Farewell, FANG & Jenn!

We loved our former commander, FANG, and his wife Jenn too much to let them go with just a formal ceremony. So the guys threw a fun-filled farewell for FANG at The Grid, and the ladies followed it up with a Tapas & Tequila celebration of Jenn.

At FANG's farewell party, they broke us up into four teams (A Flight, B Flight, C Flight and the old guys...) and we played several games to earn points. Games included ping-pong, darts, pool, video games, inflated boxing and sumo wrestling. After the final round, the number of wins each team racked up determined the number of blackjack chips we got for a final showdown between the flight commanders. We are proud to say that B Flight won the night!! WOOD!

The B-Flight members not TDY at the time

the guys racing each other on Mario Cart. Very amusing seeing the older commanders play

We took a break in the middle of the fun to formally say farewell to FANG. The different organizations on base that he's been involved with (Ops Group, OSS, 14th, etc.) each presented him with a neat, personalized gift and said a few words.

The gift from the guys in the squadron was hilarious. They went on a "spirit mission" the night before (which basically means they pulled a prank on the other squadron) and stole all of the C's and P's off of every keyboard in the 13th squadron building. Just as our squadron chant is "WOOD!" (for the Samurai Wood Merchants) they say CP! whenever they get riled up, which stands for cave putorium (latin for "fear the weasel". The guys who fly our mission are known as the wild weasels.) The idea was, without those keys, the panthers can't promote their squadron pride at the end of their emails anymore. I thought it was HILARIOUS! (Of course, the guys left them a ransom note demanding a contribution to their bar and will give the letters back when they pay up. It's silly and immature but the squadrons prank each other all the time so within our twisted community this is fairly normal.)

Finally, we watched a video slideshow looking back over FANG's two years of leadership and gave him an opportunity to speak in a less formal setting to our families. I made sure to capture his final "WOOD!" on camera.

He presented the squadron with a fantastic gift. He had the guys at the wood shop make up a giant wooden "Top Gun" board to display in the squadron so we can keep track of those pilots who are excelling in their craft. I hope to see James' name up there soon!

With one final Samurai toast, the evening was over.

After saying farewell to FANG, it was time to honor his wife - a much more emotional event, indeed. So we needed some yummy treats to take the edge off our tears.

We had a large group there since Jenn has been a part of the OSS, 13th AND 14th FS.

One of the nice gifts we presented her with.

Many wonderful and heartfelt speeches were made, both by Jenn and on her behalf by women who love her. I appreciated the fact that she bought flowers for and honored both ladies who had worked with her as DO spouses as well as her wonderfully talented and dedicated key spouse (me. haha)

Many smiles and tears in the room that night

After everyone said their peace, we made sure to get a big group picture to remember the Lady Samurai by.

Vice Wing Commander's wife Kelli Wimmer, Jenn Steffens and Wing Commander's wife Jenn Rothstein

We have been SO blessed with so many strong, wise, gifted, caring and funny command spouses here at Misawa. They take such good care of us and set the tone for our wonderful community. I am so thankful for them! I think they may have spoiled us for fighter communities though... I hope we'll run into them again in future Air Force assignments.