My last official day in the Army will be May 3, 2016, but I only have 12 days left of actual service. Those 12 days will be over six weekends between mid-November and mid-April. December drill is the Christmas party. January or February I turn in my field gear. So I am a short timer for the fourth time in my multi-stage military career.
While serving in the Army has been fun, it is time for me to leave. I was going to try to extend for one more year, but Annual Training eats away the bicycle racing season, and since another year would just be for fun, I decided to have fun another way.
Also, now that I am retired as a civilian, I have been thinking a lot about who my people are and why I re-enlisted in 2007. While I do not regret re-enlisting, being in the Army was not what I imagined or hoped it would be. It was fun, it was a challenge, but in many ways I fit in as well as a vegan at a barbecue. But more on that later.
