Would you do it all over again?

madslashers1-2 · Post by **madslashers1-2** » October 9th, 2005, 11:43 pm

Hey, posted this over in the Mojo, wanted to get everyone in on it, Hey everyone, trying to figure out what the fuck to do with my life (reenlistment), so I thought I'd bring up, why did you leave the regiment/army, was it everything you'd hoped it be when you got out, is the grass just always shitty when you finally get to the other side?

rgrpuck · Post by **rgrpuck** » October 10th, 2005, 3:09 am

I would have never left If I knew what I know now.

The Holmchicken · Post by **The Holmchicken** » October 10th, 2005, 5:21 am

I would do it again in a heartbeat, injuries and all.

Creeping Death · Post by **Creeping Death** » October 10th, 2005, 9:56 am

I was never your average stellar Ranger, because I was always a weak runner by unwritten Ranger standards. Part of the reason I got out was that I was tired of puking twice a day, every day of my life in PT. After I got out, I learned my slow running was a result of severe lung problems I never knew I had. I loved being a Ranger, loved my Brothers, loved the job, but honestly I was tired of giving no shit 110% effort every dingle day at PT and not every being able to run like my peers. I was just tired of it. Also, I thought I wanted things out of life that I could not get in the Rangers; wife, kids, being "normal". That, and other reasons during the Clinton years convinced me to get out.

The first day after ETS, sleeping until 0800 was NIIIIICCCCCEEEEE. Second day was OK too. Then, it hit me that I might have made a mistake. Every day since, I mean EVERY day since, I have missed it. Sometimes, I miss it so bad that I even miss all the bullshit that surely enrages you now.

Life is about choices. In hindsight, I believe that I made the right decision, solely due to my lungs. However, if I had the lungs I should have, my leaving would have been the biggest single mistake of my life. As a civilian, you will never find most all of the small things that mean so much that you surely take for granted now. You take them for granted because you don't know how much you will miss it until you have lost it and can't get it back. Things like having the best friend you will ever have in life standing by your saide, day in and day out, and 40 others right behind him (vs. being a civvie and that friend being across the country and you speaking by phone 2-3 times per year, ro coming here and typing at them daily). In civilian land, you'll search for years trying to find a single human being who isn't a total shitheel. It will get depressing, and the merge back into civilian life won't be easy, or at least it was anything BUT easy for me.

If you are healthy and enjoy the job, I would think long and hard before I left. On the other hand, IF I had stayed, I would not have my wife and kids I have now - we would have never met. So, in the end, it turned out for the best for me.

Leaving Batt was hard on me. The day that I pulled out of HAAF and headed towards I-16, when I drove past Perimenter Road and saw the very road I had puked on a few hundred times over the last few years, it hit me that I was actually closing the book on that chapter of my life. I cried life a blubbering baby from there until I got damn near to Columbia, SC, and I ain't afraid to admit it, and remember I WANTED TO LEAVE. Leaving Hunter for the last time was one of the hardest things I have ever forced myself to do.

In the end, I had and have the mentality for the Rangers, but not the lungs. I could hang and exceed the standard as a young man, but realistically I could not have kept that up for a career. I know that, as hard as it is to admit it to myself. Leaving was the right choice for me, but it was still hard to do. I can't imagine living with the regret of leaving while knowing that I could still cut the mustard and chose not to. I think it would have driven me mad.

Whatever you decide, I am sure it will be the right decision for you. If that choice is to hang up your boots, go into it with your eyes open knowing it is gonna hurt, and try to have a plan as to how you are going to cope with that gaping void that will be left inside of you. To be honest, when I found this site, I found the therapy that I had been in dire need of since the day I left. In some ways, leaving the Rangers is monumentally harder that getting into the Rangers. Getting there is an ordeal that lasts a few months, leaving there is an emotional battle that will be fought inside of yourself, to varying degrees, ever single day for the rest of your life.

B 2/75 · Post by **B 2/75** » October 10th, 2005, 10:38 am

YOU BET

I'm still in, but only for a year or three. I'm getting short to my mandatory retirement date of 2012, and If I don't make COL (definately not holding my breath for it... I'm a good example of the Peter Principle LOL) then I'll get the boot a couple of years early.

Getting out will be a very painful thing...

Bell · Post by **Bell** » October 10th, 2005, 3:42 pm

Yep. I'd still be there if it hadn't been for the ex. I fired her ass too late. Time and circumstances prevented me from getting back and I resent it to this day.

RLTW
Bell

McD · Post by **McD** » October 10th, 2005, 4:00 pm

Damn hard question to answer. I missed all my Ranger Buds the day I left. I miss doing Ranger stuff everyday to this day. But if I hadn't got out I wouldn't be where I am now and have the things I have now... my kids mostly. The thought of not having them puts me in a position where I have to say I'm glad I did what I did.
There are a lot of intersections in this life; left, right, or straight ahead.. got to go with what feels right for you Bro.

Maggot275 · Post by **Maggot275** » October 12th, 2005, 2:42 pm

I wish I had never left. Civilian world sucks the big one, it has since the day I got off of unemployment after ETS'ing. I realized I had made the big fuck up 4 months after I got out. Fuck the civie life, if your thinking of going back or staying in... fucking do it.

ChipOnShoulder · Post by **ChipOnShoulder** » October 13th, 2005, 8:35 pm

I would not go back in time and prevent myself from doing it, but then I would not go back now and do it all over again. It was a good experience something like a chapter in a book on my life and something to reminice about/ but I want a life that has many chapters, not one big one - Ya know what I mean!??

PS: I believe that everyone has an obligation to do at least 4 years of something for thier country either military, cop, EMT, teacher something.....

Earthpig · Post by **Earthpig** » October 14th, 2005, 5:12 am

ABSOLUTELY!
RLTW
EP

Bravo57 · Post by **Bravo57** » October 14th, 2005, 10:34 am

My 2 cents,

I did 12 years in the Regiment, got out for the money. I Never should have left. You would be amazed at the POS type people you have to deal with in the civillian sector.

My brother told me that the stupidest thing he ever did was to get out. He did 4 years in the Air Force. It never hit him how stupid he was until the date that he would have retired came up. That day, he looked at me and said "I would be at 20 years and retired today".

Every Ranger is different, What I did was make a list of all the positives and negatives, put 'em next to each other and find out which option is better. At the time, getting out was better. Hind sight being what it is, I wish I would have stayed in.

Just ask yourself, where do I want to be in 20 years. If you can't answer that question, stay in, keep the direction the Regiment gives, and decide later.

Rock Island Ranger · October 14th, 2005, 10:57 am

Doc Cook wrote: I believe that everyone has an obligation to do at least 4 years of something for thier country either military, cop, EMT, teacher something.....

So....serving 7 years in Federal Prison for beating a Senators ass....that qualifies, right?