We were so lucky to be here for Adam's promotion ceremony to 1st Lieutenant. His promotion ceremony was on his flightline. Adam manages a fleet of F-15 fighter jets. We got there early, so that we could see the jets take off on their sorties, or daily training missions. F-15s are used for air to air combat, so the pilots at Kadena train every day to be ready for wartime missions. It was really cool to see the jets.

When Adam was promoted, there was a huge crowd of maintenance, operations, and top brass. Everyone commented that it was a big crowd for a Lieutenant promotion, and had lots of compliments for Adam. He is well respected, and does an incredible job managing the planes. We were sad that the rest of the family couldn't be there too. It was a really awesome experience.

One of the crew chiefs hung around and let everyone go up and see the cockpit. No pictures were allowed of the actual cockpit. Narci was really scared to go up the jump ladder, so they ordered a special ladder to be brought over so everyone could easily go up and see things.

Kadena is a HUGE base, with tons of military families. Seeing all of that makes you proud to be an American, and grateful for the sacrifices that these women and men and their families make to be halfway around the world to keep our nation safe.