Our Military Hurdle

This morning I woke up to a phone call from a Master Sergeant "M". He had received the message I wrote through ICE and was looking into it. He said tomorrow he will be back at Fort Hood and speaking with branch on Josh's behalf, given that we had filled out the paperwork (which we have) that we had stated.

I was very excited to talk to Josh. We are both quite a bit relieved to be receiving "interest" in our hurdle and things are looking more positive than they were a week ago.

Once I got off the phone with Josh I had another email from another 'big head' who we'll call "CM". He said he needed to know who we are because you do not leave specific personal information on the ICE comments. He also said he has been unaware of any soldier having troubles with branch and that he has been trying to help families who both want to go to Kentucky and who do not. I wrote him back and said....

"Hi, CM. This is Stephanie Moody, wife of Joshua Moody. I did not include the personal information in the ICE comment because it said not to leave specific personal info in there.

Thank you for your reply. Just so you are aware, the day after I wrote the ICE comments, Josh had a talk with Lt. Col. Ch and then this morning I woke up to a call from (I am not sure of his rank) but a Mr. M. Both men were very nice and expressed interested in helping us out with these orders. Lt. Col. Ch also pointed out to us that we have only been here at Hood two years, and we were told that when you move to a duty station there is usually a three year minimum. I don't know if I am saying this all right or how accurate the information is in how it pertains to us.

I don't know that this is a serious problem, I just know that it is a serious concern of ours as a family. We would appreciate in any assistance we can get in this matter. I know Josh has been trying to work with his chain of command and how it was described to me that everyone in his command had been helpful, but he said that branch has the overall final decision and his branch manager has been less than helpful. I know that he has been trying to be careful not to step on toes here or to not properly follow the chain of command in order. He values his career and isn't trying to offend anyone or get on anyone's bad side.

Although recently Mr. M and Lt. Col. Ch said they were speaking to branch and more people have been willing to help, Josh is still slotted for Kentucky.

If there is more we can do or information that you need, please let me know and thank you very much for your time and consideration. I also went ahead and attached the 4187 to this email."

I then signed with all of my contact information and such.

After I read CM's Email, another came through from a Mr. DCW that said, "I am the Fort Hood Customer Service Officer and manager of the ICE Program. We have received your ICE comment below and have passed your concerns on the he Directorate of Human Resources to be looked into. Typically we do not get involved in chain of command issues; however, we have also forwarded this comment to the rear detachment commander responsible for you here on Fort Hood and the commander has informed me that they are forwarding this comment to your husband's commander.

Should you have any questions, feel free to contact me."

I wrote him back just thanking him for his understanding, time, and willingness to find us help.

There's a part of me who is nervous; I do not want to get Josh into any sort of trouble or tarnish his career, but I am even more afraid of Stephen's delays getting worse and of the financial strains of a move at this time. I really help that someone is able to help us and I feel very warm, very grateful right now.

Wish Us Luck!!!