The purpose of this blog is to create a space for me to formulate all my
thoughts on my decision to go back into the Army reserves and to
specifically go to Iraq on a deployment. It is also a good medium to keep
all my friends informed on what is going on with me during my deployment.
I first broached the subject of re-enlisting with my friend Sean in early
2007. We were both in a state of flux in our jobs and our lives at that
time and that proved to be the catalyst for the most part in out decision
making process. That wasnt all of it of course, our friend Clint was
currently serving in the National Guard at the time and the thought of all
of us in the same unit was pretty appealing.
For myself personally there were so many other factors in my decision also.
Money, boredom, college money, my idealist veiws and just a major dis-
satisfaction with my life up to that point. For a good period of time
before I came to the conclusion of re-enlisting I just seemed to be free
floating through life with absoloutly no direction and a sort of malaise
and I really did not like it. The Michigan economy and the United States
for that matter were /are in a horrible economy work was slow and to be
honest I was very dis-interested in what I was doing as far as work went. I
have spent the last 20 years of my life doing construction which I always
felt was not up to my standards. In other words I felt I was wasting my
talents, the only problem was I was not sure what those talents were. Not
to say that construction work is beneath me or anyone for that matter as I
have many friends in the industry and I consider them all to be able minded
and extremly smart. But construction was just something that I started
doing when I got off active duty in 1989 and I just kind of went with the
flow. With the economy in the state it was, and is, I was finding it
extremly hard to get work and was increasingly doing jobs that I really did
not want to do but was compelled to do such as concrete and roofing. The
Army and deployment was an extremly easy solution to all my financial
problems.
Not only was it a quick fix to my financial problems but it also offered
new college money. Since I was a moron and did not use the GI bill that I
had from my first enlistment I will now have a second chance, not to
mention the fact that the new one is so much better. Hopefully moronic
activity will not consume me when I return and this time I will actualy use
it this time. So I have covered money, boredom and college money now for
the confusing idealist veiws.
Hopefully some of this will not upset or agraviate any of my friends but
one of the many other reasons I came back in was I was tired of the way
most of America was going about their daily lives as if nothing else was
going on in the world. A day has not gone by since the beggining of the war
in Afghanistan and Iraq that I do not think of the men and women who are
serving over there and in the armed forces in general. Part of that is from
being a veteran myself, having served in operation Desert Sheild / Desert
Storm I know what it is like to be away from home serving your country
during a war. It is a huge sacrifice and I just think that too many
Americans take that service for granted. I felt that I was becoming one of
those people taking it for granted and in some twisted form of idealism I
felt for some reason that if I was over there then my friends would have to
think more about those wars and the people serving in them. Because as it
stands right now with our all volunteer Army the only people truley
affected by the war on terrorism are the friends and family of the soldiers
who are serving in them. As I write it and re-read it it sounds extremly
self centered and selfish but be that as it may that was one of the many
other reasons for my volunteering to go on this deployment. Also, and I
have heard many other prior service veterans say the same thing, hearing
about how overburdened the armed forces were and the many repeat
deployments that our service men and women have been going on I just felt
that I should pitch in. Now I am not going to become a pariah and try and
make it sound like I did this all for the soldiers and my country. As I
have previously stated and written down money and college were prime
motivators.
Dont get me wrong I love my country and I am proud to be serving again. I
have done my fair share of bitching about the current state of our country
and our leadership or lack there of in the last several years. Having
travelled to many third world countrys in my lifetime and seen how horrible
other governments and peoples living conditions are America is the best in
comparison. America has its problems but they pale in relation to alot of
other countrys.
thoughts on my decision to go back into the Army reserves and to
specifically go to Iraq on a deployment. It is also a good medium to keep
all my friends informed on what is going on with me during my deployment.
I first broached the subject of re-enlisting with my friend Sean in early
2007. We were both in a state of flux in our jobs and our lives at that
time and that proved to be the catalyst for the most part in out decision
making process. That wasnt all of it of course, our friend Clint was
currently serving in the National Guard at the time and the thought of all
of us in the same unit was pretty appealing.
For myself personally there were so many other factors in my decision also.
Money, boredom, college money, my idealist veiws and just a major dis-
satisfaction with my life up to that point. For a good period of time
before I came to the conclusion of re-enlisting I just seemed to be free
floating through life with absoloutly no direction and a sort of malaise
and I really did not like it. The Michigan economy and the United States
for that matter were /are in a horrible economy work was slow and to be
honest I was very dis-interested in what I was doing as far as work went. I
have spent the last 20 years of my life doing construction which I always
felt was not up to my standards. In other words I felt I was wasting my
talents, the only problem was I was not sure what those talents were. Not
to say that construction work is beneath me or anyone for that matter as I
have many friends in the industry and I consider them all to be able minded
and extremly smart. But construction was just something that I started
doing when I got off active duty in 1989 and I just kind of went with the
flow. With the economy in the state it was, and is, I was finding it
extremly hard to get work and was increasingly doing jobs that I really did
not want to do but was compelled to do such as concrete and roofing. The
Army and deployment was an extremly easy solution to all my financial
problems.
Not only was it a quick fix to my financial problems but it also offered
new college money. Since I was a moron and did not use the GI bill that I
had from my first enlistment I will now have a second chance, not to
mention the fact that the new one is so much better. Hopefully moronic
activity will not consume me when I return and this time I will actualy use
it this time. So I have covered money, boredom and college money now for
the confusing idealist veiws.
Hopefully some of this will not upset or agraviate any of my friends but
one of the many other reasons I came back in was I was tired of the way
most of America was going about their daily lives as if nothing else was
going on in the world. A day has not gone by since the beggining of the war
in Afghanistan and Iraq that I do not think of the men and women who are
serving over there and in the armed forces in general. Part of that is from
being a veteran myself, having served in operation Desert Sheild / Desert
Storm I know what it is like to be away from home serving your country
during a war. It is a huge sacrifice and I just think that too many
Americans take that service for granted. I felt that I was becoming one of
those people taking it for granted and in some twisted form of idealism I
felt for some reason that if I was over there then my friends would have to
think more about those wars and the people serving in them. Because as it
stands right now with our all volunteer Army the only people truley
affected by the war on terrorism are the friends and family of the soldiers
who are serving in them. As I write it and re-read it it sounds extremly
self centered and selfish but be that as it may that was one of the many
other reasons for my volunteering to go on this deployment. Also, and I
have heard many other prior service veterans say the same thing, hearing
about how overburdened the armed forces were and the many repeat
deployments that our service men and women have been going on I just felt
that I should pitch in. Now I am not going to become a pariah and try and
make it sound like I did this all for the soldiers and my country. As I
have previously stated and written down money and college were prime
motivators.
Dont get me wrong I love my country and I am proud to be serving again. I
have done my fair share of bitching about the current state of our country
and our leadership or lack there of in the last several years. Having
travelled to many third world countrys in my lifetime and seen how horrible
other governments and peoples living conditions are America is the best in
comparison. America has its problems but they pale in relation to alot of
other countrys.
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