Graduation Celebrations

You guys, this week has been a dream come true.  Brandon became a Warrant Officer on Wednesday. Do you know what it feels like to accomplish a goal that you have been living and breathing for the past two years? Well I do now.

Since this was such a big deal - it deserves a big post to honor it.  So go with me on this. I hope you enjoy seeing all the pictures and video from the different events this past week.  I figured you've all read along as I've talked about this dream so you'd want to see it come to fruition. 

For the past two and a half years Brandon and I have been focused on his goal to become a Warrant Officer and then become a helicopter pilot.  Scarcely a day has gone by that we haven't talked about it. 

There were so many hoops to jump through to get his application packet ready - The SIFT test, the medical test, the security clearance, the Letter of Recommendation (that he had to go to Korea to get) to name a few.  We said thousands of prayers and Brandon spent many days fasting to check off each of those things. Even when those things were done Brandon spent hours working on that packet to make sure the wording was perfect.  

And then we prayed even harder once Brandon submitted his packet.  It seemed unreal when we received the news that Brandon had been selected.

  

Then there were the months spent in limbo while Brandon tried to get orders- followed by the crazy week back in March when the orders came through at the last minute.      

And even after all that there was one final hurdle that Brandon had to overcome.

Brandon had to take a final PT test on the Friday before graduation.  He improved on his run time and his sit ups, but failed on the push ups.  That meant he failed the test and would have to be recycled into another class and graduate about 3 weeks later.  Brandon felt that the grader (a candidate from another WOCS class) hadn't followed procedure correctly and so he should be allowed to retake his PT test.  The problem was that, according to the PT test policies, he had to wait a week to allow his body to heal before he could retake the test.  That week wait time wouldn't be up until after graduation. 

Undaunted, Brandon plead his case all the way up the Chain of Command.  Each TAC Officer (similar to Drill sergeant) talked with him, analyzed his pushups, and told him that they agreed with him, but that they couldn't change the policy.  Finally he reached the top guy who told him that he  didn't want to recycle him only three days away from graduation.  He told Brandon that if he wrote a memo waving his right to the week wait time he could retake the PT test on Monday.  The TAC officers also changed the policies so that only TAC officers could grade PT tests - not other candidates. 

Brandon was so happy.  He came back to his group and it was like he came back from the dead.  He's fellow candidates said that they had been saying, "Illguth can't be recycled - we are going to storm the TAC offices if he gets recycled."

On Monday morning Brandon retook the test and passed it without any problems. It was one final reminder of how hard he's had to work to accomplish his goals.  

Despite that last little bit of craziness the last few days of WOCS were full of fun activities.  Sunday had been the 8 hour pass that Brandon was able to spend with us at our new home.  

On Monday there were some classes that I could attend with Brandon.  I didn't really want to sit through the classes though so I was happy when Monday ended up being the date that our moving truck arrived.  Several people from our new ward came over to help out with the kids while I directed the movers with where they should put things.  I also unpacked all the kitchen boxes.  

Brandon attended the classes and said that I didn't miss much.  One thing that I did miss was the class singing their final song at the dining facility during lunch time.  Here's the class singing an earlier song that I actually thought was more clever than the final song. 

On Tuesday the candidates went on their final run for PT followed by ringing a bell to celebrate finishing.  It was known as the Victory Run and families were invited to watch. I got up at 5:30 to go see it. Since it was so early in the morning I didn't bother waking the kids up.  I just left them home with my mother in law, Jacque.  Brandon was already in formation when I arrived. He's on the front row. 

There were two WOCS classes going on.  Brandon was in Orange Class.  The other class was Gray Class which will graduated in about 3 weeks  (That's the class Brandon would have been recycled back to.)  When the two classes started their run the candidates in Grey Class sang:

I don't know but I've been told - Orange Class is looking mighty old
I don't know but it's been said, - Orange Class is nearly dead

While the candidates were running around post I talked to the other wives and family members.  I knew some of them from the Facebook group that we all belonged to. That Facebook group was such a lifesaver during these past seven weeks. It was a great way to get information.  The lady who ran it was really good about putting pictures up of our candidates doing different activities.

I also took a picture of the bell that Brandon would ring.

And the class sign that Brandon had helped make.  The class was known as the Dogs of War and their motto was "Cry Havoc Sir!"

Grey class came back and did some more PT exercises.  Then they lined the road and gave high fives to Orange Class as they ran by.  Remember when Brandon was in Korea and he was assigned to drive a Bradley?  Well his gunner was also working on a Warrant Officer Application.  They both were selected in the same round to go Flight School.  The gunner already was a sergeant so he only had to attend the the 5 week WOCS course instead of the 7 week one that Brandon did.  Their classes ended up overlapping a little bit.   For the past few weeks they've both been at WOCS but since they are in different classes they haven't been able to interact.  Still it's been pretty cool that they were in WOCS "together."  I tried to get a picture of them high-fiving each other, but I missed it.  But at least they are by each other in this picture. Brandon has a lot of respect for his gunner and he is hoping they get to spent a lot of time together during flight school.

