Veteran's Day ruminations

Today is Veteran's Day, and I'm at work. I got to reminiscing a bit about my Army days, especially as I was organizing my online photo albums last night. And I thought today would be a perfect day to re-write one of my old blog posts from nearly 3 years ago, when some friends asked me about my time in the military. The original entry took the form of a FAQ, I've decided to re-write it in more of a story format:

My story begins with a hint of curiosity more than anything else. My senior year in high school, I made friends with some of the JROTC cadets, and they kept persuading me to try it out. Since I was about to graduate, I figured I'd give it a spin when I started college. The following year, I enrolled in the UCLA Army ROTC progam, and things just sort of blossomed from there.

I don't know how many of you have read Colin Powell's autobiography, but in it, he says that he felt rather aimless in college, when the cadets in uniform on campus caught his eye. He decided to try it out, and found that it was not only something he enjoyed, but excelled at.

Well, it's pretty much the same thing with me. I found it was something I really enjoyed and became good at. But more than that, all that military and leadership training really helped bring me out of my shell.

After finishing my 4 years of ROTC, I received my commission into the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and after a few months of Officer's Basic Course at Ft. Gordon, GA, I spent the remainder of my 4 years of active duty stationed in Mannheim, Germany. (My subsequent 4 years were spent in the IRR-- Individual Ready Reserve).

It was an experience like no other. The military possesses a unique culture. The importance of teamwork and effective team-building was brought home to me every single day, since that's a large part of what makes our armed forces so great. The camaraderie and close bonds formed between you and the people in your unit, the immense pride in the work you do, the limitless opportunities for self-development and self-improvement-- all are things you rarely find anywhere else, and things I cherish.

It was also a great opportunity to go back to my birth country and see old family friends, as well as tour the rest of nearby Europe.

As I mentioned, I've always been very much an introvert, and still am-- but am more outgoing and sociable because of my military experience. But beyond merely the social aspect, I also gained skills that have proven useful anywhere, including a civilian career. Like planning, organizing, public speaking, training/teaching, and being adaptable to sudden changes.

It is also thanks to the jobs I held that I began to discover where my strengths and interests lie. The job I enjoyed most was that of the battalion Adjutant, which is akin to Human Resources in the civilian world. Some of you know that I mapped out our last family vacation on Excel spreadsheets. That is how much I love planning and organizing little details like that. I also discovered how much I enjoyed the training aspect of every Army officer's job, something that was reinforced during my subsequent years as a teaching assistant at UCSB.

On a lighter note, it is also thanks to the military that I now refuse to participate in any form of hiking or camping or anything that involves the raw outdoors. Mother Nature and I simply do not get along. And I firmly believe that the term "run for fun" is the ultimate of oxymorons. Eight years of "camping" and running miles at oh-dark-thirty is enough to get such crazy activities out of my system for the rest of my life ;-)

So here I am. No more waking up at the crack of dawn. No more digging my car out of snow on wintry German days. No more pulling my hair up every morning. No more 10-12 hour days. No more 3:30am alert calls and no more overnight staff duty. No more uniforms. No more morning formation. In a way, though, I miss the daily, predictable routine.

It's a world apart from combat boots to scruffy sneakers.

Happy Veteran's Day.