I am coming up on 5 years since my ETS and over the past few weeks I have been thinking about what it was like when I was still in and how things have changed since then. Both in my personal life and how the military has evolved as well. I've watched as my brothers & sisters in arms deploy on more than one tour since I got out. It bothered me that I wasn't going with them and that I had to "watch from the sidelines" as they served in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq. Most came back just fine. A few came back with some trouble hanging over them. One in particular wasn't able to come home.
We've all had losses and we all have had our reasons to get out, but as I have been thinking about this it got me curious on:
1) what others were thinking when they got out,
2) what their reason was, and
3) since then is it "better" now that they are out.
Me personally, I got out for a few reasons. The main one was I had my first child born that year and I wanted to make sure I was there for him. A selfish reason in my opinion but I was deployed with many fathers, including one who had his son born mere weeks before we left. He missed out on that whole first year and only got to see him grow in pictures. This was before we had solid communication lines back home and I know how much that tore him up. As I was there for my son's first year I realized how important that was and how lucky I was to be there for it. That made me want to make sure I remained there and didn't "disappear" for a year or more.
There were, of course, a couple other reasons why I made the call to get out (promotions, new tech, etc.) but that was the main one. Since then I've watched my son grow up to Kindergarten, had a daughter, and work my ass off to keep our life together. Although the time that I would normally spend at drill I put in extra hours on weekends/evenings for work. I miss my company and battle buddies, but we stay in touch. But I still wonder what it would have been like to put in a few more years. "Come on...11 more until you're at your 20!".
What about you? Everybody's got their reasons. What's yours?
We've all had losses and we all have had our reasons to get out, but as I have been thinking about this it got me curious on:
1) what others were thinking when they got out,
2) what their reason was, and
3) since then is it "better" now that they are out.
Me personally, I got out for a few reasons. The main one was I had my first child born that year and I wanted to make sure I was there for him. A selfish reason in my opinion but I was deployed with many fathers, including one who had his son born mere weeks before we left. He missed out on that whole first year and only got to see him grow in pictures. This was before we had solid communication lines back home and I know how much that tore him up. As I was there for my son's first year I realized how important that was and how lucky I was to be there for it. That made me want to make sure I remained there and didn't "disappear" for a year or more.
There were, of course, a couple other reasons why I made the call to get out (promotions, new tech, etc.) but that was the main one. Since then I've watched my son grow up to Kindergarten, had a daughter, and work my ass off to keep our life together. Although the time that I would normally spend at drill I put in extra hours on weekends/evenings for work. I miss my company and battle buddies, but we stay in touch. But I still wonder what it would have been like to put in a few more years. "Come on...11 more until you're at your 20!".
What about you? Everybody's got their reasons. What's yours?
Retirement
Re-enlistment
ETS/EAS
Posted 11 y ago
This is a duplicate discussion and the contents have been merged with the original discussion. Click below to see more on this topic...
Why did you stay in the Military or get out?
Why did you stay in the Military or get out before retirement? Are you happy with your choice?
Why did you stay in the Military or get out before retirement? Are you happy with your choice?
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