This morning marked an exciting day for our family. During a short ceremony, Bill relinquished command of Charlie Company, 86th Signal Battalion. Already you ask? Yes, it was only 16 months ago that Bill took command of the company, but the battalion commander asked Bill to cut short his time with Charlie in order to continue with the battalion as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company commander. So we'll be doing this whole change of command thing all over again in July, but anyway, back to today.
The ceremony was at 8:00 am because Bill originally thought it was going to be outside on the parade field, and he was aiming to avoid the mid-day heat. Instead, it ended up being at the Field House and it was just early for no particular reason. We did arrive in time to take a few pictures before the ceremony began.
We also had time to chat with a few folks, including Bill's former first sergeant, who he'll be teaming back up with when he takes over HHC. 1SG recently had foot surgery and while I was complementing him on his neon green cast I questioned why no one had signed it. He handed me a sharpie and I started a trend with my signature, which Drew was happy to continue.
The ceremony began with the national anthem and chaplain's invocation, for which Drew was not interested in standing. Apparently I should have rehearsed the whole standing at attention thing with him. After we were seated for the reciting of the passing of the guidon tradition, Drew was happily plied with snacks. Smart mommy even snuck some M & Ms into his trail mix snack bag. I didn't even have to pull the calculator out of my purse for him to play with. Yes, you read that right. Our son is amused to no end by punching numbers into the calculator (We're hoping he has Grandpa Pat's mathematical skills).
Here's Drew stuffing his face while the battalion commander speaks.
Pictures in the field house never reliably turn out, so this is the only decent one, albeit dark, of Bill passing the company's guidon to the battalion commander.
Below: Bill delivering his remarks. He was short and sweet, and funny as long as you got the inside jokes. 1SG and I may have been the only one to have spent enough time with him over the last 16 months to appreciate all of the subtleties of the speech, but I think his remarks were well-received. He thanked Drew and me for our love and support, and gave a special shoutout to the cooking skills that I've developed (out of necessity) over the past year and a half. He also credited us with maintaining his sanity and keeping the small amount of hair on his head. He thanked his fellow company commanders and his boss, recognized the soldiers, NCOs, and officers of the Charlie Rockstar family for all their hard work, and finally (and to much laughter), he reviewed the speed dials of the commander's phone for the incoming commander. And with that declared "Rockstar 6 out."
Drew looking adorable after the ceremony concluded.
Bill with our friends Donyel & Steve, who were in the Captain's Career Course with him at Fort Gordon
Family shot after the ceremony (apparently it is just not in Bill's DNA to smile for photos)
Drew carrying my flowers on the way to the car. If you look closely you can see the blue frosting on his mouth from the ceremony's cake. No wonder the child didn't take a nap today after cake at 8:30 in the morning!
In related news, as a bit of an update to the previous deployment news I had announced, the situation has changed somewhat. Those of you familiar with the Army's version of "this is the plan" will understand. Instead of heading to Iraq this December, Bill is now headed to Afghanistan sometime around mid-March of 2010. We were not at all surprised at the change in venue, but were pleasantly surprised that Daddy will be here for Christmas with the amended timeframe. Of course, he'll miss the next Christmas, but at least that won't be Drew without Daddy on Christmas only a few weeks after he's left.
For now, we are just going to enjoy the extra family time the next seven command-phone free weeks should provide, without worry of being separated by long work hours or interrupted by late night phone calls. Bill is especially looking forward to getting in some serious time on the golf course, including a fundraising tournament tomorrow morning. And then, after a brief respite, we'll do it all over again... The Rockstars will be tough to top, and we'll miss the soldiers and family members we've grown to know so well over the last year and a half, but the Army is always about goodbyes and hellos, and it's kind of nice to know we're not going far (for now).
One last picture: I seriously was so happy to see that command phone go away that this smile was a permanent fixture on my face for the rest of the day.
