Where does the time go?
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:03 pmIn approximately 11 months I will be retiring from the U.S. Army Reserve component. I will be able to count a period of time as an enlisted person and an officer that spans 14,768 days. For those who like the math done for them that is 40 years, 5 months, and 7 days if I hit my target date of June 30, 2017 to officially retire.
The reasons are more than one. Suffice to say it is time. Interestingly it has nothing to do with how much the army has "changed" since I got in. It is not without a certain amount of sadness and trepidation that I contemplate this significant change in my life.
Over the span of 40 years I have had an incredible opportunity to do things that the average person never gets to experience. Especially in this age when less than 2% of the available population volunteers for military service. I have had the incredible chance to mentor and learn from a host of bright and dedicated people in the military.
I have accrued over 13 years of active duty, 7 + years of inactive service (I was officially in but didn't do much except grow a mustache), and 20+ years of reserve duty doing "one week-end a month and two weeks a year"
Anyone who has had a highly demanding part time job will recognize the satire and irony in that last statement.
For many years the running joke in the family has been that I would retire "boots first" which is an acronym for dying in uniform.
It seems that Sister Destiny has deemed me unworthy or not foolish enough for that fate. 
My other favorite quip was to tell people that I was getting a 20 year active duty retirement but I was taking 40 years to get it. I have succeeded.
Brite keeps telling me that I am the most happy when I am in uniform. She avows that I won't know what to do with myself when I no longer have that fraternity to participate in. There is more than a kernel of truth to that.
I am not prone to melancholy nor will I waste away.
But, I am indeed wondering if I will find a suitable replacement for my proclivities.
I wanted to share this with the FWIS community because peripherally you all have been part of that journey for the last several years.
The reasons are more than one. Suffice to say it is time. Interestingly it has nothing to do with how much the army has "changed" since I got in. It is not without a certain amount of sadness and trepidation that I contemplate this significant change in my life.
Over the span of 40 years I have had an incredible opportunity to do things that the average person never gets to experience. Especially in this age when less than 2% of the available population volunteers for military service. I have had the incredible chance to mentor and learn from a host of bright and dedicated people in the military.
I have accrued over 13 years of active duty, 7 + years of inactive service (I was officially in but didn't do much except grow a mustache), and 20+ years of reserve duty doing "one week-end a month and two weeks a year"
Anyone who has had a highly demanding part time job will recognize the satire and irony in that last statement. For many years the running joke in the family has been that I would retire "boots first" which is an acronym for dying in uniform.
It seems that Sister Destiny has deemed me unworthy or not foolish enough for that fate. My other favorite quip was to tell people that I was getting a 20 year active duty retirement but I was taking 40 years to get it. I have succeeded.
Brite keeps telling me that I am the most happy when I am in uniform. She avows that I won't know what to do with myself when I no longer have that fraternity to participate in. There is more than a kernel of truth to that.
I am not prone to melancholy nor will I waste away.
But, I am indeed wondering if I will find a suitable replacement for my proclivities. I wanted to share this with the FWIS community because peripherally you all have been part of that journey for the last several years.
