I am a proud Navy wife to a man who has served our country for just about 9 years now. My husband was worked his entire career so far on submarines which is considered Special Forces within the Navy.

While being a submariner is a volunteer position, they do go through lots of tests to see if they can handle the stresses of the job. Imagine being stuck inside a huge metal tube with 150-300 other guys deep down under the water for up to months at a time. Takes a certain type a of person to handle that!

My claustrophobic butt wants to run away screaming at just the thought!
The Submariner life is an interesting lifestyle. Interesting as in it’s mainly a mystery. With the locations of their ports and the happenings that go on being classified information, Hubby and I don’t talk about his work. We will talk about the junior that got caught picking his nose or the funny joke one of the cooks told him but nothing of importance. Basically though, I know nothing of his job.

I mean I know the rank and rate [job] my husband is and the basic summary description of the job that any recruiter could tell you. I know his job requires him to stay longer hours and stay more connected to his boat then 98% of the men on it. For example during times of pre-deployment leave, the time one spends with their family before deployment, my husband is one of the few men who still has to go in for 3-4 hours [2 if we are lucky] a day to check on things and make sure they are all prepared.

With as much as my husband works and with as much as he cannot tell me I’m not missing out on much of his life. The things that do affect his personal life are the jokes, mishaps, and the relationships with his crew and all that he CAN tell me. For him to tell me all the procedures he does would be like me telling my husband the exact details of diaper changing. “Well honey, I unsnapped the onesie, took of the left side of her diaper, then the right. I used 5 wipes and diaper cream before putting a diaper under her butt and closing it up.” Really I could just say “I changed her diaper.” Changing a diaper doesn’t change who I am or my personality nor does my husband’s day to day tasks change his.

When I was pregnant with Emma, Hubby and I were preparing for the switch from shore duty to sea duty. We discussed a lot about the fact that his job is full of sensitive information. I made the decision and asked my husband not to tell me anything. The less I know the safer I feel about my husband’s safety. Loose lips do sinks ships after all.

I know it is a crazy lifestyle to know so little about what my husband does 8-10 hours each day. All I can say is I married him for the man he is and not the job that he does. Well, ok… and maybe a little for the uniform but can you blame a girl?

Tara and her beautiful one year old daughter currently live in Submariner capital, anxiously awaiting the return of her hubby, who is currently deployed. She writes about her life as a Submariner Wife on her personal blog This Military Mama . You can also find her writing on ways to celebrate birthdays and holidays with loved ones who are far away at Celebrating Even with Distance for Party Planning Professor . She is also being courageous enough this year to weekly Vlog her successes and failures of healthy eating at NewBaby.com . Tara enjoys shopping for the perfect outfit, shoe hunting, and scrapbooking. She currently is relying on good TV [ahem, Lost] to get her through this deployment.