Orange class was able to line up and ring the bell.  Here is Brandon doing that.

Then we were able to talk for just a few minutes.  We took a picture together.  Don't be fooled by that bright sunlight.  It wasn't even 7 am yet so I didn't feel bad that I was still in my pajamas.  (We are still in the Central Time Zone, but we are less than 50 miles from the Eastern Time Zone so the sun rises pretty early in the morning here.)

Brandon had things to do so he ran off to get ready for the day and I went back home to un-pack more boxes.  Brandon was able to come home around 2:30.  He and I got ready for the fancy reception that would be held in the evening.  I was doing my hair and my make up and he was fussing around with his pins.  The kids kept running in and out of the bathroom.  Suddenly Brandon and I looked at each other and one of us said, "We're ADULTS!"  We both felt very grown up getting ready for a fancy party in our spacious bathroom with our kids running around.

Jacque watched the kids so Brandon and I could go to the reception.  I'm so glad she did.  We would have had to pay $15 per kid for childcare otherwise so I was very happy that she could be our babysitter. Plus the kids probably had a lot more fun with her than they would have at the child care place. 

We got to the reception a little early so Brandon could make sure the slideshow he'd created was up and running.  Then we joined the rest of the candidates and their families in the waiting room.   

The receiving line opened at 5:00 and we were formally introduced to two of the TAC officers.  The man who introduced us told me that Brandon was a very motivational person to everyone.

After the receiving line we were able to have refreshments.  There was iced tea and punch and water.

And appetizers

  And cake - but that was for later.

It was so fun to be a part of something so fancy.  I was trying to remember every etiquette lesson I ever had.

Then it was time for a little formal program. The candidates senior mentor addressed everyone and told us how important a strong family foundation is.

After that it was time for the movie.  Brandon didn't know that the projector had turned itself off.  The TAC officer in charge said, "if we can't get it to work you all are going to have to act it out." and everyone laughed. While Brandon turn the projector back on the TAC officer had the candidates sing their final song again.  It was cool to be in the middle of that.

The projector was back on and so we all watched the movie.  All the candidates had different jobs during WOCS.  Brandon's job was Assistant Historian.  He got that partially because he'd brought his camera and little computer along to WOCS and promised that he could make a movie.  He delivered on that promise.  It was a really good movie.  It's too long to upload here, so here is the link to it on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM7n5eHiuWc. 

After the movie it was time for cutting the cake.  The oldest and youngest candidates in the class cut the cake together with a saber.  (Gotta love Army traditions.)

Brandon and I had cake and then he introduced me to a lot of his TAC officers.  Many of them commented on how resilient and motivational Brandon was.  They all mentioned that they were impressed by how he wouldn't give up when he was almost recycled.  One mentioned, "You can't have a testimony without the test and you certainly were tested."

The evening wore down and soon we were some of the last people there.  We went back home and changed out of our fancy clothes.  Brandon dug my sewing machine out of it's box and sewed his Warrant Officer One rank onto his ACUs so he could wear them after his graduation.  The WO1 rank is a single square dot.  It's often jokingly referred to as the $1000 dot because of all the money that you have to put into buying new stuff for WOCS.  It's totally worth it though.    

Brandon didn't have to be back to 1st WOC until 5:00 am, but I assumed that he would want to sleep there so he didn't have to worry about being late.  Instead he said he wanted to sleep at home. We only live a few minutes away from 1st WOC so it wasn't really that far.  He got up early the next morning to make it back in time.  He spent the morning cleaning things.

Unlike the reception, anyone of any age was welcome to attend graduation.  But I knew that it would be a disaster if Derrick or Veronica came to graduation.  Derrick doesn't handle sound systems or echo-y rooms very well and Veronica doesn't handle staying in one place very well.  I did not want to deal with either of them during such an important event.  So several week earlier I'd asked the Stake's Military Relations missionaries if they would help me find someone to watch Derrick and Veronica during the graduation.  They got the Ward Relief Society President to help me.  She called several people and let them know that I would need help when my movers arrived on Monday and during graduation on Wednesday.  One of the ladies they called called me up on Monday.  She introduced herself as Kami G____ and I instantly recognized that name.

Back on my last night at my sister Lindsey's house in Houston my brother in law John had invited the sister missionaries over for dinner.  He'd forgotten that my family and my mother in law would still be there.  At first Lindsey was a little worried about having so many people over for dinner, but then she found out that one of the sister missionaries had a sister who was living in Fort Rucker while her husband attended flight school.  Suddenly the dinner seemed meant to be.

