Posted on Mar 19, 2016
Does Anyone Else Have Recurring Dreams About Being Back In the Military?
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I retired from the Army with 24 years of service back in late 2011. In the last 3 years, I have had dreams that I had to go back in the Military and I am now unable to keep up with the young troops and all the changes to the equipment and gear. The dreams are unsettling and very real to me. I know they are not about having an unsettled life that needs structure again, as I have an excellent job and great post-military career. I am finally settled in one spot and am very happy, so it can’t be an unhappy thing. Anyone else have these dreams?
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 162
Every once in a while I'll have one. They're crazy, like dreams where you're out in public and completely nude. I live in Alalska, but my dreams have me working on the Nelis flightline. All the people I remember are there, glad to see me. The problem arises where I realize I'm sporting five days of not shaving.
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It's funny you mention it, just had one last night, and I have been out since 2000. A lot of times, I dream that I have to go back through basic at 40 years old, and I end up getting pissed at some DI, and get kicked out. Last nights dream was all about BRM, and I couldn't qualify for the life of me.
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CPO David Baldwin
Funny you should mention basic and 40 years old. I was assigned to train recruits at the ripe old age of 41. Our training required me to complete basic training twice to qualify.
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Yes all the time, and if I watch a war flick IE Band of Brothers/The pacific it worse. glad to see I'm not alone.
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My wife still has to wake me up sometimes at night because I'm dreaming and speaking in foreign languages again. I don't dream of being unable to keep up, but some of the dreams can be in really "kinetic" and violent situations, including dreams of parachuting a few times. Pretty entertaining stuff...
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The only dreams I had were after I retired and started driving tractor trailers usually after a long night driving and after I went to sleep really weird dreams. But nothing about being back in the army.
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YES I DO MY FIRST HITCH I WAS AN ABH ON USS ENTERPRISE, WHEN I WENT BACK IN ON THE NAVET PROGRAM IN 84 I CROSSED RATES TO GMG AND WAS PLANKOWNER ON USS VINCENNES CG-49 AND MY LAST COMMAND WAS USS ELLIOT DD-967 A SPRU-CAN. AS ANYBODY WHO HAS SERVED ON A CARRIER CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE LONG LINES FOR ANY AND EVERY THING, HAVING TO ANCHOR OUT AND TAKE LIBERTY-BOATS INSTEAD OF TYING UP AT PIER. ANYWAY I AM ALWAYS HAVING A DREAM WHERE I AM ON A CARRIER USUALLY ENTERPRISE OR CARL VINSON. I KEEP TELLING EVERYBODY THAT AS A GMG I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE BUT ALL THEY SAY IS "OH WELL YOU'RE HERE NOW" NOT COMBAT FLASHBACK BUT STILL WAKES ME UP IN A SWEAT.
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Have those dreams multiple times a week. Not quite sure what brings them on. Been retired for over 5 years now and have no real desire to return back to the green machine.
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Yes. I have been out of the Army for 21 years, but through those years I have had dreams at different times of being back in. Some of the dreams were good, some were as you described as being behind the 8 ball and thinking to myself "Why in the heck did you re-enlist again?". I just think that those memories come from years of service in the military that will forever be burned in our memories and will come up in dreams from time to time. As long as it is not PTSD related symptoms, I wouldn't worry about it. Friends I talk to have had the same dreams of being back in the military again, from Army Soldiers to Marines, to Air Force Airman and Navy Sailors. I think it is normal!
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I did frequently in the 90s. I was miserable at being stuck as an AG officer in nondeployable units and would literally dream of going back to my first unit (1-506th) in Korea. Even now I can admit it was, by far, the most fulfilling assignment in the Army.
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I retired from the Air Force in 1996. Now it's 2016 and I still have dreams/nightmares about some of my opps, Yet I have a stable job, been married to the same understanding woman of 39yrs. I am still stuck in 1978 and the debacle that was Johnstown. A counselor I was seeing told me it"s "normal" to relive any violent act in your past. Yep, that's true. Having helped returning vets in my town fro Iraq has helped me face my demons.
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I retired from Marines in 1994. VI had those sorts of dreams for around 5 or so years. Finally stopped having them.
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I only did 3 year RA and 5 Reserve and NG and I still have recurring dreams about being back in the military. I am usually on a new tour in S. Korea or sometimes I waiting to get out of the service and I've missed my discharge date.
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Always it was a good point and bad from when I was 17 to 29 Born on a Military Base raised in War by a LRRP Father forbidden to follow in his footsteps only to do so and lose him so young just coming to the realization of what the stories meant about Honor and Leadership and Command Ability. Authority is one thing I can authorize my dog to take out the trash but if the trash doesn't get taken out it's on me...laffs .it is up to us to pass this along Lean into It and Raise the next generation of War Fighters better than we ever imagined... They have the KSA and the Spirit...
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I also have dreams of being back in the service. I attribute these dreams to missing the service.
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Hmmm...I've been out since 1991 after two hitches and still have dreams once in a while about going back in to finish up my "20" for retirement, Being back on a ship deployed on a WESTPAC cruise, Looking frantically for my dress blue jumper top or badly needing a haircut and hoping no one notices! I think my favorite is being out in town and wondering if maybe I forgot about having the "Duty" that day and was I on the watch bill? I will typically wake up nervously from those dreams, remember where I am, laugh about it, think "KISS MY ASS CHIEF!", roll over and go back to sleep! LOL
But then again, every once in a while I have this weird dream about being back in High School working towards my diploma but then it dawns on me "Wait a minute! I have a bachelor's degree and I am over 50! What the hell am I doing sitting in this classroom with all these kids?
But then again, every once in a while I have this weird dream about being back in High School working towards my diploma but then it dawns on me "Wait a minute! I have a bachelor's degree and I am over 50! What the hell am I doing sitting in this classroom with all these kids?
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I've been retired 16 years and still do. Usually I'm out of uniform or late or something else. I think they're pretty entertaining.
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I've been retired for 15 years and I still have recurring dreams about the navy. Sometimes I am out of uniform and this Chief I worked for is asking me why I do not have a uniform. I have no answer for why I do not have a uniform. In my dreams I go to different duty stations that I have never been to in real life. I thought I was the only one who had dreams about my military service.
Some times my dreams are very violent. I think that is because of the drugs I'm taking for Parkinson's disease. I scream and wave my fists in the air and fall out of bed. The VA gave me Clorazapan, but it did nothing for me.
Some times my dreams are very violent. I think that is because of the drugs I'm taking for Parkinson's disease. I scream and wave my fists in the air and fall out of bed. The VA gave me Clorazapan, but it did nothing for me.
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