Join the army, they said...

[antikristuseke]

As some of you allready know, my national service will start on the 29th of september, a week from now. So i figured I'd start a thread where you can all tell me to bugger off or some such and id actualy have a chanse to read it before going.

[Hitman]

Where are you going to serve? Infantry? Air? Navy?

This thread should in fact be in the GT forum, where more people will see it :hmm: I'm moving it there and leaving a direct link from here.

Thanks

[antikristuseke]

I thought i was in the GT section, slightly hung over from a friends fathers birthday.

Anyway, I'll be serving as a infantry, but dont know what my specialization will be.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Anyway, I'll be serving as a infantry, but dont know what my specialization will be.


Sandbag-filling:D

It can be fun if you're the moto type. Your mental attitude is very important, though. If all you ever think about is how much everything sucks, it will.

Learn to master the art of good-humored bit**ing about everything all the time.:yep:

[mrbeast]

Good luck antikristuseke!

Never been in the army myself, but I guess like a lot of things in life; you'll get out of it what you put in; keep positive and keep your sense of humour about things and like UnderseaLcpl says, if all you think about is the bad stuff then its probably going to suck, otherwise it should be a great adventure:up:

[Neptunus Rex]

I thought i was in the GT section, slightly hung over from a friends fathers birthday.

Anyway, I'll be serving as a infantry, but dont know what my specialization will be.

If its the US Army, well, you have your choice.

11B MOS, Infantry
11C MOS, 120mm Mortar Artillery
11H Infantry, Anti-Armor
11M Infantry Mechanized

Somewhere in all your enlistment papers is a MOS slot and assignment to a primary MOS producing school for your AIT (Advanced Individual Training.) You will go through this school after boot camp and before reo]porting to your first duty assignment and unit.

Get used to doing ALLOT of walking.

Good luck to you and when you become a leader, look after your troops.

If it's not the USA, most countries Infantry Branch are arranged about the same.

[diver]

Service life is what you make of it.

Be a mopey bastard and you will not only destroy your own happiness but most likely the morale of most around you.

Be a positive guy, willing to laugh during the cold wet & exhausting ****e, and you will have a good time, even if you still want to get out ASAP.

[JHuschke]

You will have fun

[Reece]

I think Diver pretty well summed it up!:yep: It will be what you make it, certainly go in with a positive outlook & all will go smoothly, best of luck.:D
Cheers,
Reece.

[Flamingboat]

I've been in the Infantry. Joining the military is like trying to have sex in a bathtub, it looks like a great idea until you try it.

[Blacklight]

Have fun getting screamed at and cleaning stuff.:D

[sunvalleyslim]

make the best of any situation, and remember it's only a small amount of time in your total life.......wished I would have enjoyed more and bitched less......when you're older you will only remember the good times you had, and forget the parts that sucked...................

[Sailor Steve]

I've been in the Infantry. Joining the military is like trying to have sex in a bathtub, it looks like a great idea until you try it.
Really? Did it many times in a bathtub. Never got tired of it.

[Reece]

Really? Did it many times in a bathtub. Never got tired of it.
With or without water Steve?:lol:

[nikimcbee]

I guess you gotta survive boot-camp.:lol:

[antikristuseke]

I thought i was in the GT section, slightly hung over from a friends fathers birthday.

Anyway, I'll be serving as a infantry, but dont know what my specialization will be.

If its the US Army, well, you have your choice.

11B MOS, Infantry
11C MOS, 120mm Mortar Artillery
11H Infantry, Anti-Armor
11M Infantry Mechanized

Somewhere in all your enlistment papers is a MOS slot and assignment to a primary MOS producing school for your AIT (Advanced Individual Training.) You will go through this school after boot camp and before reo]porting to your first duty assignment and unit.

Get used to doing ALLOT of walking.

Good luck to you and when you become a leader, look after your troops.

If it's not the USA, most countries Infantry Branch are arranged about the same.

I'll be serving in the Estonian defence forces, Kuperjanov's independant infantry batalion and i have not enlisted, iv been conspcripted for 8-11 months of national service. After that i have a chanse to enlist with the Scouts batalion to do tours of duty abroad.

[Tchocky]

Best of luck man :up:

[UnderseaLcpl]

I'll be serving in the Estonian defence forces, Kuperjanov's independant infantry batalion and i have not enlisted, iv been conspcripted for 8-11 months of national service. After that i have a chanse to enlist with the Scouts batalion to do tours of duty abroad.

