I had a First Sergeant on my first tour in the Army who had two sayings that will always stick with me. 1. "Forewarned is forearmed." 2. "Familiarity breeds contempt." As many of you are starting to make plans for this summer travel season, it's important to understand what these two idioms have to do with your travel plans.

Forewarned is Forearmed

Recent changes in the military space available (Space-A) travel regulations have increased the number of dependents traveling without their sponsor.  As a result, there are a staggering number of people trying to compete for Space-A seats. This is the case especially to and from Europe, Hawaii and the Far East during the summer months. Travelers that have based their entire plan around space-a travel have been disappointed after waiting weeks for a flight. I'm not telling you not to travel this summer but check things out in advance. There is a place on my space-a discussion board, http://www.pepperd.com, that can help you keep track of the last category moved at most of the major chokepoints in the space-a system. If you are not up to speed on travel categories check out the breakdown at John D's FAQ page. 

Familiarity breeds contempt

I know when I first heard about Space-A travel; it sounded like it was too good to be true. The reason I say this is there may be many people that are new to the military or Space-A travel that figure they will just try it out. Although it can be a very good way to travel and save some money, don't feel like you know enough about it and just take a trip without planning or preparation. The summer travel season is tough because of the sheer number of people trying to compete for a finite number of seats. Do your homework and definitely have a plan "B" with the available funds to implement that plan.