My Sister and Other Phenomena: She doesn’t just break ordinary things like you or I might do; dishes, glassware, bones in our body, no. My sister breaks things like, the internet.

Meet A Royal Day: I was lucky enough or, depending on who you speak to, unlucky enough to meet a few royals during my time in the military. My first time was at RAF Mountbattan, in Plymouth, UK, when I had the chance to see and shake hands with the now Princess Royal, Princess Anne.

What Could Have Been: Some of the scariest things happen without our knowledge, as happened to me one time that, until a few days later, I didn’t know how lucky I had been.

For the Love of a Bacon Butty: One of the best things about the military is that whether you worked days or shift work, you could guarantee that at any time of the day or night, you could get a meal. There was no excuse for missing a meal as far as I was concerned, and even though I might be brain dead when coming off a night …

The Day I Climbed the Runway: Well, to begin with, as it turned out, we weren’t allowed to actually use the runway in this particular event and ended up on a taxi way in front of one of the squadron who were on stand down that weekend. What the hell am I talking about? I suppose I better start at the beginning … charity work.

Fly Like A Bird: Well, maybe not like a bird, I don’t have wings but, during my time in the military, despite suffering with air sickness my entire life, I made a point of flying on every available aircraft I could. Even if that meant throwing up for take off and landings.

A Galaxy of a Problem: There were times, some of them quite comical though serious, that happened during my tenure in the military. Point in case, the day we had an emergency diversion—due to bad weather—of a USAF Galaxy cargo plane. Which was 3 hours out and would be landing on fumes by the time it got to us—the only …

Accidental Fatalities: One of the hardest things about being in the military was dealing with loss. And I don’t mean the sporting kind, I mean, the loss of life. And while it didn’t happen all that often, a single event could bring us all to our knees physically and mentally.

Out on the Range: One of the highlights of being stationed in Germany, on a front line base, was that during a major exercise we were issued with fake guns. Yes, fake as in wooden, because, if we were really at war certain female members within the operations block would be able to carry a sidearm. I’m not sure how …

Card Sharks: Following on from my post about my introduction to shift work, the reason most of us survived and, quite possibly flourished on night shifts, was nothing to do with the copious amounts of thick, treacly black coffee we all consumed, but the fact we all played cards. A game called Bastard Whist, to …

Get A Move On: 

In the military there is no such thing as weekends off. As I have said, you are, to put it bluntly, on call 24/7. And in my line of work, trained as an assistant air traffic controller, I was expected to work shifts whether that was in the Controller Tower itself, or in Flight Ops, or the Operations …

Gas Attack, Gas Attack: 

I’m writing this because an online friend asked whether or not, as part of my military training, I had to go through the “gas tent”. The answer is: Yes. This is a process whereby newbies on receipt of fancy new NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) suit had to test it and their skills at putting it …

Sporting Chance: 

I was never thought of as being a sporty type by build alone and, in fact, was probably in that group picked last for any sporting event based on looks alone. Not tall, or willow, thin or fit looking. But, as it turns out, given ample opportunities to prove everyone wrong. I got to join in on just …

The 24/7 Life: 

Even though I had a vague understanding that I might be asked to work at any and all hours of the day and night, while in the military, it wasn’t really till I was posted to Germany on my first overseas assignment that it hit home exactly what that truly meant. Being in the military is a 24/7 …

A Leap of Faith: 

Within weeks of arriving at my first military posting in the UK after I had completed my Basic Training, I was being encouraged to sign up for, well, everything. Including participating in helicopter rescue training exercises. Which wasn’t a stretch, given where I worked, which was the RCC (rescue …

Taking the Plunge: I didn’t join the military thinking I’d have a life of adventure but, as it turned out, adventure found me anyway. I was too young to sign up for myself and had to have my father sign the papers allowing me to join the Woman’s Royal Air Force — I was 17 years of age. A decision he had a huge part in …

My Dad Kicked Bombs For A Living: As a child growing up I use to tell friends, “… my dad kicks bombs for a living.” when asked the inevitable stupid question, ‘what does your dad do for a living.’ One because I was never sure at first what it was my dad did actually do and had overheard him talking to …

My Mother The Runaway: My mother, by all accounts, had quite the life, especially in her younger years. Though some of what I know I only know from stories my sister told me much later, after my mum passed. What I did get to hear from my mother, firsthand, was how, despite being in a loveless marriage and an arranged …

Life After Death: 

Or, surviving the loss of my parents.

Surviving a loved one’s death can only be personal and subjective. We all react differently, we all perceive differently, we all emote differently. Some feel the loss more keenly than others, some not so much. But one thing you can be sure of is, the loss of a …

You've Got Mail: 

I was reading Veronique’s post recently, Just A Small Town Girl, and smiled at her lovely doodles. But there was one that caught my eye and then, brought a lump to my throat. It featured a hand drawn stamp and the words, Post Air Mail. And it hit me. I hadn’t had any real mail from …

“The day paradise put up a parking lot …”

Letting Go: I was reading friend’s post about letting go of things, yesterday, and had my own personal rush of childhood memories and a sense of loss at all things I had to let go of as a child as a member of a military family. Any kid who’s grown up in the same situation, whatever the military: …