Things you don't realize carried over from your Career in the Military...like telling time. Kathy got up for work and saw my schedule for my breathing treatments:
1800, 2200, 0200, 0600, 1000,1400, and repeat. With a check mark next to the number.
"What are all these numbers?"
"Oh, that's what time I have to take the next treatment."
"What time is one thousand eight hundred?"
I laughed.
"It's pronounced 18 hundred. The ones that begin with a "Zero" are pronounced : "Oh, 200 " etc... ."
"Really, wow, that's weird. Why so many numbers?"
I had to think about that for a bit. Because they actually hint at just how different Military Life is. In the Military, you need, and probably have had times- where you needed all 24 hours of a day, just to do your mission. And just the fact that all 24 hours are noted, each and every day, reveals that you belong to good old Uncle Sam 24 hours of every day. The Military uses the whole day, every day.
Civilians (bless their time off) Think of a "Day", as 2 hrs of travel, and eight hours of work. And that is their entire Day. The night is theirs. They can't even make appointments after Five PM! Let alone have 800 Men meet at the Motor Pool for a Class on Vehicle Maintenance.
And Military precision is inherent in the numbers too. "Fall in at 0530 hours."We will dismiss Class at 1900 hours." "Send them down range at 1425, troops follow at 1445." Down to the minute.
And a sense of Duty is in the Military way for keeping Time, for you are aware that you might be called on for something little, something big, or even war...and if it is 0300 when you get the call, well, up you get, grab your go Bag, or Kit, and your out the door. Call a Civilian at 0300 and see when they show up. LOL
And lastly, I think it shows how much we give to Serve. We don't work for six hours, or eight, or ten, and only on weekdays. We give our all, every day, and it is all day. Not 10 hours, give or take.
Military time is something to be proud of.
And I think it is about time we recognize that.