This is outside the KATUSA Snack Bar.

KATUSA – Korean Augmentee to the US Army (cah-too-sah): Like it sounds…Korean boys who’ve decided to serve out their mandatory military service as part of the US Army. It comes with perks – like the snack bar.

You’ll see these on every base here.

There’s actually 2 at Humphreys – this is the prettier one.

But it’s a story I want to save for tomorrow when I am not so exhausted & frustrated.

Eric & I just got back from the monthly FRG meeting for the battalion.

FRG – Family Readiness Group: It’s meant to be a support group for all the spouses of a particular unit. But I’ve not yet experienced it that way. They tend to be drama-filled cliques & rumor mills.

Because of all the recent news coming out of South Korea, tonight’s focus was NEO.

NEO – Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations: The process by which the military will snatch us families up & send us somewhere safe should any natural disaster or military action occur.

And let me just say this…

Soldiers are very much accustomed to hearing the blunt, in-your-face, pull-no-punches reality. But what they tend to forget is that most wives are not.

So when they give the impression that “war is imminent” (when it’s not) & race through the amazingly complex 25-step process to put on your gas mask without letting us actually try it ourselves…it tends NOT to be such a good idea.

They might as well have yelled “FIRE” in a crowded theater.

So here’s a tip for all you wives out there considering or already coming to Korea:

Don’t bury your heads in the sand. Don’t be that wife that has no idea that South Korea is still technically at war with the North.

Don’t be the wife who didn’t take the time to actually READ her NEO paperwork before asking the Colonel what to do about her special needs kid.

Don’t think “Oh, it won’t happen to me” & just let your husbands fill out all the paperwork for you.

Watch the news or read it. Stay informed with what’s happening around you.

Because God forbid, should something ever happen…and if tonight’s any indication…it’s going to be utter pandemonium.