I asked that Sister Missionary for her sister's name and she told me it was Kami G_____.  She also gave me a hug to give to her sister for her.  I thought I'd have to track Kami down, so I was pleasantly surprised when she called me.  She was also very surprised by our random connection.  I asked her if she would watch my kids during the graduation and she said yes.

I think I would have been a little apprehensive about leaving my kids with an absolute stranger during the graduation.  But that little tender mercy helped me trust her completely.  God really is in the details.  

Kami arrived and Derrick and Veronica seemed just fine with her. (She told me later that they were the easiest kids she ever babysat.)  The rest of us left to go to the Aviation Museum where the graduation would be held.  Brandon met us there and we had fun posing with him in front of the helicopters. 

Charlotte and Lydia were so excited to be there.  They'd been very disappointed when they hadn't been able to go to the reception the night before.  To make it up to them I let them each wear one of my necklaces.  

Soon it was time for everyone to take their seats.  The ceremony started with a little movie about what Warrant Officer Candidate School is all about.   If you are still un-clear about what a Warrant Officer is exactly then this movie might help you understand a little bit better. 

After that a lady sang the National Anthem and the chaplain said a prayer.  I always get teary eyed during the prayers at these things because I know that it is through our Heavenly Father's help that Brandon has been able to accomplish his goals. 

Someone said a few remarks and then it was time for the Oath of Office.  The candidates swore to protect the Constitution of the United States.  When the oath was over they were all officially Warrant Officers. 

After that it was time to pin the special shoulder ranks onto the soldiers.  Candidates names were announced at then they came up to the front in groups of five.  Spouses and other family members were allowed to come up and pin the ranks on.  It helps give us recognition for all the support we have given to our soldiers.  I'd been looking forward to this moment for weeks.

I had planned to pin the rank on both shoulders, but then I decided that Jacque should get to pin one shoulder.  So we all went up there.  The lady who does the facebook page got this shot of me taking a picture of Jacque pinning Brandon.  I know that it's kind of a low quality photo, but I'm posting it because it makes my arms look a lot thinner than they look in the picture above this one.  (I'm vain, I know.)

One of the candidates on the front row took this picture of all of us together.  Gosh this was a awesome moment.

The First Sergeant presented Brandon with a copy of the Constitution. 

There were still many soldiers that had to be pinned so I took the girls to the bathroom.  Honesty I was kind of wishing I'd left them home with the babysitter too.  Both of them kept whining because they were board, and they both kept trying to lift my skirt up.  I really hope they end up with special memories of going to their Daddy's graduation because otherwise I don't know if it was worth it.  

We came back to our seats and were able to hear the candidates say the Soldier's Creed.

Then we had another prayer and the soldiers all sang the Army Song.  I still remember how surprised I was when I found out Brandon knew all the words to this song.  I love the "And the ARMY goes rolling along" part and I found myself singing it the rest of the day. 

Finally it was time for the soldiers to be dismissed.  You can actually hear Lydia crying a little on this movie.  She was upset because I told her that Daddy still had to go to work in the afternoon. 

Brandon met up with us and we took some pictures.  Doesn't he look handsome in his new uniform. 

I kept telling Lydia that Daddy would have two weeks off of work after he checked in with his new unit that afternoon.  But she was still very upset.

Charlotte was a lot happier.  (but don't be fooled she'd done here share of fussing earlier.)

And here is the man of the hour.  Warrant Officer One Mr. Brandon Illguth. A prime example of what hard work and a never say die attitude can achieve.

Of course this is only the beginning.  Brandon has several classes that he has to complete this summer before officially starting flight school in the fall.  We still have a lot of work to do before he accomplishes his goal of becoming a pilot, but we've certainly shown that we are capable of doing hard things.  

During the graduation I'd thought of a quote that had been read at Brandon's graduation from college 5 years ago.  This was a quote that I'd first heard six years ago.  We'd loved it so much that it has kind of become an unofficial family motto.  It reads:

Make no little plans; they have no magic [there] to stir men’s blood
And probably themselves will not be realized.
Make big plans; aim high and hope and work,
Remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die,
But long after we are gone,
Will be a living thing,
Asserting itself with ever-growing insistency.
Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things
That would stagger us.
Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.

~  Daniel Burnham - architect 

I truly believe that making big plans and doing hard things are some of the most noble things that you can do with your life.  These past few years have taught me that God really does have a plan for Brandon and me.  It certainly isn't the plan we expected, but as we've tried to do what He wants we have been blessed.  I am very excited to see what is in store for us.

And as always I want to thank you for the support you have shown us.  Even though we may not know each other well in real life I am very honored that you care enough about my life to read this blog.  Thank you for being there for us.