I would like to introduce to you Nadine Albrecht. Nadine was kind enough to guest blog on my blog.Hello from beautiful Fort Leonard Wood, MO! Yes, I said Fort Leonard Wood. You might know it as “Fort Lost in the Wood†or you may have grimaced or even said yuck when you read that first sentence. It wouldn’t be the first time I received that reaction and I’m sure it won’t be the last.  Being an Army family we are often sent to places that are deemed less than desirable. I know that FLW is one of those places that people try to avoid. When my husband called me from Iraq to tell me that he was on orders to FLW, I was ecstatic! No, really I was. Yes, I had heard all the “bad†things from people about this place.  But to be truthful, they really weren’t all that bad and most of the people who shared those opinions had never even been here. They were going off of the stereotype of this installation. There were a few who had been here and shared their disgust with me about their time here. Well I have to say I didn’t enjoy Fort Jackson, SC much either while I was at basic training and the closest I got to nature was when my face was staring at the dirt while I was being smoked. I don’t think it’s fair to judge an entire community because of your limited experience to it while attending basic training.
I bring this up because I recently had the opportunity to attend some Army training and I was surrounded by hundreds of other Army wives. They came from all over. We had name tags that identified which duty station we were from. People would see our installation and the smirks, the scoffs and the insults would come. Repeatedly I told them that we loved it here and that I truly believed t hat FLW was one of the Army’s best kept secrets. People were shocked by that response but it’s true. And let me tell you why I believe that…it’s about perspective.
Over my 14 years of marriage to my Soldier, we have lived in some places many avoid at all costs. South Korea, Fort Knox, and Fort Riley just to name a few. We heard negative and continue to hear negative things about those duty stations. But you know, we loved each one for different reasons. And the main reason we could learn to love these places was perspective. For our family, we try to focus on the positive and not the negative. Most people don’t like FLW because it’s in the middle of nowhere. Well it really isn’t, we aren’t out in the middle of the boondocks. We have an amazing community that supports the Military. No, we don’t have a mall and don’t have many big name restaurants or stores but really if that is what you need to make you happy well I would seriously consider taking a step back and reevaluating life.
We have four beautiful seasons here and while I could do without the humidity in the summer I can live with it, we’ve lived in other places with humidity or really high heat. As far as my husband goes, he can handle a summer in Missouri over another summer in Iraq. One of the bonuses of being here at FLW is that my husband is not currently on a deployment cycle. If we were somewhere else he would have been gone again. Here we get a two year break and for that I am grateful. We recently completed our first year of living together consecutively in over a decade and we were able to do that because of where we live. We have enjoyed trips to some of the most beautiful places in the U.S., right here in MO. My husband has been able to watch his kids in all their various activities and most of all we’ve just been able to be together as a family. We have no material distractions; we cook in our kitchen and enjoy meals around our own dining room table. We take long drives and enjoy the beauty of the woods.
As many of my Military family friends know, there are many places that we would rather not end up, but if you do, try to keep it all in perspective. If you can’t find something positive about the area itself, I challenge you to look at how your family can benefit from being where you are.
-Nadine Albrecht
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