One of the Best Day's of my Life!

There are a few days in a man's life that he can truely say are one of the best day's. The day he graduates college, the day he gets married to the love of his life, the day he brings a new child into the world, and the day he retires. Well, today was that day for me. After 20 years, 8 months, and 20 days I retired from the U.S. Navy Submarine Force. I did tours on 5 separate submarines, been stationed at 4 different ports (all on the east coast), numerous schools, and I can honestly say that I will miss it. I won’t miss the late night wake up calls because someone misinterpreted steam as smoke when they forgot to cut in cooling water to a piece of equipment on startup. I won’t miss the green book, tagouts, beef yakisoba, maneuvering watches that lasted 5+ hours, or diving into any tank to clean it out because you’re the only one that would fit. I could probably list more than a hundred things that I won’t miss about being in the Navy. Everyone always remembers the bad things. I will miss the people that I work with on a daily basis. Not only the military, but the civilian counterparts. I’ll miss the camaraderie, the “can-do” attitude, the “let’s get the job done and go have a beer” mentality. I’ll miss the ability to walk into the Chief’s quarters, completely blow up about something, then ten minutes later, all is well and nobody will think anything less of you because they’ve been there and done that. I’ll miss the contest at midnight meal (midrats) to see who can eat the most chicken wheels before they run out. I’ll miss that look in the CO’s eyes when you and your guys have accomplished the impossible to get the boat underway on time. But most of all, I’ll miss my Navy family. I can't wait to start the next chapter of my life. My plan now is to go back to school full time and get into a nursing program. I'm already a volunteer EMT with a local department and I enjoy that very much. I can't wait to continue on and see where it leads.
To all those that are still in the military, I salute you. Keep doing what you are doing. Keep studying those systems so you can keep eyes on target, keep your heads down in the sandbox, keep pushing and always give 110 percent. Never quit, never back down. In the end, it was honestly a worthwhile experience for me, as I hope that it will be for you.

 

Thanks for your service !

I really don't understand why there are nursing schools.....

Even a baby knows how !!!

 

Hah! I know that even a baby know's how, but you know what they say, "Practice makes perfect". And I'll take all the practice that I can get.

 

Nice avatar. Thanks for serving and welcome home.

 

congrats and thanks for your service, I know you guys probably don't get enough thanks for the service you provide the rest of us. Good luck with the next chapter of your life.

 

I think what most people miss when they leave the military is the feeling that we're all in this shit together. Its nice to be part of a group that is not totally dog eat dog, I got mine screw you brother. Even when having to go up against the obvious bureaucratic nonsense of the military, its usually "us ", meaning our little work group, against the machine. Additionally,the military is mostly still a meritocracy, at least at the rank and file level where the work gets done.

Those things are rare in the civilian world. They exist, but they are much harder to find.

Congrats on reaching this new starting point in your life......good luck.

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I really appreciate it.