by Rebecca Rehm

Created on: July 15, 2009

I spent six years as a Navy wife and while the transition from a civilian lifestyle to the military way of life was not an easy one, I feel that those six years had a positive impact on my life.

I was born and raised in a small town in the Midwest, and can honestly say that; mostly due to location, I had never even laid eyes on anyone in a navy uniform short of, an occasional movie or on a Cracker Jack box. I had never been more than a couple of hours drive from my family and friends, so moving to the other side of the United States required some major adjustments; but like most military spouses I adjusted, learned and found that independence was a huge asset.

We lived in base housing, which is its own little community with its own set of rules that are strictly enforced by base police. I found that getting to know my neighbors, as with any neighborhood is a good idea and I made several friends who helped me learn the ropes.

The top of my "To Do" list was to; learn my husband's social this was a priority because without it, it was impossible to get medical care for my children or myself. Another priority was, to never go anywhere without our dependent ID's. My children and I were my husband's dependents, which according to the military made us, his responsibility, so to interpret he would be held accountable for anything we did.

Making sure my car had the appropriate stickers to get on base was another, top of the list item, because without the stickers I would be denied access to base, which would present a whole new set of problems because, the base was where my husband worked, the hospital, the commissary and the navy exchange were located and in our case the bank.

There was a lot to learn and I am not sure that I learned all of it, but I definitely learned enough to get me where I needed to go.

Now I will never say being married to a Navy man is easy, because I am here to tell you it's not! We were luckier than some sailors were because when we got married he was on shore duty, so it wasn't until our fourth year of marriage that we had to endure the long deployments. I'm talking eight months out of the year, sometimes more or less. That's where the independence becomes an asset. When your spouse is gone that long and you have no family close, it can make for some trying times. When his ship pulled in I was always happy to have him home but sometimes the independence I had gained while he was gone would create some problems,

I remember one of those

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