I am leaving in two weeks as well, and I feel exactly the same way. I'm coming into work tomorrow, and it will be another day like normal. I look at my countdown spreadsheet every day, but it doesn't seem very real to me.
I'm not going to worry too much about it though. If I freak out on the freedom bird, I'll still make it home.
Whenever I have the chance to go outside the Gulf, I initially get excited, then the reality of having to plan, pay for things (gah, food! gas! hotels!), etc. takes over, and for a week or two before, I don't really even want to go (and have bailed on a few trips for semi-legitimate reasons)
I usually have a pretty good time while gone, though.
Yeah, because I run a very small company and don't really have support staff elsewhere, I end up doing stupid things like shuttling money around, picking up new staff, etc.
Which is not really as much fun as one might think.
well im stuck here till next janurary.... lucky me huh?! ill get to spend my thanksgiving and xmas patrolling! whoopie! im happy for you though! but youve long anticipated these days to come that youve out excited yourself for the time being probably.... got tired of waiting.... who knows.... im sure youll get your excitment up and running again once youve hit kuwait or are on the plane ride home. who knows. but good luck and have a safe trip home you lucky bastard! haha
AGR, yeah...Active Duty in the Reserve Component (full-time part-timer, if that makes sense lol). It's the same thing as being AC, except no bonuses and you get dicked-over even more easily (such as turning my three-year tour into a six-year tour).
Reservists (true and proper one-weekend-a-monthers) are safe for a year if they're over here for a year. Makes me wish I only did it one weekend a month.
I'm getting a direct commission as a Lieutenant when I go back. I think I'm going to see if I can get it as a Reservist.
When I got home, I felt fine. But I could tell that experience changed me.
I'm currently out of the military now. I go to college and such. I'm considering going back in though when I'm finished. It depends on how things go with me in college and what the job market looks like in a few.
We didn't really get to have that "we are leaving soon" feeling. They had us pack all of our gear up telling us we were moving to a different section of the FOB. Later on that night, they come in and tell us we had 3 hours to get all of our shit loaded up on a plane down to Kuwait.
The first couple of weeks back home are going to be really weird. You are most likely going to still feel disconnected from the "real world". You ARE going to get pissed off at alot of little things. Mostly people complaining about how hard their lives are. A key example of this was I was sitting on the bus one day listening to this girl crying about how she was going to disown her father and that her life was ruined because he bought a blue Range Rover and not the black one...
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I'm not going to worry too much about it though. If I freak out on the freedom bird, I'll still make it home.
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I think it does boil down to it feeling "real"...once I land in the States I bet I start feeling excited. lol
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I usually have a pretty good time while gone, though.
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Do you travel in and out of the region a lot?
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Which is not really as much fun as one might think.
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And if I were a lucky bastard I wouldn't have spent one and one-half years in the Middle East in one long shot. ;)
On the plus side, I am guaranteed to be safe from being re-deployed for a whole 90 days when I return!
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Reservists (true and proper one-weekend-a-monthers) are safe for a year if they're over here for a year. Makes me wish I only did it one weekend a month.
I'm getting a direct commission as a Lieutenant when I go back. I think I'm going to see if I can get it as a Reservist.
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I'm currently out of the military now. I go to college and such. I'm considering going back in though when I'm finished. It depends on how things go with me in college and what the job market looks like in a few.
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The first couple of weeks back home are going to be really weird. You are most likely going to still feel disconnected from the "real world". You ARE going to get pissed off at alot of little things. Mostly people complaining about how hard their lives are. A key example of this was I was sitting on the bus one day listening to this girl crying about how she was going to disown her father and that her life was ruined because he bought a blue Range Rover and not the black one...
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Should be an interesting transition. Thanks for the heads-up.
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