It has been a long time since I've written a blog, but thanks to some much needed inspiration from a special woman in my life (yeah, I'm calling you out Khristine) and a request for me to write again from a friend (that's you Bengston), I'm back.
Well as John Steinbeck once wrote...the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and I'm living proof of it. As many of you know, I had big dreams of being that high-speed, squared-away 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. I wanted to do Infantry or Armor Basic Officer Leadership Courses so I could be in the fight, go to Airborne and Ranger Schools cause that's where the tough guys go, the guys who can rough it through anything and still be good. I wanted to earn that respect and honor through hardwork. None of that is happening anytime in the near future.
Suffice it to say that the Army is cutting back on commissions through Officer Candidate School and I was one of the unlucky people who didn't get a chance to fight all the way through for one of those coveted commissions (even though I was passing everything and in my opinion kicking ass).
I'm no longer in Fort Benning, Georgia for OCS and now in beautiful Fort Sam Houston (San Antonio), Texas for 68T Animal Care Specialist Advance Individual Training (AIT).
To say losing that opportunity for the present is a bummer is an understatement. I'm not going to lie, I may have yelled, cursed, and kicked a few bathroom stall doors on my way out. I didn't damage any property though, thank God. I wanted that so badly and there haven't been many goals in my life that I truly started to work for and then been told in the middle of the process, "No, you don't get to compete". But my road has just begun and I've got new goals (such as becoming certified in level 2 combatives) in the meantime until I can show they made a huge mistake in letting me go, cause I'm going succeed regardless.
68T's, Veterinarian Techs, Animal Care Specialists, or Small Animal Repairs, whatever you want to call it does seem like an interesting job. I'll get to work with military working dogs and maybe do some civil affairs work with local nationals' livestock when I deploy. Winning hearts and minds one goat at time right? Who knows what the future holds for me, but I'll be fighting to get back to OCS or find another commissioning source such as ROTC or maybe the Green to Gold Active Duty Option if I continue my education.
So maybe this experience so far sounds more like Gary Busey's quote on the HBO tv series Entourage, "Confusion is like running naked through a cornfield backwards at midnight." For the record, I've never tried this (nor want to) but it gets the point across of the experience being painful and confusing. I'm lucky I've got a supportive girlfriend, family, and group of friends/battle buddies who'll back me up and most importantly tell me when I just need to embrace the suck and strive on.
I'll try to keep posting now. AIT is an interesting experience in and of itself and I'll have more time here to write than I had at OCS. Thanks for reading.
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