What War Taught Me

During my time in the military it brought me to realize many things and truths about life in general, and also about myself. So if you are interested in hearing this story about myself and my experiences which have made me who I am today, then please keep reading.

First of all let me say, that regardless that I signed up for the military service and I fulfilled what they required of me to do to meet that contract, that in no way means I agreed with all that we (soldiers) were asked and required to do.

I was a very young age when I joined the military with very little life experiences other than those we get while in school getting a education. However, like so many others my age then, I thought I had it all figured out. haha I was not fooling anybody except myself.

My first years were in the Reserves as I wanted to see did I like it or hate before being committed to 2 to 4 years on a daily basis. I went to me monthly meetings, and ys I liked the and brotherhood there. I did have some transportation challenges due to my Unit being far away from my home, so due to that I did end up transferring to the ready reserve for a while. So after not coming up with a reasonable resolution to the transportation issues I had, I went to my unit commander and told him I wanted to transfer to the Active Duty Army. I had to go do my GED test as I hd quit school before graduation due to other personal reasons.

So on Jan 1989 I started my 1st active duty assignment at the well known base of Ft Campbell, Ky. I had went down the 1st of January and rented an apartment and had moved furniture there so when we went there later in the month all we had to take was our clothes and then we rested before I had to report in. I was excited, anxious, and nervous as i didn't know what to expect overall, I only had the experiences of Basic and AIT training and my time in the Reserves to relate to, and those 2 were as different as night and day, so the uncertainty of being on an active duty station which I had never seen before. So i got there and reported when and where I was directed to previously to this day, paying particular attention not to be late and to have what I was told I would need for inprocessing. All went well and i was offically on Active Duty and at my first duty station. I though I was required to stay at the welcome/processing are for I wasn't back to the apt. for the first 2 night. The on the 3rd day it came about getting a room assignment in the barracks so I had to mention to my Sgt who was doing the processing that I had an offpost apt already and was already moved in. That brought up questions about my being married, which I was not at that time, or if I was single. So after that discussion and me telling them I was married but my girlfriend and I had lived together for some time and we had thought we would be able to continue living together there so we had already leased an apt and moved our furniture in. Then we had to seek approval from the Unit Commander for me to live off post because I was not married. But with my Squad leader having to come inspect where we lived to ensure we had food, furniture and the necessities to live comfortably as was explained to me, they had encountered soldiers living off post with no furniture and nothing to eat which was a shock to me at that time. So I was approved after the inspection of my living quarters and I got to remain living off post and got to go home each night after that. Which I loved, it made it seem more like a normal job being able to leave post and go into the surrounding community where my apt was, a good ways away from the base. Of course I can't tell this story in 1 writing session as it covers many years of my life and many experiences in many places and the effects they all had on me. So come back for Part 2 of y story if you are interested. I have never set down and told anyone the things like i am telling here.

So watch for PART 2 OF How being in a combat deployment changed me If you wish to continue following my story and for those that do, Thank you for your interest and time.