So, I have a few friends from this site who I would like to think keep tabs on me. Not in some creepy way, heavens no. But, in a caring, loving, friendly way. For those of you who know me, I've mentioned it a few times the past couple of months. For those of you who don't know me that well, or just haven't heard, today is my 2 year anniversary of getting out of the Army. It's no secret how Patriotic I am, and how quick I am to be offended by something I see as offensive to myself, the military, or Veterans. It's also no secret how bitter I am about having had served. Don't get me wrong, I loved my 11 and a half months in the service. It's the way I was put out, and the fact that I was so helpless, I couldn't do anything. I found out shortly after getting to my duty station that I had messed up my back sometime during Basic Combat Training, or AIT ( where you trained to do your specific job ) . I was limited in what I was physically allowed to do. After a few months of my doctor changing what I was allowed to do by a minute detail every few weeks, the new commander that had just come in April 2013 decided that it was time to clean house in the company. Along with myself, she told 5 or 6 other soldiers that they were being put of the military for various reasons. But, we all knew why; our NCOs had told us that everybody was at risk a few weeks ago with the military drawing down. I thought I was fine since I had just gotten there a few weeks ago, and had stayed out of trouble that I would be fine. Well, one day, shortly before I am supposed to leave for home for a week of " leave " to surprise my sister at her high school graduation, which I had been planning for over 4 months, I get called into the commanders office. She starts to read me my paperwork, saying I am being discharged from the Army. Fast forward a few weeks, and I am at home with an honorable discharge for " unsatisfactory performance " because I wasn't able to perform my job properly. Now, keep in mind, this is Hawai'i, there there were never any " missions " for me to actually drive since I was a truck driver, let alone me actually getting to drive because my company had just gotten back from deployment a few months before I got there ( for you military people out there, this is not a violation of OPSEC, as far as I am aware, since I am not putting my companies information out there, and that it is in the news, therefore, making it public knowledge ) , so they would have gotten chosen over me to drive to get more missions on their records for when they got out. The thing that hurts the most is not being told by my own father that I could have fought the discharge. He asked me while I was still in ( and he was still in the Army at this time, too ) if I wanted out. I told him, " Yeah, if they are gonna do me like this! " I was upset. But, nowhere in there did I say that I actually wanted out; I just implied that I wanted to go about things the right way, and that I would prefer to stay in. Come to find out, I could have fought the discharge because I was receiving medical attention at the time. The doctors at the hospital wanted to put me through back surgery to remove my herniated disc, and try to stabilize my degenerative disc disease, so my kyphosis wouldn't progress as quickly. Fast forward to today, and my disc has herniated further out, I have structural damage in both of my knees from putting all of my weight on my right knee for a year straight because of the nerve damage in my left knee due to the herniated disc, and I also have a chunk of bone behind my left kneecap that the VA has seen for at least 4 months after X-RAYS and MRI's. So, pardon me if I am a bit bitter for the next few days. Forgive me if I don't want to talk to people for the next week or so. Forgive me if I am a wreck because I was screwed out of a great career so a leader who couldn't even pass the physical standards because she was so small, yet I could, with bum knees and a bad back could make a name for herself, while I have to work 40 hours a week, albeit an easy enough job but with less than horrible hours just to keep my apartment and car. If it wasn't for my VA check now after fighting with them for over a year, I would still be in thousands of dollars of debt, and probably homeless. So, I have a few friends from this site who I would like to think keep tabs on me. Not in some creepy way, heavens no. But, in a caring, loving, friendly way. For those of you who know me, I've mentioned it a few times the past couple of months. For those of you who don't know me that well, or just haven't heard, today is my 2 year anniversary of getting out of the Army. It's no secret how Patriotic I am, and how quick I am to be offended by something I see as offensive to myself, the military, or Veterans. It's also no secret how bitter I am about having had served. Don't get me wrong, I loved my 11 and a half months in the service. It's the way I was put out, and the fact that I was so helpless, I couldn't do anything. I found out shortly after getting to my duty station that I had messed up my back sometime during Basic Combat Training, or AIT ( where you trained to do your specific job ) . I was limited in what I was physically allowed to do. After a few months of my doctor changing what I was allowed to do by a minute detail every few weeks, the new commander that had just come in April 2013 decided that it was time to clean house in the company. Along with myself, she told 5 or 6 other soldiers that they were being put of the military for various reasons. But, we all knew why; our NCOs had told us that everybody was at risk a few weeks ago with the military drawing down. I thought I was fine since I had just gotten there a few weeks ago, and had stayed out of trouble that I would be fine. Well, one day, shortly before I am supposed to leave for home for a week of " leave " to surprise my sister at her high school graduation, which I had been planning for over 4 months, I get called into the commanders office. She starts to read me my paperwork, saying I am being discharged from the Army. Fast forward a few weeks, and I am at home with an honorable discharge for " unsatisfactory performance " because I wasn't able to perform my job properly. Now, keep in mind, this is Hawai'i, there there were never any " missions " for me to actually drive since I was a truck driver, let alone me actually getting to drive because my company had just gotten back from deployment a few months before I got there ( for you military people out there, this is not a violation of OPSEC, as far as I am aware, since I am not putting my companies information out there, and that it is in the news, therefore, making it public knowledge ) , so they would have gotten chosen over me to drive to get more missions on their records for when they got out. The thing that hurts the most is not being told by my own father that I could have fought the discharge. He asked me while I was still in ( and he was still in the Army at this time, too ) if I wanted out. I told him, " Yeah, if they are gonna do me like this! " I was upset. But, nowhere in there did I say that I actually wanted out; I just implied that I wanted to go about things the right way, and that I would prefer to stay in. Come to find out, I could have fought the discharge because I was receiving medical attention at the time. The doctors at the hospital wanted to put me through back surgery to remove my herniated disc, and try to stabilize my degenerative disc disease, so my kyphosis wouldn't progress as quickly. Fast forward to today, and my disc has herniated further out, I have structural damage in both of my knees from putting all of my weight on my right knee for a year straight because of the nerve damage in my left knee due to the herniated disc, and I also have a chunk of bone behind my left kneecap that the VA has seen for at least 4 months after X-RAYS and MRI's. So, pardon me if I am a bit bitter for the next few days. Forgive me if I don't want to talk to people for the next week or so. Forgive me if I am a wreck because I was screwed out of a great career so a leader who couldn't even pass the physical standards because she was so small, yet I could, with bum knees and a bad back could make a name for herself, while I have to work 40 hours a week, albeit an easy enough job but with less than horrible hours just to keep my apartment and car. If it wasn't for my VA check now after fighting with them for over a year, I would still be in thousands of dollars of debt, and probably homeless. |