Engineer Memoirs
Q:
I focused my question on that because I wanted to get into this matter of the--you
know, the phrase "Army wife" in general. That's more than a cliche, isn't it, because
you really are--
A:
Oh, it's a profession. It really is a full-time job. And many people are not suited for it,
but I think I was particularly suited for it.
Q:
Would you talk about it in general, you know? How is it a full-time job? What does it
require?
A:
Well, it requires a willingness to change. Every situation was different, I feel, through
the years. Every assignment Ernie had, I had a different role. I think it was quite a
challenge to do it well.
Q:
I'm sure it was.
A:
And I think it's very important that the wives admit that this is a job.
I think the assignments and the career of the husband come first, but I don't feel the
wife should feel that she's second place. It's just that these decisions are made way out
somewhere. You don't just decide, "Well, I want to go here or there." The government
decides or the Army decides or your husband decides or something, and you go and
you make the best of it. There's something good in every place.
Q:
The career essentially belongs to both of you.
A:
It does indeed, except, as I say, the wife does not have much impact on where the next
assignment is--I don't feel she should. I feel that, yes, she should be considered to
some extent. But it's primarily what's good for many features other than simply her
personally.
Q:
One of the things that I was struck with when I talked with your husband about this,
about how assignments are determined--he was, you know, very unabashed about how
he went to his father's friends when he needed help.
A:
Very infrequently. The one time I mentioned is the only time I remember. Rather than
going to Albuquerque, he really thought going to SHAPE would be very exciting. And
there were very few junior officers there.
The aides were about the only other ones that I can remember who were as junior as
he was. He did have one classmate over there who was an exec to somebody. But
generally, we were with older people. Lieutenant colonels and colonels were doing the
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