How has everyone enjoyed the Civilian life?

SPC David S. — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 14:34:10 -0400

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Jun 3 at 2015 2:37 PM

SCPO David Lockwood — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 14:37:29 -0400

Very much! Beats being help accountable for others actions! No more deployments! Spending time with the family. Going home every night. You just cant beat it!

Response by SGT James Elphick made Jun 3 at 2015 2:43 PM

SGT James Elphick — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 14:43:45 -0400

It has it's ups and downs, some days I miss being in the military, others I'm happy to not be up running PT at 0600 in the freezing cold

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 3 at 2015 3:09 PM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 15:09:45 -0400

I hate the wishy-washy-ness of corporate America. I long for the good old days where decisions were made and stood by (even with MDMP) 19 people have to have 5 meetings to decide the flavor of the Kool-Aid for the day. Pleasing corporate executives is not the same as taking care of your CO by a long shot.

Response by SrA Edward Vong made Jun 3 at 2015 3:40 PM

SrA Edward Vong — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 15:40:45 -0400

I'm enjoying civilian life much more, but sometimes I feel nostalgic and think about when I used to load bombs.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jun 3 at 2015 4:14 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 16:14:21 -0400

It sucks but it's my fault.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 3 at 2015 9:11 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 21:11:49 -0400

I am still in the Reserves, so I get my fill of "the good old days" once a month.

Civilian life requires some adjustment though. People don't understand, or think they do but say well-meaning but clueless things. I find I don't have much patience anymore since a deployment to Iraq. I get angry easier, and I have no respect for authority when "authority" does something senseless. I keep thinking to myself "that's the kind of $%#@ reasoning that gets people killed!' and I have to talk myself down and remind myself it isn't "there" anymore, it's "here", and here has more leeway for stupid.

Response by SGT Rick Ash made Oct 5 at 2015 4:28 PM

SGT Rick Ash — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 16:28:20 -0400

I'll give you the facts, you decide. I got out at the rank of E-5 after only 6 years. Standard pay. 11 days after getting out I went back to Huntsville, AL where I had been stationed twice as we loved the city. I landed a job at a start-up company manufacturing "modems". My military experience got me a $15 per hour pay scale in 1979! I was there for the first $1M shipping month then the $2M, the $3M, the $4M and the Five million. After that we quit celebrating and grew and grew. We lived like Royalty and started saving immediately. That led to a sales career with the same company. The VP of Sales came back to Engineering and told me to sign up for a job he was posting. I got that job, an increase in my base plus a commission plan. I didn't know you could make that much money! I stayed in Sales and founded 3 different companies. I sold the first 2 companies for a great profit after 7 years each and will sell the third company within the next 2 years. I love my civilian life!

Response by SSgt Luke Hunt made Aug 22 at 2016 5:33 AM

SSgt Luke Hunt — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 05:33:13 -0400

I was a reservist for 20 years, so I had the best of both worlds. I do miss the organization structure that I was a part of while serving. Once I retired, things went downhill fast. Many people talked to me as if I had done nothing in the military. Others liked the fact that I was able to lead and think outside the box in some instance. Given the chance to return to service, I would do it tomorrow.