And with Russia right next door:o

THAT is bravery!:D

[Happy Times]

We get to express 3 wishes for specialtys that we like after basic training. Were you actually go is based on points gathered in physical, basic skills, psychological and aptitude tests and exsams. In the end your conscript and cader leaders give also points and interwiew you. As you are going to Kupernajov you have the chance to go recon? I could imagine that would suit you well as an independent type, if you have the needed physical condition. But dont question anything during basic, no matter how stupid it seems, you will understand it all after your service. They will make an exsample from someone, you dont want to be the one. We have a saying that dont be the best and not the worst, so you dont get unwanted attention from your superiors or peers. Another is never volunteer for anything.:D
Im competitive so i took it the way that i did my best in every official test but volunteered only to something that really had a point. You dont want a reputation as an asskisser with your peers or a lazy idiot with your superiors. If you get to NCO course, give all you got, everyone is competing at that point.:up:
There is really nothing to it if you are right in the head, make sure you have all things sorted in the civilian life. If you have a girlfriend be mentally prepared that she wont wait, if she does she could be a keeper. Economic situation is another, some idiots come in with **** loads of debt. I wish you best of luck and im proud of you as i am of all that serve my country, we are cousins after all . If a man gives up his comfort and freedom for the benefit of his country he joins in the band of brothers.;)

[Blacklight]

when you're older you will only remember the good times you had, and forget the parts that sucked...................

My father who fought in Vietnam never forgot the bad parts. Talk to him and it's almost ALL bad parts and whaterver good parts there were it was about him and his buddies trying to make light of all the crap they were stuck in so they wouldn't go crazy.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, there's a difference between being in the military and being in combat. There are no 'good parts' to combat, but life in the service can be interesting, entertaining and rewarding.

[Hitman]

Quote:
Really? Did it many times in a bathtub. Never got tired of it.
With or without water Steve?:lol:


I think he meant being in the military, not having sex :rotfl:

[Task Force]

I've been in the Infantry. Joining the military is like trying to have sex in a bathtub, it looks like a great idea until you try it.
Really? Did it many times in a bathtub. Never got tired of it.

Alittle more than we needed to know Sailor Steve.:huh:

[antikristuseke]

I've been in the Infantry. Joining the military is like trying to have sex in a bathtub, it looks like a great idea until you try it.

I would imagine that depends more on the size of the bathtub than anything else, personaly i prefer sex in the shower, but thats another story alltogether.:smug:

[Sailor Steve]

Quote:
Really? Did it many times in a bathtub. Never got tired of it.
With or without water Steve?:lol:


I think he meant being in the military, not having sex :rotfl:
No, I meant sex in the bathtub. But that is like being in the military - you just have to find the right position.

[Polak]

Go for it, you will hate it while you are there, but when you are done with it you will look back at everything with a big smile. :D

How is the Estonian military? Has it inherited some bad habits from the Soviet military?
I am thinking about abuse of personnel, sending soldiers to work outside units?

[antikristuseke]

As far as I know the influences of the soviet practices in military service are minimal at the most. There is no real harrasment by those who have allready served some time towards newcomers, exept maybe some light hearted messing.
Our service only lasts 8 or 11 months, not two years and we are not sent into combat zones, we are just given training and then released into the reserves, unless you choose to stay on longer or sign up with the Scouts batalion as a professional soldier to do tours abroad.
The real abuse of new conscripts in the soviet army started when the service time was reduced from 3 years to two, the ones who had to serve 3 years took their frustrations out on the 2 year servers and sadly that has become somewhat standard practice.

[Polak]

Have you thought about going for a professional carrier in the military after your service?

[OneToughHerring]

Well I voted no but that doesn't mean you couldn't have fun while you are there. I wasn't too keen on the whole thing back then, since then I've sort of grown to like things such as military history etc. but I really don't miss the wintery bush at all and I've got the scars to prove it. Nor do I miss the ***hole personnel, NCO's or CO's.

I think Finland should go toward a professional military with volunteers getting the basic training etc. I don't think this would be as expensive as some fans of the conscription system make it out to be. I'm sure Happy Times disagrees about this with me but I don't really care to argue this issue right now. Anyway antikristuseke, have fun and as someone who has an interest in military I'm sure you'll find it all very interesting and fun. :up:

[Quillan]

I think all militaries, worldwide, are exactly the same in this regard:

HURRY UP AND WAIT!

