When Steve first joined the United States Army, he wanted to be in for the full 20 years until he retired. I was planning on being there right by his side the whole time. Through Deployment after Deployment. Well times have changed and we both have changed... This last Deployment has changed us a lot. He has some health problems both physical and mental, he has signs of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) but has not yet been tested for it. After this last Deployment, he said no more. He is getting out of the United States Army. I am very thankful for that because I honestly don't think I can handle another Deployment. I have a lot of respect for the women who have combat husbands that keep it together during Deployment after Deployment. I have a lot of anxiety problems (I have had them since I was a kid) and start losing my breath and have anxiety attacks when the TV is even too loud. Military life has challenged our marriage and faith and we are ready for a normal civilian life with normal jobs and in a normal house with normal conversations.. instead of here living in a foreign country in a military issued apartment that was made so cheaply and you can hear every conversation in the next apartment over, or talking about war games, guns, and who is getting kicked out of the Military because they beat their wife or kids.. yes, that is all normal conversation about Steve's day at work. Yep, we are ready for "normal"... a new normal anyways.
The countdown begins... As of today, we have three months left in the Army, three months until we go back to America, homeless and jobless. That's five more Army paychecks, two more German phone and internet bills, three more FRG meetings, THREE MONTHS!!
You would probably think we would have a savings, a plan on what we are going to do, where we are going to live, and so on.. and we do.. sorta. We are lobbying between what we want to do with our lives next.. We have a few ideas.. here they are-
1.) Get out of the Military, move to Pennsylvania, and have Steve got to Penn State University for his BA in Nursing.
2.) Leave active duty Army and reenlist to join the National Guard or Army Reserve for stability so we can keep the free medical. Move to where ever the Army sends us and have Steve go to college at a local college there. (National Guard and Reserve are considered Weekend Warriors. He will never deploy, just train with his unit every few weekends and activated when there is a hurricane or something like that to protect the public).
3.) Get out of the Military completely, pick a State that is known to be really nice, move there and have Steve go to the local college there then move to the next State we choose every few years.. and so on so we are not stuck on the same place for the rest of our lives.. We like the "moving" lifestyle.
Well that's it folks. We are still trying to decide what path we are wanting to take. If you have any input, suggestions, or advice, please let me know. I would love to hear it. I guess in three months we will ALL find out what we will end of doing because right now, none of us have a clue.
You may want to look into the Reserve and National Guard a little more. They still deploy but not as often. Most times they take volunteers but sometimes they do fall on mandatory deployment orders as well. All in all good look with your endeavors!
ReplyDeleteThanks Beba, When you reenlist for "stability" in the National Guard, that means you won't deploy. Stability in Active duty means that you just want to stay at one duty station longer.. we have been talking with both active duty and NG recruiters and this is what they are telling us. Thanks so much for your feedback.
DeleteNo problem. They can promise a certain amount of dwell time where he won't deploy but once that time is up, he will be deployable once again. I'm almost positive that's the way it works but double check with the recruiters. They can sometimes twist their words but in the end they have to tell you the truth.
DeleteBeba- You are right about the national guard. I have a brother-in-law and my best friend's husband are both in the national guard. & that is how it has worked for them. Once the year or two was up, they were deployable again. My best friend's husband just returned from his 4th deployment in 8 years with the national guard. He was told he shouldn't have to deploy again and then they basically forced him to right before his time in the guard was up. Just make sure you read all the fine print before re-enlisting with the guard if you don't want to deploy.
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