We have an official done with Army date of 01Nov2012. Whoo! We'll be leaving the World's Longest Cul-de-Sac around mid-July because of the 100 some odd days of leave that soon to be The Husband has yet to use. While this hasn't been an easy decision, it's a decision we put a ton of thought into. It's a decision that took me a bit to wrap my head around (i.e. Goodbye Army???), but we're there and we're good with it. So, since The Husband officially dropped his packet, we've been officially telling people that we're jumping ship. The reactions have been entertaining to say the least.
Some reactions have been "Congrats! Where do you think you guys will go? What does he want to do?", some have been "Yay, so you can move to where I am!!!", some have been "So what's he going to do for a job?", some have been "Are you sure you want to get out? Can't he just tough it out for a few more years?", some have been "Nooooooo!!!!". It's been a pretty even split between happiness for us, mild concern for us, and just flat out "what are you thinking?!?!".
The happiness reaction has been primarily from Army Family and the Unit People. The guys here understand it. Army Family gets it, while they may be a bit more "Nooooo!", they've also been incredibly supportive and they're house shopping for us where ever they are currently located. They make me smile.
People who've gotten out have questioned our sanity. "I got out and now I make minimum wage." "I got out and want back in." "It's alot harder in the real world." "What do you mean you don't already have a job lined up?" "So you're going to become a DOD contractor then?" "Are you going to be a gate guard?" "I guess being Infantry you could work as a cop?".
But my personal favorite is the family members (none of mine and we'll leave it at that) who responded with "well you know you're not going to get a job...". Seriously. There was a serious debate between The Husband and I as to if we were going to tell them at all or just send them a change of address notice, but guilt won and The Husband finally told them. And then their response was "well you aren't going to find a job...". Seriously. I understand that comment is based on the fact that one of their older children has bounced around from job to job since he left the Army 20 years ago, so therefore why wouldn't The Husband have the same fate? Well as he not so gently reminded them he "has a college degree to begin, a degree in Business Management, top OERs, and he challenges himself to climb the ladder.". Sometimes, we just need reminded as to why we keep them all at arm's length.
I'm not going to lie, it is a little concerning that The Husband's hiring conference isn't until June and we're leaving here in July. But, I have faith that God will get us where He needs us to be when He needs us to be there. I was trying desperately to hold onto Army a while back and God kept slowly closing the doors to Army, but late last year, He shut the last one and we were ready to move on.
If The Husband had an underwater basket weaving degree, I would be more concerned that he wasn't going to get a job. If The Husband had a degree that was only meaningful to the Army, I would be concerned that we were going to take a significant cut in pay. If The Husband lacked any motivation and didn't enjoy a challenge, I would be concerned. If The Husband had become accustomed to Army's hurry up and wait, instead of making things happen when he needs them to happen, I would be concerned. The reality is The Husband has outgrown Army. The Army is a great tool to build confidence, leadership skills, team work, etc., but at some point, it becomes counterproductive and it's complete lack of efficiency begins to drive people insane. And that's the point The Husband is at. I personally think he's just fundamentally done with the Army, which is neither good nor bad, it's just a fact.
So, while he works on Post-Army Life classes through his headhunters and I make a list of places I refuse to live, we're just enjoying how big and diverse our mixed bag of reactions is becoming....
1 comment:
That's awesome. LOL! I don't remember what my reaction was. Before we were military, we were ALWAYS going to live near my family. Now, it's opened up our eyes to see that we don't really want to live near family. Sure, we'd like a day drive or less, but that's about it. We're also perfectly fine with farther than that. Just takes a little thinking. Not quite sure we're to the point you guys are though. We still like the military (for now).
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