At least, that was my experience from 4 years of service and it's been echoed by every veteran I've every spoken to. Best of luck to you. It'll have good points and bad points, just make the most of it.

[Happy Times]

Even if you leave out the cost, were do you get the 500.000 of men needed to defend a country the same size as Germany? Its not like someone else will do it for us.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Even if you leave out the cost, were do you get the 500.000 of men needed to defend a country the same size as Germany? Its not like someone else will do it for us.

That's only because when the Soviets tried to give them to you, you threw them out.:D

[OneToughHerring]

Mikhayl,

you guys still have the foreign legion in effect? I've heard that a lot of East-Europeans have applied there since the breakup of the Soviets. I guess that's one way to go, tough place though from what I hear.

[meduza]

I actually had a lot of fun while serving. I was drafted, and spent 10 months in the service, 8 months as a gunner on a patrol craft. :arrgh!:
Although my country was at war at the time, I didn't see much action, except being bombarded by rocket launchers on several occasions while at port.

Most of the time we chased Italian fishing boats entering our teritorial waters. :D

[Neptunus Rex]

I thought i was in the GT section, slightly hung over from a friends fathers birthday.

Anyway, I'll be serving as a infantry, but dont know what my specialization will be.

If its the US Army, well, you have your choice.

11B MOS, Infantry
11C MOS, 120mm Mortar Artillery
11H Infantry, Anti-Armor
11M Infantry Mechanized

Somewhere in all your enlistment papers is a MOS slot and assignment to a primary MOS producing school for your AIT (Advanced Individual Training.) You will go through this school after boot camp and before reo]porting to your first duty assignment and unit.

Get used to doing ALLOT of walking.

Good luck to you and when you become a leader, look after your troops.

If it's not the USA, most countries Infantry Branch are arranged about the same.

I'll be serving in the Estonian defence forces, Kuperjanov's independant infantry batalion and i have not enlisted, iv been conspcripted for 8-11 months of national service. After that i have a chanse to enlist with the Scouts batalion to do tours of duty abroad.

Well, make the best of it then. If you go in with a crap attitude, boot camp will just make it worse.

What's a "Scouts Battalion" though I think I know.

[antikristuseke]

the estonian defence forces is divided into four parts, the land forces (Maavägi) Airforce (Õhuvägi) and naval forces (Merevägi). Maavägi is divided into batalions and the Scouts batalion is our only professional unit, as in all the people in the Scouts batalion have allready done their national service and are voulenteers.

[Platapus]

Just remember that you are joining the military. The military is not joining you.

The military has its own "unique" way of doing things. Don't expect the military to be logical nor to conform to you.

Just go with the flow and you will have a lifetime of funny stories to tell your kids.

Try to fight the system and you will find life "unpleasant"

[antikristuseke]

Hello again fellas, thought I'd drop by to say hello. my third week of basic soldiering training is about to begin and finaly managed to make soem free time.

So far things are going sort of ok, exept for the fact that im on painkillers due to my left knee, will get it looked at more thuroughly on monday. Anyhow I got what i wanted and am in the recon company, second squad(not sure if thats the right word, in estonian its called a rühm which is split into four sections(jagu) wich all divide into two half sections(pooljagu) containing 4 men). The downside of being in the second squad is that we have an unusualy high dickhead content with people who bitch and moan and do not put in any effort, hell last night one of them even sumgled in some vodka, but i cant even beat the snot out of him to put him in his place.
That asside its actualy great fun here, lots of physical training, learning of regulations and firearm classes for now. Can field strip and assemble my AK4 in under 3 minutes allready, most of that is down to the fact that the first time we cleaned our rifles was done in gas masks because some *******s couldnt keep heir mouths shut.
Next time I drop by I'll make a small note before posting so I would'nt forget stuff.

Sink them all.
Pvt. Tammisto

[OneToughHerring]

Good to hear you're doing ok, your system isn't probably that different from ours. Also your winter probably won't be that cold so I'm sure you'll do just fine.

Just heal that knee up, no point in getting hurt long term.

[Frame57]

Good Luck! Everyones' experience here will be varied from yours. Attitude is what makes it or breaks it. Some love it and make a career out of the military. Opportunities will present themselves especially if you did well on your ASVAB and if you do well on your BEST test at the end of basic training. With corporations revoking retirement packages in the civilian sector every day. The military presents a good choice. You could pull 50 to 75 percent of your base pay for the rest of your life if go for the long haul and retire out of the military. Also there are continued education opportunities in the military, whereby you can get a degree while you are on active duty.

