Yesterday, December 4th, 2008, was a momentous occasion for me: I am officially free from the clutches of the US Navy. I enlisted in the Navy when I was 18, fresh out of high school. Many people don’t realize this, but the typical enlistment is actually eight years, not four. You do four years of active duty and then four years of inactive reserve. While you’re on inactive reserve, you don’t have to really do anything except keep them up-to-date on your contact info. But there’s always the chance that you’ll be recalled to active reserve or active duty, and with the way that things have been since I got out in 2004, it’s always been in the back of my mind.
Anyway, I got a lot out of my military experience that I’m really grateful for, but that’s a post for another day. For now, I’m just glad to be done.