I promised long ago to send out an update on what’s happening in our lives. Thank you for your patience. It’s been a hectic two months as Terry and I have transitioned to our new lives in DC – full time for me through at least the middle of April ’08, and at least half time to nearly full time for Terry as she goes back and forth between Oconomowoc and DC to keep things on track at home for us.
In late September, I received orders to report to Washington DC for six months of active duty as the Deputy Chief of Navy Reserve. I did my “in-processing” with the Navy to go back on active duty at Great Lakes on October 24, and Terry & I drove our Saab 9-5 with trunk and car top carrier loaded to DC October 25/26. I started work at the Navy Annex, next to the Pentagon, on Monday, October 29.
Terry and I have an apartment in Arlington, VA on Pentagon Row. Our address is:
1401 S. Joyce Street, Apt #1506
Arlington, VA 22202
Terry has done a great job making the apartment very comfortable and livable. It actually feels like home when we walk into it from being out for the day. We subscribe to Sarah’s theory of apartment living though – the object is to spend as little time as possible in the apartment! The apartment complex is very nice, relatively new (2004), and located close to the Pentagon City Metro stop, Pentagon City Mall, including Nordstorms, lots of nice restaurants, a dry cleaners, Starbucks and grocery store. The post office, parking garage and a great gym are all in the apartment complex itself. We’ve quickly discovered the convenience of apartment living!
Alicia and Nate are only 15 minutes away by car or metro in Alexandria, so we see them often. Alicia is working on her Masters in Public Health at George Washington University and employed by the Whitman Walker Center providing nutrition counseling to AIDS patients. Nate is working near Quantico, VA for BAE Systems, a defense contractor. Their address is: 217 Buchanan Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.
Matthew is about 45 minutes away at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. We see him on the weekends whenever we can. We’ve had fun attending several Navy football games this fall where we watched Matthew march on before the game, and we can spend time with him at halftime and after the game. His address is: MIDN 4/C Matthew D. Debbink, USN, Class of 2011, 26th Company, P.O. Box 12036, Annapolis, MD 21412-2036.
John Paul and Grace are about 3 hours south in Virginia Beach, VA. John Paul is actually deployed right now on USS ENTERPRISE as a pilot with VAW-123 – an E-2C squadron. He returns from deployment before Christmas, and Terry & I are planning on joining Grace on the ramp for the homecoming fly-in. Grace is working for Ameri-Group, a health care accounting firm. Their address is: 3713 Gresham Court, Virginia Beach, VA 23452.
Sarah and Dan were in DC for 3-4 months this summer, until early October, so our timing didn’t quite work out to spend a lot of time with them, although we did make several trips to DC while they were in town. They are now in Kampala, Uganda on a two year assignment. Early reports are that it is a beautiful place and we all need to plan on visiting them sometime in the next two years. Their address is: 2110 Kampala Place, Dulles, VA 20189-2190.
Thanks to Terry, we had a very family-centric Thanksgiving in Oconomowoc, though without Sarah & Dan and John Paul & Grace. Matthew and many of his friends were around the house, and Alicia & Nate spent time with us on Thanksgiving and Saturday while being with Nate’s family as much as possible as everyone grieved the loss of Nate’s father, Peter, who passed away on November 18th. If you would like to read more about this amazing man and his family, please go to www.carepages.com and sign up to view Peter’s pages under “peterbosscher”. You’ll be glad you took the time to do so.
We’re discovering the challenges of living in two places, esp in the winter as Terry has been shouldering the shoveling responsibilities on top of taking care of Lucy and the house while traveling back and forth to be in DC for important events. She managed somehow to get the Christmas tree up and the lights on the tree all by herself this week. Thank you, Terry!
