I'm back from repeating a 4 day training session ("the midpoint") at Athens, GA for the Navy. I already took the instruction in July, but then proceeded to spend the next 5 months failing an exam known as "FS2". It is probably the hardest of all the exams, but it was ridiculous for me to have so much difficulty in passing it.
I'm confident I passed it this time, but that's the way it goes when you fail it twice and know exactly what to key into during the lectures. Unfortunately, I'm pretty far behind and will not likely be able to graduate with my class. Tentatively, I'll be graduating with the next class in August.
Down at school, the mood was totally different than it was when I did the midpoint in July. In July, the basic gouge was that we were all still going to mobilize, either immediately upon graduation, or most likely within a year of graduation. ("Gouge" is Navy-speak for "essential truth of the matter.")
I honestly felt as though this must have been what it was like to attend a military school knowing you were going to fight a war in the Pacific, or in Vietnam, etc. I felt a closeness and comaraderie with my classmates because we were going to war together. There was even a significant chance that some of us would not come back.
I honestly feel that it drew me closer to my classmates. That I wanted to get to know them. That I wanted to hang out with them after class.
Well, what a difference 5 months make! Right now, the gouge is that almost nobody is deploying. The mission in Iraq has drawn down, and with recruiting and retention of the active-duty force through the roof due to the bad economy, they're able to handle most of the requirements in Afghanistan.
Didn't have the same feeling at all. In fact, I've seen e-mails where they're asking for volunteers for mobilizations, and the current trend is that all the mob billets are being filled by volunteers. Figure if somebody is unemployed, $100,000 a year, tax-free, as a deployed O-3 starts looking pretty good.
The folks from California have said that when they're notified of mobilization opportunities, that they're seeing guidance like, "preferrence is being given to people who are currently unemployed."
Again, what a difference! We went from an environment where folks were being deployed no matter what, to one where so few people are deploying that folks are fighting for the opportunity.
Which brings me to some serious thinking on my own situation. As some of you know, this entire process started for me in 2003, when I was still employed at Parker. I tried to get into the National Guard as an infantry officer, and they worked with me a little bit, but then basically informed me that there was no way it could happen fast enough for me to meet the age deadline. (All training, through OCS had to be complete before my 40th birthday.)
Then, in 2005, I got a letter from a Navy Reserve Officer Programs recruiter and immediately submitted my packet. After that, they lost my packet for 8 months. Finally, they found it, and I was selected for a direct commission.
However, I had no idea the training would drag out for so long! I submitted my packet in the middle of 2005, and I won't be deployable until the middle of 2010! Literally, 5 years from the time I submitted my packet is when I'll be fully trained and eligible to deploy.
(And 7 years from the time I started trying to get back into the military! The time-frame is insane. I joined, served and was discharged from the Army in less time than it has taken me just to go from submitting paperwork to getting fully trained in the Navy Reserve! I honestly considered enlisting, again, in the Army back in 2005. I even had the MOS picked out: 13F, an artillery MOS. I sometimes regret that I didn't. I'd already be discharged by now!)
As for my motivation for doing this, as I've made abundantly clear to everybody, I wanted to do this to give back to a nation that has given me so very, very much. I struggled financially as a young man, but pretty much from about 1998 onward, I've been "over the hump" so to speak. Although some folks find it distasteful to use the word "wealthy", I consider myself wealthy in a world where most people barely scrape by.
It could have only happened for me in the United States of America, and it could only happen during an era like our current one. What chance would a person of mixed racial ancestry have had at almost any other time during our history?
For instance, I'm an Army paratrooper, but when you watch Band of Brothers, you'll notice... they're all white. That was the policy back then. Italians and Jews were okay, but Asians and blacks?
My modest success in life is only because I've stood on the shoulders of giants. Giants in the fields of civil rights and giants who stood to defend the country so it could become what it is, now.
My original goal was to go one tour of Individual Augmentation with the Army to Iraq or Afghanistan, and then request transfer to the VTU. (Which means I'd still be technically with the Navy reserve, but would not be drilling. It would be in the ballpark of submitting a resignation.)
I rehearsed the words I was going to say when I was ready for an assignment. "I want an IA with the Army, and not one in the green zone. Put me with a transportation company or an MP unit or some unit that is in harm's way. My preferrence would be that I don't spend much time behind a desk."
For a while, there were a ton of billets available as embedded trainers with the Afghan National Army... that would have been perfect, but we got the news sometime early this year that this mission was drying up as far as mobilization opportunities for Navy O's. In fact, they had a bunch of guys ready to go ETT to the ANA, and they cancelled the mission, the last time they were thinking of doing it.
This would be a winner in almost every conceivable way. I would get to do what I really want to do. I could serve with the Army, where I am most comfortable. With my parachute wings on my uniform, I could move past a lot of the typical hazing a Navy Officer might expect with an Army unit. Another Navy Officer, who might not be so happy about being with the Army, wouldn't have to. Ultimately, an Army officer, who probably has already got a combat tour, maybe two, could stay home because I'd be filling his place.
As a Navy Officer on loan to the Army, I couldn't work in a combat specialty, but fortunately, Navy Supply Corps covers a lot of different areas, including transportation.
There was also a selfish motivation behind wanting to serve. I have admired combat vets my entire life. From my grandfather who flew bombers for the Army Air Corps in WWII to my uncle Gary who died during the Tet Offensive in '68, to the millions of nameless and faceless many who answered the nation's call to service.
