You never forget your first — that’s what they all say. Whether service member or military spouse, your first duty station sticks with you for the duration of your military existence. Why? Because it’s all-new, and likely not so shiny. You have to learn things the hard way, you never know where anything is located, housing is a mess, and that’s not even the bulk of it.
PCSing certainly gets easier with time, but when it comes to your first move — your first oh-so-very-painful PCS — it’s an experience you won’t soon forget.
Take a look at these all-too-common instances as described in totally accurate memes about your first duty station.
1. When you realize you have no idea what you are doing
Deep breaths.
2. Finally getting your HHG and trying to unpack like
Are we done yet?
3. Calling the housing office 10 times a day
Whatcha got??
4. All the training events for new families
Can we go now?
5. Trying to find the closest grocery store:
Do your best work, GPS.
6. Until you finally get acclimated to your surroundings
Everything is different here.
7. Trying to meet the new neighbors like:
Yo guys!
8. SRSLY let’s BFF
Find your own kind of weird out there.
9. More unpacking
Seriously how long does this even take?
10. There are just so many distractions
It’ll get done … eventually.
Your first move, and your first duty station stick with you for the long haul. More often than not, it’s because of the growing pains along the way. Tell us about your most difficult lessons learned with your first PCS experience.