Back to a little more about my responsibilities in DC:
My boss, Vice Admiral John Cotton, has three titles – Chief of Navy Reserve; Director of Navy Reserve; and Commander, Navy Reserve Force. Each has a different statutory purpose, and I am officially only involved with the first as his Deputy Chief of Navy Reserve, or DCNR. In that capacity, we have a staff of approximately 40 Sailors, officers and enlisted, who work issues in Manpower, Financial Management, and Strategy. The staff work is directed by Captain Jim Monahan, an active duty Navy Captain whose title is Chief of Staff. My days are filled with meetings, briefings, e-mail and executive summary memos (ESMs) concerned with the Navy Reserve and its goal to provide “Support to the Fleet – Ready and Fully Integrated”. The Navy Reserve is comprised of approximately 68,000 men and women, of which approximately 19,000 are deployed on any given day around the country and around the world either on active duty or providing what we call “contributory support” to the active duty.
I also have a collateral duty in Washington DC as a member of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Reserve Forces Policy Board, or OSD RFPB. The Board consists of approximately 20 flag and general officers from each of the seven reserve components (Army, Army National Guard, Air Force, Air Force National Guard, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard). We meet formally once a quarter for two days to consider matters of policy relative to the reserve components, and we report the results of our meeting to the Secretary of Defense, via Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, in writing following each meeting. In between quarterly meetings, several of us have been actively meeting each month to craft a vision for the reserve components for the future, something that has been very interesting and insightful for me personally.
And, I have maintained my mobilization assignment as “Reserve Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, U.S. Pacific Fleet” in Pearl Harbor, HI. In that capacity, I will continue to go to Pearl Harbor whenever called by the active duty Commander (four star Admiral Robert Willard) and Deputy Commander (two star Rear Admiral John Bird) to fill in for them when they desire to travel away from the Headquarters. I’m on my way there now, as I type this, for a week, and I just returned from another trip the in late November. I expect to spend about a week a month in Pearl Harbor, depending on their needs. The support that I personally provide to the U.S. Pacific Fleet takes precedence over my work in Washington DC. When they call, I report for duty!
My office in the Navy Annex is on the hill overlooking the Pentagon to the west. Numerous Navy and Marine Corps commands are housed there, including Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. The staff I am assigned to is the “Office of the Chief of Navy Reserve” or OCNR. Most of our staff is in the Navy Annex, the exception being VADM Cotton, and his immediate personal staff, who are in the Pentagon itself. Since I work for VADM Cotton, and often times represent him at meetings and ceremonies, I spend a lot of time in Pentagon, too. It’s about ¾ of a mile between the Pentagon and the Navy Annex, which makes for a nice walk, if were not for the hill and the lack of time. Most days, the staff is able to arrange for a car and driver to take me back and forth.
What does the future hold? As I started out saying above, my orders to Washington DC are for six months, which takes us through to April 24th. Terry and I expect that we will know more about our future by late January when VADM Cotton’s relief will most likely be nominated by the President. Whoever receives this nomination should be confirmed by the Senate sometime in February in order to allow for a transition ceremony sometime in the March to mid May timeframe in Washington DC. If I am that person, we will move to permanent housing in Washington DC in April or May, most likely in the Washington Navy Yard. This assignment would last three to four years. If I am not selected to relieve VADM Cotton, we will most likely return home in late April, and I will continue my assignment in Pearl Harbor on a part time basis until I transition to the Retired Reserve on September 30, 2008.
The day to day affairs of MSI General have been fully turned over to our new president, Craig Coursin, along with the existing and very capable Leadership Team of Don Frost, Dave Keck, Susan Butler, Jeff Sander and Dick McKitrick. In addition to weekly and monthly reports from Craig and others at the company, Terry and I both expect to be present at and conduct our quarterly board meetings.
Terry is flying back and forth to DC several times a month thus far, and we have yet to lay out the plan for January through April, though we expect we will both be spending most of our time in DC, with occasional trips home, Pearl Harbor and for Terry, at least, perhaps Escondido, CA. Our house in Oconomowoc is a bit lonely these days, and we have every intention of keeping it during this timeframe, returning to it when this adventure is over.
That’s a lot of reading! If you hung with us, we hope you enjoy the update and we answered most of your questions. We look forward to seeing lots of family around Oconomowoc over the Christmas holiday.
Merry Christmas, a Joyous New Year and our love to all! Dirk & Terry
