PCS Season Starts
The first part of the PCS season has started as many of the people we work with at Minot Air Force Base, including our own Erin Beene, are planning their mid-summer moves.
In Erin’s case, her husband Jeff is being transferred to Hawaii. Tough assignment! She shared with our spouse roundtable that she is in the process of switching over wardrobes from sweaters and warmer jackets, to shorts and t-shirts. We are certainly going to miss Erin, although she is staying on as a member of the Northern Sentry team as our social media guru, and editor of the Weekly Post Brief. Good luck to Erin and family. Don’t forget the sunscreen, a lot of sunscreen.
For a North Dakota boy who has never lived more than a couple of hours from the small town where I was born, the PCS season has always taken some getting used to. Good friends like Col. Johnny Galbert and his wife Audrian will be moving back to familiar territory at F.E. Warren AFB where Col. Galbert will be the Commander of the 90th Missile Wing, the Mighty 90. Again, good luck to the Galberts as they get ready to move.

I Do Not Like To Move
In general, I don’t think North Dakotans like to move. Of course, that could be because of we are a very rural state, and many of us can tie our backgrounds to a family farm, or a small community that was the epicenter of a farming community.
But therein lies the issue of growing up in a small town. There are very limited opportunities. Main streets in small towns have suffered from the loss of businesses and schools that have either closed or merged with nearby school districts. There are also fewer family farms, and thus fewer farm families. Young people are forced to move and find opportunities elsewhere. My opportunity came right out of college working for a local TV station in Minot. I never really planned to stay in Minot forever, but 46 years later…almost forever, I guess.

The young people I work with in Public Affairs often laugh at me when I share with them my history of moving, and staying, in Minot. Many of them like Minot, but the fact remains they will probably not be here more than two years. Within that culture they learn to be very efficient at moving. Less is more in their world. Unfortunately, that is not the case for me. I am one of those people who rents a storage unit to pack away belongings that really should be triaged with non-necessary (now try to define that if you will) items either sold or thrown out.

It’s A Way of Life, Right?
Even though the PCS season is a way of life on military bases, I still have trouble embracing the thought that my next door neighbor, fellow church member or contact on MAFB, will be leaving within two years. But as is the tradition, we certainly wish them well on their journey to wherever they are destined.

Best Kept Secret
We all got a great view of the beautiful Northern Lights last Thursday evening. The best kept secret is that they happen often in North Dakota. You just have to watch the NOAA web site for peak opportunities to view them. Not all Northern Light displays are like the Thursday night event, seen pretty much in all of the northern United States. But NOAA says that their website information is only a prediction. I have been in the North Unit of the Badlands, where there is absolutely no ambient light, and have witnessed spectacular displays that have lasted most of the night.

Today’s Chuckle
The difference between a discussion and an argument is whether you’re winning it or not.