[antikristuseke]

hello again you bunch of civilian maggots :P

So far its been fun here in the army, did our first semi long march in kit yesterday. By in kit i mean in full uniform with flak jackets, heavy combat harness and our AK4's, 22kg in all, ohyeah, my full kit weights about 60k in all, thats what i'll be carrying on my so called soldiers march in 7 weeks for two days while having to complete various challenges. 10 miles through rough ground, swamps, up and down hills, through and along rivers and runing along a tarmac road for two kilometers. Neart the end we crawled through a drain runijg bellow a road that stank worse than Valek who hasnt had a shower for a few weeks and when we got back to battalion we took a walk through a lake on territory before runing (in my case limping because i ****ed up my left knee somewhat a few weeks ago) back to our barracs to get as much water out of our kit as possible in 2 minutes, then puting on flipflops and getting topless to do weapon maintenance, followed by getting our gear ready to dry and THEN a hot shower because our maintenance lis goes gun->gear->self.

Ohyah, im in the recon company, the one with the highest physical and mental demands. To smoke we have to do pushups, occasionaly in kit, so expect me to be ripped by the time im done.

[Tchocky]

I wish you'd gone in with your old haircut :p

Good to hear Estonia is in safe hands

[UnderseaLcpl]

Sounds like everything is working out for you:up:

Keep up the good work, it all gets easier once you're out of bootcamp.

[AVGWarhawk]

I can not say for sure if you will have fun but I can say the army will try your will. My brother-in-law went into the army straight out of high school. Did he enjoy it? Not really, it was not his cup of tea. Was he better off after boot camp? Yes, in many ways. He was better off for it in the long run. Good luck to you and your start in the army. You never know, this could be the career for you. :up:

[August]

Here's a tip from an old grunt. In practice carry an extra 5 pounds in your ruck and remove it before your soldiers march. It will help alot.

[Terror_666]

All I remember from my military service is a LOT of beer, training, getting deployed and spending 52 hour staring through a rifle scope at desert rocks.

[Happy Times]

hello again you bunch of civilian maggots :P

So far its been fun here in the army, did our first semi long march in kit yesterday. By in kit i mean in full uniform with flak jackets, heavy combat harness and our AK4's, 22kg in all, ohyeah, my full kit weights about 60k in all, thats what i'll be carrying on my so called soldiers march in 7 weeks for two days while having to complete various challenges. 10 miles through rough ground, swamps, up and down hills, through and along rivers and runing along a tarmac road for two kilometers. Neart the end we crawled through a drain runijg bellow a road that stank worse than Valek who hasnt had a shower for a few weeks and when we got back to battalion we took a walk through a lake on territory before runing (in my case limping because i ****ed up my left knee somewhat a few weeks ago) back to our barracs to get as much water out of our kit as possible in 2 minutes, then puting on flipflops and getting topless to do weapon maintenance, followed by getting our gear ready to dry and THEN a hot shower because our maintenance lis goes gun->gear->self.

Ohyah, im in the recon company, the one with the highest physical and mental demands. To smoke we have to do pushups, occasionaly in kit, so expect me to be ripped by the time im done.

God damn, thats all so familiar. :rock: We had to often stop what we were doing, usually wet, cold or exhausted, gather aroound in one knee, grin a big smile and whisper, "Its so pleasant in the woods".:lol: Ofcourse we did it soon by ourselfs.;)
Watch that leg, you will need it more after the seven weeks is over.
Go Recon!:rock:

[Frame57]

I admit I hate being a civilian maggot:D Keep up the good work and forget about the whiners, even though they will cause extra PT and stuff, they will ween themselves out and later in AIT things go a lot saner than what happens in Basic Training.:up:

[antikristuseke]

Hello again.
This week is focused arround our second service weapon, the KSP-58 machine gun, yanks use it under the designation M240. 11.6kg of pure sexings. Easy to field strip and maintain, but because ours are old and ****ed up they will cause loads of problems with misfires and some had ****ed up safety catches which could cause runaway fire. All in all it is pretty nice here, exept for forrest weeks. our first forrest week it rained 24/7, my knee is giving me hell and recon does'nt sleep in tents, so we were wet, cold and miserable all the time, but at least in the forrest we are not limted to 3 cigarettes a day and we do not have to do pushups to smoke. But because some *******s in my platoon have disipline problems we had to do 20 pushups in full kit with backpakcs, 58kg of extra weight for me :woop:
Anyway our next forrest week begins on sunday, a 15 km march in full kit, the march back will be arround 28km when we are all soaked to the bone, should be a hell of a good time.

