C is for CINC House (and Call Signs)

For the most part when I hear the term call sign, I think of Maverick, Iceman, and Goose from Top Gun. Call signs are the nicknames given to fighter pilots and those working within operational wings. My husband earned his call sign while stationed in Korea. And I was bestowed the honor of my very own call sign from my husband shortly after getting married. 

The first time I heard my husband refer to me as CINC House, I had to ask what exactly he meant by that. Kind of like when he used to call me “nachalnik.” It turns out they mean about the same thing. “Nachalnik,” is one of the terms for boss in Russian, and CINC House stands for commander and chief at home. For someone who is referred to as “boss” as often as I am you would think I would feel like I had a little more control. But it turns out once you add two crazy dogs and a very opinionated toddler to the mix you get to keep the title of boss, with none of the perks. Now every time my husband says, “let me check with CINC House,” I almost expect him to address our toddler. 

Back to Call Signs, I will never forget the first time I heard someone call my husband by his call sign. I was so confused by what was gong on. First of all his call sign sounds simple enough, TULSA. I figured he earned it because of something that had to do with Oklahoma. It turns out it has nothing to do with Oklahoma at all. It turns out his call sign is actually an acronym. Because lets face it, those military people are all about they acronyms. At first I thought it was a little off, but then when I started hearing some of our friends call signs, I realized my husband really lucked out! It isn’t terrible having T.U.L.S.A written on all of the plaques, awards, and going away gifts we have spread across our house. I thank my lucky stars our walls aren’t adored with framed going away plaques engraved with “DUMBASS” or “CUDDLES,” 

For those of you that just have to know what T.U.L.S.A stands for….my husband says I can only reveal it once I complete A to Z Challenge. So check back at the end of April!