A Tale of Two Cities (and Two Continents)

In January of 2017 I became Executive Officer of HSC-85 and attempted to execute reserve drill there while working full time in Washington DC. It was difficult, and, in hindsight, probably not a great idea. The selection for command was very unexpected, but I didn’t think it was an opportunity to lead that I should pass up.

            I traveled to Newport, RI in April to attend pre-command Naval Leadership and Ethics training and completed a week of aircraft “back-in-the saddle” proficiency flying in Boise, ID in August in preparation to deploy again. Remembering my going away from DC in September actually makes me more sad writing today than it did at the time, though at the time I was consumed with packing up and moving cross country once again.

            I knew once I became XO that I would have to come back to the Navy full-time, at least for the majority of the XO/CO period. I tried to maximize my time in DC. I attended baseball games in DC and Baltimore, anchored the Nelson inter-congressional-office softball team, and tried to ensure weekends that I was in town were filled with happy hours and friend dinners. Looking back, I was not as successful as I hoped, due to travel between DC and SD – not an easy feat even in today’s transportation age.

            I was able to complete some pleasure travel. I went to Tampa for the Service Academy Appointees reception, which was for Nelson work, but I was able to expand the trip with an Orlando visit. Spending July 4^th in North Carolina with the whole family, including Glory, was definitely the highlight of the year. I made it to the annual Pensacola Beach week in August and went from there to North Carolina for a wedding of a DC friend couple. I also went to Annapolis in October for my Class of 2002 15-year reunion, where I was interviewed on radio about the occasion with my famous Blue Angel classmates. Finally, and thankfully, I was able to spend Christmas in Orlando as well before departing on deployment.

            Filling my role as Executive Officer and preparing for deployment began to take up much more of my time. I mobilized in Norfolk in September and then made the long cross-country trek, Glory in tow, from DC back to San Diego. I got to experience the four-year requirement for the “helo dunker” which is always a thrill.  I also made a trip to meet my deployed chain of command staff Special Operations Command Pacific at Camp Smith in Hawaii.

            In January I departed for Africa to provide casualty evacuation support for operations throughout the Horn of Africa. This deployment was quite a bit different from my previous ones – while the mission was similar, our living conditions were very austere, and the deployment was tough. A chain of command that didn’t understand what we were doing nor providing us the support to do it made the experience all the more frustrating, a condition that would unfortunately continue throughout my command tour.

            The end of the Mom Year saw me missing the birthday trip to Portofino, but about to make the jump from Africa to Japan, and back to San Diego shortly thereafter.   

Baseball in October w/ Mike Freeman

Mary Pam made an appearance at my birthday

Mom and Dad's favorite midshipman Garrett K.

Interviewed for the Voice of the Goat during my reunion

Glory's new caretaker...

...and new playmate

Visit with the Loflins during a short trip home

Mack visiting the squadron before I deployed

Operations in Africa

The Africa Crew

Update from Skip/Dad/Granddad

Dear Kids,

Mom and I have very much enjoyed receiving and reading your recent updates on the happenings in your lives. By way of update here, we are in the midst of painting the interior of the house which means Mom has to sit at home and "mind" the painters while also finishing the gardening overhaul we began this past weekend, and keeping Glory entertained and out of the paint (along with the Loflin children!). It has been a blur of activity. Two weeks ago we traveled to NOLA for the funeral of Judge Beer. We traveled by Cirrus with an overnight stop on the way out in Pensacola and then returned straight thru with a fuel/pit stop in Tallahassee. Mrs Czes flew out with us and both she and Mrs Barley flew home. They both seemed to enjoy the flights. I know the Bailes appreciated our attendance even though it was brief. We got a very nice note from MimiK to that effect.

I forgot to mention that in addition to the house painting we are also not yet completed with the basement repairs following the hurricane Irma flooding. Hopefully that will finish up this week and we can begin to move things out of the garage into back into the basement (with some significant culling in the process). We are pleased to have finally gotten the storage unit cleaned out and eliminated. As you may know, we are having a "friendraiser" at the house on Friday March 16 (Yay Yay's birthday- don't forget!) to be followed in May by Mary Michael and Hunter's wedding in the back yard. So, there is a time crunch to get these things done. 

Baseball season is in full swing and we are very much enjoying afternoons and Saturdays at the ball park. Peter takes his game quite seriously and is an accomplished athlete which is no surprise. Addy seems to most enjoy the red clay of the infield but is a great hitter in her own right. She always looks like she has played very hard and had a few hard slides by games end. Lucy enjoys her role as greeter and social activities coordinator along with supporting her siblings. John looks forward to the popcorn and generally being the cutest kid at the park.

We loved having a visit from the Elliott's for the celebration of Charles' 1st birthday. To say that we are over the moon about the news of yet another arrival is an understatement. Mom and I are looking to travel to Greenville the weekend of April 6 (Masters weekend) for a visit. We are also in the midst of planning an extended excursion to the West Coast in June for a visit with Bale, Mack & the Elliotts from June 8 thru 21. The last stop will be for a judicial meeting on sentencing in San Francisco. We are hoping to come up with a unique travel package of planes, trains & automobiles.