[Fincuan]

:rotfl:

Sounds like good fun :up:

Those KSP-58s of yours sound like the 7.62 Kvkk 62s(Finnish design) we had: *Prrt* -> clear stoppage -> *Prrt* -> clear stoppage...

[kranz]

:rotfl:

Sounds like good fun :up:



as long as you sit in front of your PC browsing subsim.com drinking hot tea with sugar and lemon.

[antikristuseke]

:rotfl:

Sounds like good fun :up:



as long as you sit in front of your PC browsing subsim.com drinking hot tea with sugar and lemon.

I'm not complaining, after our second forrest week is explosives week :)

[antikristuseke]

second forest week over, both knees ****ed, good to be back at batallion. This forrest week we practiced movement when in contact with the enemy, gas alerts, the Harris UHF radio stations, AT weapons and we sighted in our rifles. got to fire 55 rounds of 7.62x51mm FMJ, was fun and i did pretty good, 10 rounds in a 1" group at 150m prone though they were not in the centre of the target, didnt take into account that i hav to aim lower as the lowest sight seting is for 200m, in a 2" group from 100m kneelng and the same result standing up at 50m, the AK-4(G-3) has a really pleasant recoil, kind of like a sharp jab followed by a pushing force. Anyhow i can put 5 rounds down range and on target in less than that ammount of seconds when in the prone position with my rifle supported by something. Allso now i dont even notice the weight of my rifle, flak jacket and stuff, though the backpack marches are still a pain. Allso we got really lucky with the weather this time arround, no rain and full moon at night which lit up everything nicely, but we were nigh on innvisible, you would be ammazed at how well camo works when properly done, unless you have experienced it.
Anyway my manlines has grown arseloads, i can survive a week in the woods and we dont even have a bloody tent:arrgh!:

[baggygreen]

Almost makes me miss humping the hills, as it were :D

I enjoyed my basic training, it was painful at the time but by god it was worth it!

Not bad groupings, either!!

[antikristuseke]

Now for some bad news, two weeks ago I underwent an MRI scan of my left knee because it has been a pain in the arse for a while. The results are in, there is some carthilage damage so I might be forced back into civilian life by christmass:down:

[UnderseaLcpl]

Sorry to hear it, boss. The best thing to do is keep a "can-do" attitude and make that knee get better. Even if that fails, no man can say that you didn't do your duty.

Best of luck to you:up:

[AVGWarhawk]

Now for some bad news, two weeks ago I underwent an MRI scan of my left knee because it has been a pain in the arse for a while. The results are in, there is some carthilage damage so I might be forced back into civilian life by christmass:down:

They might leave that up to you. They did with my Bro-in-law. He had a serious foot problem. Marching was like forget it. They offered the ticket home. He opted to stay and worked through it. Perhaps they will give that option.

[antikristuseke]

Hopefully they will offer me the chanse to stay, but I have more good news. One idiot in my platoon decided to run off so we havent slept in two nights, there is a headcount every hour, 24 hours a day. Allso there is a blizzard so we have to clean the roads on batallion every two hours, all good things coming together at once.

[Morts]

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[OneToughHerring]

What's so funny Morts? Do you have snow in Denmark, and by snow I don't mean the stuff that comes from Colombia? :)

Sorry to hear about your knee antikristuseke, as I wrote earlier those things can be serious. Although it may feel bad at the moment you would be smart to think about your long-term health first and military second. The military doesn't need guys with one functioning leg, you know. Also they don't want you to ***k up your leg and be an invalid for the rest of your life, in a case like that they might end up having to pay your hospital bills and they don't want to do that.

So take care and put your health first. You can always go back and continue your service once you're healed up, I think.

[antikristuseke]

News on the blizzard, new snowfall record in Estonia, nearly two feet (56cm) of snow in 24 hours.

[AVGWarhawk]

Hopefully they will offer me the chanse to stay, but I have more good news. One idiot in my platoon decided to run off so we havent slept in two nights, there is a headcount every hour, 24 hours a day. Allso there is a blizzard so we have to clean the roads on batallion every two hours, all good things coming together at once.

