Wrap me up and ship me out!

[Flatulance]

Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere for at least a few weeks. The date to be aware of is August 11 (in about six weeks).

A few months ago I lost my job (thats when I first started playing TF2 and eventually found OWS) and have been struggling to find something that would allow me to supplement my income from my previous job.

Past job: Correctional officer at state prison in Utah.

I've been considering a serious career change for the longest time but my wife and I just haven't had the money to put me through any additional schooling to allow me a different opportunity to pursue job-wise. Living off my wife's paycheck which is just about enough to pay each month's mortgage is no longer cutting it... especially when we're slowly piling up in debt living off our plastic (credit cards).

My wife and I thought it through and decided my best option, and still being able to stick around where we currently are, was to join the US Army Reserve. As the title suggests and as I've already mentioned, I ship out August 11 for ten weeks of Basic Training. From what I heard I'll be happy to be done with all that and move on to my Advanced Individual Training. I'm going to be going into Health Care Services (basically a nurse and working my way up the ladder there) and I'll be gone for sixteen weeks except for a two week stint around Christmas when I'll come back home to be with family. Once all is said and done I'll be home and done with all my training towards the tail end of February 2009.

I want a job where I don't have to live paycheck to paycheck and I can actually have money to save or invest when everything else is taken care of. Its gonna be hard as hell to be away from my wife and boy for 6+ months but, as the saying goes, "Sacrifice brings blessings". I'm happy to serve my country and be trained in a manner that will not only get me started in a great new career but propel me through it with additional training and opportunities to advance. I will miss this place I've just recently been able to call home but I will be back as a full time player once all is said and done. I don't know what chances I'll have while I'm at AIT but, if the opportunity presents itself, I'll at least try to remain a presence in the forums if nothing else.

Hoo-rah! I'm proud to serve my country and better my family and current circumstances. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

For all those that are currently in the military or have had prior military experience, any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Akira]

Actually quite a few people in OWS are in the military or are past military... I've thought about it, alot... Just can never bring myself to it, i'm pretty sure with my mentality i'd end up pulling a "Full Metal Jacket"... But I wish you luck man, hopefully you'll be back quickly and we can still enjoy beating the crap out of you... i mean playing with your friendly face in our servers

[Sheeper]

flat.....good deal. Sticking thru and going into health care via that route is great. A buddy of mine is a ER nurse at the local hospital here.....via the marine corp. He is the best of the best and he thanks his military schoolong for that.

just keep your head down and stay safe.

And as one of my instructors always told us...."Make sure you know what is in the back of the truck BEFORE you fire a rocket into it".

[doughboy]

Must have been a tough decision to make, man. Best of luck to you, I hope for your safe return.

[Cujo]

Good luck in all that you do.

[Flatulance]

I'm nervous as hell now. I leave in an hour to go through the processing and swear in tomorrow. From there I'm basically waiting til the day I depart. Family time means so much more to me now (not that it hasn't in the past) but knowing I'll be gone for 6 or so months really is beginning to sink in.

At least I have an outstanding recruiter who has been straight with me. Going into the medical side of things really downplays the deployment opportunities. I mean the possibilities are still there but much less versus other areas I could have specialized in. So once I'm back I'm hoping I'm back for the long haul and spending most of my 6 years (if I'm lucky) around home and the greatest thing on earth to me: my family!

Ooo-rah!

[Taco]

Wow man. I have total respect for you and your decision. Not every man would sacrifice so much for his family (sadly). I wish you the best and will keep you in my prayers. Hopefully you'll be able to keep us updated on your progress. See you soon buddy!

[Drunkn_Munk]

My older brother is a infantry scout with HHC 3/172 86 IBCT (Mountain) Vermont Army National Guard.
He just got back from being down in Texas for Field medic training, since he was getting sick of being a mechanic for the army for over 10 years.
Now he is a Registered EMT and is going to do some more Nurse schooling and go into ER Nursing.


Best of luck man!

[YeahIAteIt...]

I hear ya Flat, I myself just switched jobs. I was a chef now I switched to restaurant management. I also was tired of living paycheck to paycheck.

My best friend lives in Salt Lake and is the GM up at a restaurant in Park City. He moved to chicago for a year in order to become eligible for the GM position there. He said it was the best and worst year of his life. He met all of us and made so many new friends. However he only saw his sons and family a few times.

Best of luck to ya! See ya when we see ya!

[Flatulance]

Thanks one and all for your support. Yes, for me the hardest thing about going away and doing what I know is right is leaving family behind and not having much time to see them. It'll be just for six months. It sounds like a helluva long time looking at it now but hopefully it'll fly by and because of what I'm doing our circumstances will change and make things better for us.

For those of you who don't already know I have chosen "68 Whiskey" as my MOS. Before I chose that I made sure that I wasn't going to be assigned to some infantry or frontline unit after I was done training. As far as I know (from what my recruiter has told me) I'll be assigned to a hospital unit. Since I'm going Reserves they'll usually ask for volunteers first too before they say "you, you and you are going". The last and most recent deployment took 25 volunteers to Germany to work in the hospitals there. That in itself tells me that my recruiter was watching out for me and helping me find what suited my best interests.

I don't know who might read this between now and when I go but I wanted to put this up here for those that were worried about me in DoD when I told them my MOS and to make sure I knew what I was getting into before I took further action.