Things are also quite busy here at the Court. Still no action on our vacancies. I'm now also handling one half of the criminal docket in Ocala which means I travel to Ocala for proceedings at least once a month and more if I have a trial there, in addition to my case load here in Orlando which is quite heavy. I did manage to slip away for a three day golf trip with Darrell, Chas, Big Poppi and others this past week to Frederica, which was fun.

We hear often from Mack, but more is always welcome! Hopefully he will be able to come home for MM wedding. Likewise, we have been pleasantly surprised that the electronic communications with Bale have been as good as they are....we are prayerful about the deployment and really enjoy the periodic updates. 

This past weekend Mom and I attended a "Celebration of Life" for Caroline Baker. She is the daughter of Magistrate Judge David Baker and his wife Missy. Judge Baker recently retired after 21 years with the Court. His daughter committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate bridge on October 28th of last year. While I only met her once and did not know her other than through her father she was so clearly gifted and accomplished. A graduate of Princeton, she worked in the Office of Naval Intelligence for a number of years before moving over to the Department of State where she served as a foreign service officer with postings to Tajikistan and Ankara in Turkey among others. She had just returned from Turkey. She was 38 years old having been born March 4, 1980. The setting for the remembrance was on the shores of Lake Virginia (I think) across from Rollins College at the Polasek Museum. It was mainly outdoors and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was idyllic. The procession of speakers was an array of primarily young women from her youth, and her days at the ONI as well as fellow foreign service officers. These women were so gifted and accomplished that it was humbling to be in their presence. The final send off did us both in as the speaker recounted that the sailors at ONI sent her on to the DOS with the message of "Fair winds and Following Seas" which brought us both to tears. Even though we did not know Caroline, we were moved by what an impressive person she was and the kindness of her heart as well. That she struggled for so long and finally succumbed to her lifelong depression was a hard story to hear. Not to mention the depth of her parents and siblings grief.

The purpose of recounting this is not to depress you all! It reminded us of just what a blessing each of you are in our lives. How proud we are of the people you have become which transcends your many accomplishments. It's more about the way you treat others with respect, kindness and dignity. That you have a heart for those in trouble, need or the grip of discouragement. We love you more than we could ever possibly express and the event this weekend made it important to take a minute and tell you that. We also want to be sure that you know we are always here for you, to celebrate or commiserate, to hear and share both good news and bad. To cheer your highs and help shoulder your lows. You (and yours) are our lives ........and we are so incredibly blessed by you. Love, Dad

The Elliotts before Sam

All,

We have enjoyed reading everyone’s updates, and I know Taylor would like to contribute to the conversation. At the same time, as we all to varying degrees know, the first trimester is an uncomfortable and taxing time and it’s hard to get up the energy to follow such great acts as yours. Therefore, I’m penning the outline of ours, to which Taylor has contributed. Your updates conveyed individual style, so mine is bullet points (though not drafted in Excel):