My bro-in-law said he had a few fence jumpers at his boot camp. Most over a girlfriend. I do not think he had to stay up as a result. Happy shoveling:up:

[antikristuseke]

Everything is clear now, im being sent into the reserves meaning my military service is effectively over and any hopes of a military career are gone. I feel gutted, hell, being left by my girlfriend didnt feel this bad, but at least there is the bittersweet taste of irony to the thing, there are guys in my unit that would jump at the chanse of getting out, but me, the guy who wants to serve, is being sent home.:doh:

Anyway I still plan to complete all my exams and the solders march to get my bones (in my battalion there are tow ranks of insignia, the plain black shield and then the second rank with the skull and crossbones which one has to earn and recon allso has a wolf emblem). At least that way I can proovew to myself that I have what it takes, even though these damned doctors say otherways.:damn:

I'll check back here if i get a chanse, but I might not be able to do that untill I'll be at home, cheers till then.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, that's a drag. You find something that suits you and they go and tell you they don't want you?:damn:

[UnderseaLcpl]

Typical military:roll:

I hope that by 'reserves' you mean something similar to the U.S. active reserve system, where you serve part-time. If not, I am sorry to see your plans have not worked out well, but then, life often leads us where we don't expect, often for the better.

I hope that you will not feel ashamed because of this turn of events. The important thing is that when your country needed men to step forward and volunteer to exchange their lives for those of their countrymen, you accepted. That's the important thing.

Also, I have known men who tried to conceal physical problems in order to gain enlistment. It never ends well. It's one thing to suffer a lifelong disability because of enemy action, and quite another to suffer one during routine excersises. Your life is worth more than that.:yep: There are many ways to serve one's country.

One piece of advice I would like to offer, that may help with your knee problems, I'm not sure, though. When I was in High School I suffered severe bursitis (inflammation of the bursal sacks in the knees) and loss of cartilage in both knees due to a Rodeo accident. My doctor recommended a regimen of physical therapy designed to rebuild cartilage, generally recommended for young people. I don't know if your problems have anything to do with cartilage, but the regimen helped me out alot. I don't remember much about it, but it would be easy enough to find the doctor. PM me if you think something like that might help.


Best wishes, whatever path you may travel:up:

[antikristuseke]

By reseve I mean I wont be called up unless there is a war and even then i'll be bloody useless because I wont be equiped with the skillset I need.:nope:

Anyway our shooting proficency test was today, passed with flying colours but after that I was told I can not take part of the soldiers march so im ****ed, no bones for me. Words can not describe how pissed off and disapointed I am. Allso passed the so called NATO test (pushups in 2 minutes followed by crunches in 2 minutes followed by a 2 mile run) My score was 226 of 300, got 100 for pushups, did 82 in 2 minutes, the maximum required, allso did 66 crunches giving me 74 points, but the run killed my score (not a big wonder given my knee) so my time there was 16:42 giving my 52 points, all in all none too bad.

Allso another note, paperwork takes time. So I might not even get out before nex year, but I'm forbiden from doing much anything other than cleaning the god damned barracks:damn: . But meh, ennough venting for now.

[UnderseaLcpl]

I don't know what to say other than that I'm sorry.

Is there any chance of your knees recovering and giving it another go? Or perhaps you could find employment in a private military firm, if that interests you. I can tell you from experience (well, only with Blackwater, really) that their training and equipment is first-rate, and maybe they don't do so much marching.....

I can't imagine how bad I would feel if it happened to me, though. I'm really sorry man:down:

[antikristuseke]

Hello again everyone. This time I have some better news, but now to get the bad news out of the way: I'm being discharged tomorrow:(.

But at least there is a cold beer waiting for me at a bar called Rock&Roll followed by a warm bed at one of the young barmaids there:rock:. Other than that I have looked into military service some more and I'll be back for another go after my knee has healed, though that might take a year or more, depending on the severity of the surgery required and so on, so things are not quite as bleak as I made them out to be, which is'nt too surprising concidering how depressed I felt back then. Anyway I should be back at home port on monday and will set out on patroll shortly after that, till then good hunting.:arrgh!:

[Morts]

Good luck with the healing m8:up:

[AVGWarhawk]

Hey, you did the ground pounding aspect of the military. Get your knee worked on and think about the Navy:D

[Schöneboom]

Ciao,

I wish you a full recovery and happy holidays -- you accomplished more than many men at your age, and you still have a long life ahead of you.

I think about an old friend of mine, now in his 70s, who was once posted to an anti-aircraft unit in England. One day on duty he fell down badly and messed up his back -- he has suffered from back pain ever since, for over 50 years. Please don't end up like him.

S!
Wayne