I wrote a nice long post last night on my new PC and it disappeared into the Internet. ::sigh::
The last few nights I've woken up and felt that I had been in New York. Not any imagery just a feeling. I'd go back to sleep, hoping I wouldn't be there, yet when I wake again, there's that sensation. At one point, I dreamt our company was walking thru the building to make sure they knew where everyone was and they were teasing me because the nameplate hanging on my cubicle has my new name taped up over my old name, as though they were too cheap to buy me a whole new one. Which, hehehehe, is how my nameplate actually looks. I used our label maker to change the name myself and haven't asked anyone to buy a new one; everyone thinks it's funny and appropriate.
A couple of folks wanted to know if I had to go on active duty because I had been in the military. So far, the answer is no. As an enlisted person, my commitment is only for the term of the enlistment itself. Enlistments can be extended for national emergencies, but in my case, I got out in February so there's no extending mine.
It would be extremely unlikely that our government will be so hard-pressed for volunteers that they'd have to dredge someone like me up for service.
There is that part of me that wonders if I should volunteer anyway...my training may be out of date but my instincts are still there and a lot of what I did in military intelligence was instinctive. You see a cloud of smoke on the horizon; what does that mean? The enemy troops are energetically digging foxholes and leaping into them; what does that mean? There's new tools available that the military didn't have back in the 1980's when I was active Reserves, but that doesn't mean I couldn't learn them.
When I was in Hawaii on a two week training exercise, myself and another private just returned from her training, were working with a female Army captain. The conversation turned to thoughts of war for reasons that escape me (meaning, I don't know if there was a conflict at the time that precipitated the chat; certainly, in the Army we were well aware that war exists) and the captain said, "If we're called up to war, I'll resign my commission. I'm not going."
We were absolutely horrified, Mary Kay and I. How DARE she wear that uniform and blythely admit that at the first sign of trouble, she'd change into civilian clothes and not look back? We were doubly outraged because she was a female in a time when female soliders were still fairly scarce and her comments reflected poorly on our gender.
So now I wonder what became of her, but only with disgust. She probably stuck around long enough to retire and is living off the hard-earned benefits that others provided for her sorry behind.
And then I wonder...is not volunteering again a sign of my own willingness to "resign?" I have a skill that is useful. Am I squandering my talents out of fear or practicality?
The last few nights I've woken up and felt that I had been in New York. Not any imagery just a feeling. I'd go back to sleep, hoping I wouldn't be there, yet when I wake again, there's that sensation. At one point, I dreamt our company was walking thru the building to make sure they knew where everyone was and they were teasing me because the nameplate hanging on my cubicle has my new name taped up over my old name, as though they were too cheap to buy me a whole new one. Which, hehehehe, is how my nameplate actually looks. I used our label maker to change the name myself and haven't asked anyone to buy a new one; everyone thinks it's funny and appropriate.
A couple of folks wanted to know if I had to go on active duty because I had been in the military. So far, the answer is no. As an enlisted person, my commitment is only for the term of the enlistment itself. Enlistments can be extended for national emergencies, but in my case, I got out in February so there's no extending mine.
It would be extremely unlikely that our government will be so hard-pressed for volunteers that they'd have to dredge someone like me up for service.
There is that part of me that wonders if I should volunteer anyway...my training may be out of date but my instincts are still there and a lot of what I did in military intelligence was instinctive. You see a cloud of smoke on the horizon; what does that mean? The enemy troops are energetically digging foxholes and leaping into them; what does that mean? There's new tools available that the military didn't have back in the 1980's when I was active Reserves, but that doesn't mean I couldn't learn them.
When I was in Hawaii on a two week training exercise, myself and another private just returned from her training, were working with a female Army captain. The conversation turned to thoughts of war for reasons that escape me (meaning, I don't know if there was a conflict at the time that precipitated the chat; certainly, in the Army we were well aware that war exists) and the captain said, "If we're called up to war, I'll resign my commission. I'm not going."
We were absolutely horrified, Mary Kay and I. How DARE she wear that uniform and blythely admit that at the first sign of trouble, she'd change into civilian clothes and not look back? We were doubly outraged because she was a female in a time when female soliders were still fairly scarce and her comments reflected poorly on our gender.
So now I wonder what became of her, but only with disgust. She probably stuck around long enough to retire and is living off the hard-earned benefits that others provided for her sorry behind.
And then I wonder...is not volunteering again a sign of my own willingness to "resign?" I have a skill that is useful. Am I squandering my talents out of fear or practicality?
posted by Owl Chick at 9/17/2001 11:32:00 AM
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