Long Weekend

Oh what a weekend I've had! I am so ready for my own bed and a good night's sleep. This weekend at drill was a MUTA 6, which means that we are there from Friday morning at 8 am until whenever they release us on Sunday afternoon. To add to the excitement, we were on "lockdown", which meant we weren't allowed to leave Camp Dodge for any reason. The majority of the unit went out into the field Friday and stayed overnight, but because I'm one of those "broken" soldiers I had to stay behind at the armory. Doesn't sound so bad, right?! WRONG! Instead of getting to go out and play bang, bang, shoot 'em up, I was stuck sitting staring at a phone all night long just in case someone from the field would need to call us for something. Okay, so it really wasn't that bad, I didn't have to worry about poison ivy or bug bites, but it was seriously the most boring evening of MY LIFE!!

We did get to have a pretty kick-ass party Saturday night, though, since our commander was being transferred to a new unit. Over the last couple months (especially last night) I really got to know some of the great people in my unit, which makes it even harder that this morning at my MMRB (medical retention board) they elected to separate me and give me a medical discharge. A year ago you couldn't have convinced me that I would be this sad about that, but I have been attached to an amazing unit and will sincerely miss a lot of people. I'm trying to remain positive and remember that now I don't have to worry about missed soccer games and dance recitals because of drill, but its hard to know I'm leaving something behind that has been such a huge part of my life for the last three years. I know the experiences I've had in the Guard will be with me forever and I really appreciate that, but it doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye. So now we just wait for my orders to come. No one knows if that will take one week or three months, so I could easily be back drilling with my unit next month, but I could just as easily never get to put on my uniform and stand in formation again.


GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES ARMY!
LuCinda