Posted on Mar 19, 2016
MSG Anthony DiFondi
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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?
Posted in these groups: Retirement logo RetirementSleep Sleeping
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CPO Jim Hughes
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oh my...I retired in 2002....and still have dreams about reporting to my first ship...with no uniforms....same dream, over and over....weird
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SSgt Liam Babington
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I have but have no desire to put back on a uniform! Keep the good life you have and be grateful for having the time you did in the military and be thankful for what you have now! I am! Buy yes I have had such dreams! What I wrote here is what Intold myself over and over til it stuck.
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SSG John Jensen
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all the time - mostly variations of that bit at the end when I was retired from the guard and still waiting for the technician retirement to kick in (it took a year, most people it's 2 months), and mostly those little mistakes getting blown up to big stuff (almost nightmares)
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PO2 David Harlow
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I've been out for 10 years, and also have these dreams. In my case, I'm back on the Carl Vinson for a fourth deployment. I see that I'm twice as old as anyone, all pretty much out of high school, and I'm already on the watchbill for a post I haven't stood in, well, 10 years. I wasn't married when I was in, but I am now, so I have that sinking feeling when I'm in the dream that I have to leave her behind for at least the next 6 months (well, that's how long most of my deployments were back then, sorry about nowadays. My last one was 8 1/2 months if that helps). I'm not as well-off as we'd all love to be, but I'm happy, back in school for web design (thanks, GI Bill), and am surrounded by cats :) .
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CPL Thomas Pressleylll
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most days I do, esp. when see so little common sense in civilian life.
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SSgt Gordon Olayvar
SSgt Gordon Olayvar
>1 y
Thats O.K. Tom, we just need to remind ourselves once in a blue moon that we cannot expect others who did not experience what we experienced to understand how we veterans look at and mitigate issue's we encounter on a daily basis....just know that it's perfectly O.K.
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SPC James Dollins
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Usually 2-3 times a month.. Mine are NEVER pretty.. Definitely NOT my choice to dream what I do. I will say, just like my service is part of me, so are the scars, visible or not! Meds do help, w/o them I would probably be in much worse shape! I always said I didn't want to depend on meds, well that outlook changed. I had finally had enough of trying to deal w/ it myself.
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PO1 Robert Gasser
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Hell yes I do!! Both good and bad. Love those dreams!!
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SFC Raymond Koeller
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Sure did! Retired in 2005 and still have those dreams occasionally. Some were good dreams and some were nightmares. Not sorry that I only served 20 years and like you I have a successful post-military life.
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SSgt Gordon Olayvar
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(Mind you I'm generalizing) IRT my service related dreams; sometimes they occur often, though I can go long periods without having any dreams related to my service. I sometimes think that there maybe triggers in our daily life that may be cause for these dreams to occur, or a kind of reflection, it's not all a negative experience. The simple fact is that our service experience was a very imortant part of our life, I remind myself when I need to. Our service experience helped us develope our character and the way we I look at and manage life's common challenges, how I feel and think about things and how I tend to manage or mitigate our daily challenges. Those experiences such as combat and the loss & fear associated with it is there as well though I try to turn that into a positive, just making life around me as blessed for others as I can possibly and reasonably do. One of the best self medication tools we can use to help us manage anxiety, stress & sometimes fear associated with our military and or combat experience is be of service to people in need, help someone, be available to someone in need. Our dreams will be with us as long as we live. How we feel, and what we do after we dream is up to us....Semper Fi!
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LTC Robin P.
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Oh, yes. Oddly, it is always either my first assignment, or my last assignment. Sometimes I'm just continuing along like it was in real life and don't realize there is anything "off" about it. Other times I have the sense that I am "back" to the assignment somehow from somewhere else. I have also dreamed that I am retired but somehow keep my clearance and all my badges and just keep showing up in uniform and working. That might be because we had a Colonel in real life who did exactly that: retired, got re-activated, then was right back at work again!
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MSgt Darren VanDerwilt
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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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SGT Kristopher Lockrem
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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
CPO David Baldwin
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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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SFC Chem Bev Specialist
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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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MAJ Hugh Blanchard
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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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SFC Rollie Hubbard
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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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PO1 Cliff Heath
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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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SFC National Service Officer
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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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SPC(P) Retired Police Captain/Division Commander
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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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MAJ Bill Darling
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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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MSgt Raymond Stettner
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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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