Great writing, I am very eagerly awaiting my retirement in 3 years.
Funny, I just realized that I have been here at Great Lakes for over 10 years so I was here when you were, I probably drove by you at Corps school more than once and probably passed by you in the hospital many times and never knew...weird.
(In fact you may recognize this image, sorry to bring back the cold chills lol)
You and your future hubby take care and continue doing what you love.
God Bless and Fair Winds and Following Seas Shipmate!
W00t! Congrats June, and many, many thanks to you for your service. I'll definitely raise a beer in honor of your discharge, and another to wish you & The Manic One a most wonderful new life together!
Nice read June, it brings back many memories. Thanks for taking the time to serve and help all those people...
To answer your question: How long is it gonna take me to easy back into civilian life and way of thinking?
I don't think that we really ease back into a civilian way of thinking, we just adapt and share that which we learned to/with the civilian way of life. You have gained a lot in a short period of time that you can share and should not try to hide.
I got out of the Marines in '92 after serving 15 bittersweet years, to this day I use the discipline and organiztional skills instilled in the service in a corporate world that can't decide what type of paper to order.
Thank you guys! I just got home from my flight and saw this thread was still on the front page and I was surprised! The last post I had read was the second one. Thanks for all the advise, I had a sneaky little feeling I would never quite abandon my military way of thinking. My time in was indeed bittersweet but I am looking forward to a (hopefully) sweet life as a civilian.
So, as of today I am no longer in the military, I was given my honorable discharge this morning :D Bittersweet. If anyone is intersted in my experiences, I have blogged them down today, must warn you, it's long The End Of The Affair So.....if you are drinking tonight, have a beer for me :D I just had to share cause I'm excited!
June
Congrats June! I bet it has to be a nervewracking transition. My husband is in the Navy....a Corpsman like it sounds like you were...and I know how the military has some definite benefits when it comes to job security, insurance, and pay!
I think you were on the Comfort when my husband was with Fleet Hospital 3 on the ground in Iraq :) I know they sent patients your way.
Congrats June! Best of luck on your exciting new future.
Many thoughts in this thread that are right on :-) I left the Navy in '93, I remember driving out the gates at Great Lakes with 2 white hats in my rear window with big black letters (FTN) on them :-P
But yeah, I don't regret those 9 yrs at all. My wife laughs at me sometimes because every now and then I still shake my head at things and say 'I don't know how civilians ever get anything done!' hehehe
After I got out, I didn't cut my hair for about 6 yrs!!! And I still don't tuck my shirt in and I hate the color gray :-)
Anyways, good luck again. Enjoy your new freedom, and enjoy the memories and experiences you had. :-)
...oh, and those little danglies on your clothes-- Irish Pennants.
And the best way to remove them are a lit cigarrette :-)
