Express.

I hope you enjoy the suspense, because then it actually came! The assignment phone call (for some reason they opted out of Pony Express). But we were out on the boat and had no idea. So a few hours later Matt learns that he has a message regarding his assignment. He calls back immediately! But his commander is out flying. We wait. For an hour or two. I ask Matt (knowing his answer) if he wants to go out for another pull skiing while we wait it out. "No!" he doesn't want to go anywhere. He has a childish grin and a hopeful heart. We drink a couple of beers.

One of the cohort-buddies (who is in his commander's office just finding out his own assignment) calls to ask if Matt's heard the news. Matt tells him no and they agree to quickly hang up so the phone line will be open. We wait.

He FINALLY gets the call and...he goes into the backyard to talk. I resist the urge to follow on his heels.

He comes back smiling; smiling big! He got it! He got the A-10, the one he's been wanting the whole time! Matt's going to be an A-10 Warthog pilot! I'm sooo proud of him!

Matt would probably be ashamed to see which pictures I picked out to show you which plane he'll be flying. He, of course, has been collecting cool A-10 pictures for months in anticipation of this event. Just kidding, but not really. Nonetheless, these may give you an idea of what to picture when you think of what Matt will be up to.

The A-10 is a two engine single-seat attack aircraft that carries a lot of bombs and has a really big 30 mm gun on the front (Reminds me of a funny time when Matt flew the Tweet to an airshow. A kid saw the pito tube sticking off the nose, and asked if that was the plane's gun. Matt just looked down ashamed that he didn't really have a gun on his plane. The pito tube, by the way, is a tiny little stick coming off the nose of the T-37 that senses information like weather or altitude, something like that.).

If you'd like to know more about the A-10 and this training Matt will be going to at Davis-Monthan, this link contains a story about the making of an A-10 pilot. The pilot in the story is actually one of Matt's former students.

And then we celebrated with nothing less than shots of Jeremiah Weed.

The End.

P.S. In more recent news, Matt just got news that we'll need to be in Tucson by early May. Here we come Arizona!