Hello! Here is what I know. All of it.

Hey all!

I’m loving the direction this little community is taking.  Thanks for taking the lead, Courtney!

   

I’m Katy, a newlywed army wife lost here in the piney woods of Fort Benning.  My husband M and I met in college (through Model United Nations, no joke!) and got married right after graduation in December.  In fact, we were crazy enough to graduate, have his commissioning ceremony and have a wedding all in one weekend! It was fun.

I’m a traveler at heart.  My blog, The Rambling Nomad, has held that title long before I even met my army/nomad husband, and I swore I’d go on adventures with him around the world and back in a heartbeat!  But all the adventures I’d been on, and that we’d been on, were ours.  Following the army and learning to be a “dependent” is a straight uphill learning curve, but I’m determined to make the most of it!

He’s currently in Ranger School on day 10, and to make these next 51 days fly by I’m working part time, studying for the LSAT, and balancing all that out with some fun, when possible. :) Even if, without my other half, that involves pinterest projects, eating "soul food,"exploring Georgia, and more tv than I’ve watched in my entire life. (hgtv and cnn in the background 24/7 make the house a lot less empty!) 

So while M was in IBOLC, I supported him where I could, but mostly in the form of TLC.  It wasn’t until he had 2 1/2 days to pack for Ranger School that it really took all the effort both of us could muster to get him ready to go, and that gave me a little leeway on interfering in his job by researching the living daylights out of everything he might need or might come across in the months ahead!  Looking back, I probably tackled Ranger School packing like a full fledged college research paper, just because I finally had a chance to truly help him out. 

Sorry to digress, but I’ll start with the basics, simply because so many of the awesome ladies I’ve met here at Benning are about to experience this magic in another month, and these links might save a lot of time and headaches! 

The Basics: Schedule, Maps and Mail

http://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/rtb/StudentInformation.html

• Particularly useful are the “Ranger School Brief” PDF that includes a day-by-day schedule, 
• “Student Mail” tab at the top - you can send letters without Co. or Platoon info and it will still reach your man until you get a letter from him with the info. Just make sure to include what class they're in (like Class 2-13)
• “Graduation,” which includes a map not only of graduation, but where to drop them off for Day 0.  

Directions might seem basic, but as M and his buddy piled into our car the morning of and I asked, “Ok, where to?” I was met by silence.  I typed in “Hourglass Road” on my iphone maps and discovered a part of post I never knew was there, but this would be good to know ahead of time:
http://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/rtb/4thRTB/4thRTB_Maps.html

Preparation & Packing:  

• The complete annotated packing list.With commentary on which gear works best, what gum lasts longest, etc.http://www.passranger.com/p/the-packing-list.html
• Guide to "Prepping your Ranger Handbook" that might save time down range. http://www.passranger.com/2012/05/prepping-your-ranger-handbook.html
• More awesome packing tips.  Complete with where on their person they can hide contraband!  Not that I’d recommend that at all....http://72deuce.blogspot.com/2006/12/ranger-school-tips-packing-list.html

Wisdom from Experience: Ranger School Support Blogs

Thanks a million to these wonderful Ranger School wives and girlfriends for writing a guide to what we’re all wondering from home!  They’re definitely getting me through this time with a lot more comfort and sanity.  In fact, Lindsey’s blog was the inspiration for all this! 

http://runnerarmywife.blogspot.com/2011/09/communication-during-ranger-school.html

http://lindsey-lawrence.blogspot.com/2011/11/girlfriends-guide-to-ranger-school.html

http://mrsmollyp.blogspot.com/2012/02/ranger-school.html

And of course, our friend Allison at Keep Calm And Soldier On 

Day By Day Journals:

For all the gorey details of what they're going through right now.  I'm so stinking proud of them!  

http://www.tommym1080.com/ranger_school_0506_0606_50106.htm

Please add on to this!  It’s just a start, but probably a lot more effective than manically googling “ranger school letters”! Just saying.