I want, quite selfishly, to be able to say that I did my duty and served my time just as they did.
When I left the Army in 1987, I did so with the belief that I'd always come back if the country needed me. It just never really needed me until this decade. The country managed to stay at peace until I got pretty long in the tooth for a military guy.
Now, the opportunity is still there, but in much smaller measure, and the door appears to be closing.
It has left me to wonder if I really want to keep doing this at all. The money is unimportant to me. With Logan turning out to be the biggest jock in my family in a generation, Saturdays mean a lot to me.
A funny thing happened on the way to leaving though. The first, which wasn't entirely unpredictable, is that I love drilling. I love participating in the reserve. I love serving with other servicemembers. I look forward to each drill and enjoy every moment of it.
On top of that, reservists are now eligible to get health-care insurance at what I consider an insanely low rate. I'm able to buy coverage for my entire family for less than $200 a month. It is, without a doubt, the best coverage I've ever had. My copays and deductibles are negligible. Of all the possible benefits they could offer, this one really hits the target with me.
So, I think I may have inadvertently found something I'll probably stick with. I love being part of the world's greatest Navy. Among my many blessings, I count the fact that I have been priviledged to serve in both the world's greatest Army and the world's greatest Navy. I am honored to serve.
A lot of folks will be relieved that my chances of an IA are now greatly reduced. It's not all bad for me, either. This gives me a chance to affiliate with a Navy unit. Navy units still deploy, but it's more likely that they'll deploy to someplace like Bahrain, not Bagram. And the deployments are shorter: 7 months, versus 13.
I had put a lot of my life on hold in anticipation of over a year overseas with the Army. Now, I can start focusing on some other aspects of my life. My business is launching a lawn-care business unit next year. If profitability is good (knock on wood) in the other business units, I'll finally be initiating the aircraft lease business unit.
I can get back to working on my golf game. Next year is the year where I'll teach my son how to golf. I've been holding back, afraid it'll mess up his baseball swing, but he's already one of the best players in the city. He'll figure out how to separate them both. I figure he'll probably play baseball until he's 18, but if I can teach him to golf, he can probably do that his entire life.
Honestly, the thought of not immediately deploying came as a substantial shock to me. I guess now I have to go about living a life that I'd been furiously putting on hold for the past two years.
Okay, those are my major thoughts for the day. Here are some minor ones:
1. The Navy screwed up my promotion paperwork. I'm supposed to be a Lieutenant Junior Grade, not an Ensign right now. However, when processing my security clearance, they saw I was born overseas and said, "Whoa! We need proof of citizenship." Ummm... yeah, the top of that birth certificate? Yeah, the part that says, "Consular Report of the Birth of a United States Citizen Abroad"... yeah, that's sorta the proof that I'm a United States Citizen... Anyway, the security clearance got straightened out, and I have my clearance, now. However, that caused a delay in the processing of my promotion paperwork. For those unfamiliar, this is pretty much an administrative promotion based on time in grade / time in service. Promotions for officers don't really get competitive until you go up for O-4 (Major in the Army / Air Force / Marines, or LT Commander in the Navy.)
2. Got my statement from my country club and man, it'll be nice once I pay off my stock fee. Basically, to belong to a country club, you have to become an owner of the club. These clubs are all owned by the members. In my case, I needed to buy several grand worth of "stock" in the country club in order to belong to it. Now, they made it painless by giving me an interest free loan, but it does suck to have to write out a biggo check every month when you can't even golf. I'll have it paid off in July. Once you pay off your stock fee, frankly, it's a bargain if you golf at all. For a guy like me with a boy who will start golfing, it's ridiculously cheap. I think I pay like $200 a month for my family to golf there. That pays for my locker and for them to keep track of my handicap, and for anybody in my family to golf as much as they want. If you're a golfer, you just can't beat it. Plus, the club is within walking distance of my house, and I'd much rather have Logan spending his Summer days out on the course than in somebody's basement smoking pot and playing video games. The club also has a gorgeous clubhouse and pool which is included in our membership as well.
3. I'm at the tail end of the worst sickness I've had in decades. I really got nailed hard. It was probably a sinus infection that went a little too far before I got meds, but now, I think there might have been a little of something else mixed in there, too. Two interesting notes: once you start blowing out day-glo yellow snot, that's actually a good sign. That's the final stage of your body killing off the last of the bacteria. Second, if you start having "digestive trouble", that's probably because the antibiotic killed off all the bacteria in your intestines. A lot of that bacteria is beneficial, and a lot of it is stuff you need in order for your plumbing to work correctly. I remembered some advice I heard a long time ago: to eat a yogurt the day after your antibiotics run out. Did it and honestly, it cured me within an hour or two. Amazing how sometimes the right cure is just a good diet.
4. Logan woke me up today to tell me that the Browns beat the Steelers. Huh? Really? Man, I feel so bad for the kid. He's the biggest home-town loyal sports fan I've ever seen. I just hate to see him have to go through the hardship of being a Cleveland sports fan. I've always said, "You wanna be a sports fan in Cleveland? You gotta be tough." When we were at Disney, he wore an Indians or Browns uniform item every single day. As always, I'm proud of my little man for being so tough... I just hate to see him suffer. I hope the Cavs do it this year.
Now, time to go in to work. It's been so depressing for so long, I just really need to get re-motivated. We started the year like gangbusters, with record sales and record profitability. However, the last half of the year has blown chunks. We've basically been a nonprofit since June. Time to turn that around. Those Country Club dues ain't gonna pay themselves!
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