Antecdote

Several weeks ago I was with some friends and we were discussing how heinous the previously mentioned 3 months on, 3 months off rotation was. I said I think that would be worse than them just going for a year and being done with it because you never have a chance to adjust, and are just living in a constant state of turmoil - kids especially. I was met with weird looks and my sweet, diplomatic neighbor saying "Oh, well, I guess I don't know any different..." and I felt like this salty woman I once met in a class meeting while Erik was in Career Course.

((Now, before I continue, please note that it appears that Erik and I are some of the oldest folks in the neighborhood - and if not the oldest, definitely some of the longest in the service, and most haggard by the system, LOL! - and that and most of the folks going through these rotations are doing so as first-timers. The Army has changed  A  LOT in 5 years, and they have been really lucky in being together thus far.)))

So I launch into a story about how when Erik was at Career Course, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came to talk to the Soldiers and find out why the Army was bleeding Captains. I explained that the answer, by the way, was that it was 2007 or 2008 and the wars were in full swing and everyone was sick of spending 12 to 18 months at a time away from their families. So while Admiral Mullen was in with the Soldiers, his wife came to speak to the wives.  There was this older woman - hell, she was probably my age now...- who went on this LONG diatribe about how much she hated R&R. It disrupted her flow, got her kids all upset and just generally ruined all their lives. "Couldn't we just ditch R&R all together and send the Soldiers home 2 weeks earlier? It would save tons of money, as well!" I thought "This woman obviously hates her husband, how could she possibly choose to be apart LONGER and call it EASIER!???!" Note to this lady: I get it now. I'm sorry I painted you with such broad strokes for the last ten years.

And I said to these women the other day, that I felt like that salty old wife now, telling them that their lives would be easier if their husbands just left for an entire year instead of a few months at a time.

And again I was met with some weird looks.

Finally someone says "YOUR HUSBAND WAS A CAPTAIN IN 2008????!!!!!!"

Might as well start planing my funeral. I'm 1,000.