• We’re expecting baby #2 mid-September. To us relative newbies, having one toddler feels so all-consuming at times it’s hard to imagine doubling up, but we trust we’ll manage it with the love and care of our families and a lot of hard work.
• We were especially thankful for the wonderful first birthday Charles experienced at 1127, which included all four of his grandparents and his beloved cousins. Thank you for making it a special memory for him (hopefully) and us.
• After the party, my parents completed a one-week Disney cruise from Port Canaveral and returned to Oregon the following weekend. My 84 year old grandmother, Mary (who the kids call “nanny”), contracted the flu while they were away, so they were immediately immersed in her care upon returning. She seems to be recovering now, although it also seems to have been a serious situation. While we’ve been having a mini heatwave here, Oregon has had late-winter snow and temperatures below zero.
• For those of you regaled by the story of my dad’s hunt for the elusive rogue porcupine, I can report that it was trapped and dispatched early this morning.  
• We’ve hired a regular babysitter on Mondays and enrolled Charles in preschool on Wednesday mornings, which has freed up some day time for us. Taylor has been diligently working each week toward the required 40 hours of community service at the Nearly New clothing store for her Junior League provisional year; she has 12 to go.
• Last night we visited our new friends, Will and Sarah Lucas, who live a couple blocks away in our neighborhood, for dinner (including self-butchered pork loin). We were excited to learn they’re expecting their first baby also mid-September. I think Taylor and Sarah have the beginnings of a good friendship, and I see much in common in their personalities. Will has been the most prolific “connector” for us in Greenville, having introduced us to probably a dozen good people in the business network. We’re excited about the possibilities of future friendship and having babies at the same time.
• Our friends Deyllen and Masha (wedding in Bali) had their second child, Olivia, last Friday under similar circumstances to Charles’ delivery. We were able to stay in touch with them as they were going through it. Her parents are visiting this weekend, and we were inspired by our good memories of Jack Stack BBQ to send them a super sampler that they’ll hopefully enjoy as much as we all did. Deyllen and Masha now live in Connecticut and took our lead in buying a business, Tumble Jungle, with locations in Norwalk and Fairfield. [I’m tempted to order Jack Stack right this minute if only for the chocolate cake and the cheesy corn.]
• Our business search continues, with many possibilities and no clear winners yet. We’re currently in various stages of talking to (meetings, exchanging business/financial information, asking questions) 7-8 businesses, and our goal remains closing an acquisition sometime in calendar 2018. I’ve also been discussing an outside-the-box potential opportunity in online aviation training with a local company called Pathwright. [In the meantime, I’m developing a few new leads for doTerra and am enjoying the opportunity to connect with people that way. A friend of mine from Junior League is opening a dental spa in early summer of this year and will have a retail section for doTerra products as well as space for education classes. I am cautiously optimistic about the opportunities that will bring.]
• On the networking side of our business search, we continue to find Greenville welcoming and open. Several new referrals coming from each meeting has allowed us to connect with nearly 200 individuals in the business community here.
• We’re still worshiping at Village Church, which is an Anglican in North America church – something new to both of us. We’re considering the ACNA equivalent of membership and will likely have Charles baptized there this summer. It seems like half the congregation is small children, and a few of the families there have become our friends. [I have been back in touch with Chip and Beth Edgar from St. Luke’s as they are tangentially involved in Village Church.]
• I continue to enjoy the new (to me, since moving here) rhythm of 4:15-4:30am wake-up, bicycle downtown, 5:15am F3 workout, 6:05am “coffeeteria” socializing session with a half-dozen or so men, bicycle home, make breakfast for our family, play with Charles and be ready to start work by ~8:00-9:00, depending on what’s scheduled for the day. On Thursdays, I instead get a shower at the YMCA and make a tight turnaround to attend the 6:30am meeting of a men’s Christian community group called Search Ministries. [I make efforts to wake up before Charles does so I can at least wash my face and brush my teeth but sometimes he hears the birds chirping and decides it’s time for him to arise as well. He and I head downstairs for breakfast, which he eats voraciously and then finishes what’s on my plate as well.]
• Although I keep seeing headlines about poor TV ratings for the Olympics, that hasn’t been the case for us: we’ve watched a bit of the Olympics almost every evening and especially enjoy the curling, speed skating and snowboarding. We like Sean White but aren’t as into Lindsay Vonn. We saw the same commercial (on streaming) over and over but realized around the 100th viewing that we didn’t even know the advertiser (we guessed Toyota, but it was actually Samsung).
• We look forward to a few travels this spring before staying put for the summer. We plan to drive to New Orleans, to visit John and Tricia Gonzalez, and Pensacola, to be with the family, in mid-March. We plan to see everyone for Mary Michael’s wedding in early May. And we look forward to being with all the grandparents for a couple days during a visit to Oregon in mid-June. [After that, we will likely hunker down in Greenville since I  will want to nest for the new baby and hang out in air conditioning to survive August heat at 9 months pregnant. Looking forward to hosting as many of you that may want to visit in those months – especially for Charles’ baptism. Pensacola for the annual August week is still on the radar.]
• Charles is learning to walk! Every time I get out my phone to take a video he gets back down on all fours but he’s getting pretty consistent at taking 3-4 steps at a time. Grins like a fool every time and throws his arms up in the air as I say “Ta-Da”!

Love,

Spencer & Taylor

Bale in Africa

Hello everyone-

Quick update from Africa. It is hot here and getting hotter.

Hello everyone-

Quick update from Africa. It is hot here and getting hotter.

Our missions are most like the MEDEVAC duty I did in 2006. We stand alerts and are ready for anything.

Life is simple and fairly comfortable out here, as soon as you get used to be sweaty and dirty all the time. The food is not bad and most everyone is doing well working as a team.

We are moving into high stress days as we work on the plans for moving back to the previous area in which we deployed in the Pacific. Lots of work to be done, very little of it fun.

We have not received any mail yet, so if you haven't sent it, I wouldn't send it. I'll report as soon as anything arrives. 

My off time is spent beating all the maintainers in ping pong and reading as much as I can. We have a small gym that is usually pretty crowded. Some people work out at night with their red head lamps which is an amusing sight. 

Our chain of command up to the Admiral in charge of the Naval Air Force Reserve came out to visit a few days ago. It was good for them to see the austere conditions and learn first hand about the tough parts of the deployment.

There is a congressional delegation coming soon lead by Senator Jack Reed. I know him from my work on the Armed Services Committee. He is bringing some staff that I work with as well. They have asked to come see us since I am here so that will be an interesting day.

That's about all from here. I enjoyed the instagrams from Charles's birthday. Glad the Elliotts were able to make it to 1127 for the festivities. Hope you are all doing well.

Love Bale