I had the best battery (same as a company) in the world. I took them back to combat (RC-South, Kandahar area), shot the heck outta some bad guys, and was selected for the Brigade Headquarters Company Command position. It was a love/hate relationship, but I learned more about management and administrative leadership (boring, but important) than you could ever hope to learn. I then applied and was accepted to be the Field Artillery Branch Representative, Military Science Instructor, and lead trainer for Field Artillery Operations during Summer training, here at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY. It even closes on a good note in that I was selected for promotion to Major and attendance to resident Intermediate Level Education (ILE) at Ft. Leavenworth, KS.
I have had an incredibly challenging and fun career. It’s been filled with good and bad leaders, Soldiers, and experiences; none of it I would trade at this point. For many reasons I’m not getting into for this article, it’s time for me to go. Not because I don’t love the Army, not because of bad leaders, political administrations, or money to be made on the outside, but because it’s just time for me to go. I will miss it, dearly. But unlike many, I’ll miss it because it DID live up to everything I’d hoped it would, and then some. If it didn’t for you, I’m sorry. If your fight is still ongoing, I challenge you to make it everything you believed it would be. Live life in such a way that when the time comes, and it will come, that you can smile and look with pride at your accomplishments.
As you get older, you realize they don’t come in the form of medals, scare-me badges, or certificates. A successful career comes in the form of Soldiers asking you to re-enlist them, helping them get out of debt, giving the families the confidence that you care about their well-being, and helping others succeed. A successful career means that others come to you for help because they trust you, because you know how to learn from failure and create success, and because you genuinely want to help them do the same. It means whatever you touch becomes better, and you inspire others to be better versions of themselves. Because in the end, that’s what leadership is, and that’s what you were paid to do.
As we navigate the past Army life from one man’s eyes in upcoming articles, it is my hope that you see my overall experiences have been just as romantic and idealistic as I’d ever hoped them to be. On one hand, it makes getting out of the Army incredibly difficult. This life is all I’ve known since I graduated Highschool. I will always feel indebted to the men and women I’ve served with, and leaving can feel somewhat treasonous.
On the other, being able to hang up the uniform on good terms, with love in my heart, is a bit like finishing a really stinkin good book. You partly don’t want it to end, but since it has to, you’re at least content with the closure the Author has provided. Despite knowing there’s nothing on the back cover, you close the last page, gaze at the book, and smile as you reflect on the best parts, the struggles, and how it has become a part of you.
Cheers to future reads,
-Me
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