Change of Command

I can't stress how super proud I am of Jimmy and his accomplishments.  He is the type of person that sets goals and sticks to them, no matter how difficult, until he accomplishes great things.

When Jimmy joined the Army, it was merely a four year commitment to help pay off his student loan debt and jump start his career.  We had no intentions of making a career and lifestyle of it.  However, after a few years in, a deployment, and amazing mentors early on, Jimmy was hooked.  This would be his career path and the future of our family.

With our plan in place, Jimmy set goals to finish his graduate degree and transition on to be an officer, which he successfully accomplished. He had always mentioned (even as an NCO) that he wanted to have a command of his own in the future, but that it was nearly impossible because of his expected career path as a laboratory officer.

When we arrived at Fort Campbell two years ago, Jimmy said this would be his only shot at getting a command position.  Jimmy accepted the challenge for himself and with a lot of hard work, persistence, and determination (lots of luck and being in the right place at the right time helped too!), was selected to be the Medical Company Commander for Blanchfield Army Community Hospital.

Jimmy will temporarily hang up his lab coat for two years and take on the responsibility of leading all the soldiers at the hospital.  The kids and I will be "sharing" Jimmy with about 430 soldiers, so we are expecting some crazy lifestyle changes in the next two years... YIKES!  

Congratulations Sir!

(I literally took four pictures... thanks to everyone who sent me pictures!  I'm also hoping PAO got some good shots and will pass those along to us.)  

During a Change of Command, the unit flag is passed to the individual assuming command.

Per tradition, the incoming commander's spouse gets yellow roses...

Alex gets a special coin...

And Amelia gets a single yellow rose

Incoming and Outgoing commanders...

This is very bittersweet for us as we have become good friends with Matt and Malinda.  They will be moving in a few weeks :(

An attempt at a family picture...

Round two...

We are so thankful that Jimmy's mom traveled all the way from Washington (state) to join us!

Already signing paperwork in the reception receiving line...

this isn't a good sign, ha ha