This time of year always brings to mind people retiring from military service. The older I get the younger the retirees seem. That always surprises me, but I know it shouldn’t.
I don’t feel like a retiree even though my knees remind me all the time. After high school and college ROTC followed by 26 years on active duty, retiring almost seemed like a surprise.
I knew it was coming and had seen plenty of people do it, but then it happened to ME! I knew it was time to hang up my combat boots, but to once again live in a house FOREVER just seemed odd.
Retiring from the Army certainly does bring changes. I went from rarely having to worry about which shirts and trousers to wear to having to make decisions on my attire every day.
There should be a civilian uniform. It’s stressful for an old soldier to have to match all of those colors every day. Since I now work at home I’ve managed to reduce that stress by wearing jeans most days. Of course, some are darker than others, so even picking jeans can be a challenge.
At least I still have an ID card, even if it no longer looks like the one most soldiers carry.
I remember how upset our older two daughters were when I told them that they could no longer use an ID card. That was ugly.
Ceremonies accompany retirements, too. I tried to keep mine low-key at Forces Command but the folks working for me would have none of that.
The event was an excuse not to have to work as well as to have a chance for free food. Duh!
Of course my family still harasses me for being steady and strong in thanking everyone and remembering family and friends, including a few family members who had passed away.
I did fine until I gave Marilyn a single rose in remembrance of the two dogs we had as a couple that were no longer with us. Talking about Marilyn’s and my parents was not a problem, but I almost broke down when I mentioned Shady and Mac.
My brood still gives me a hard time, but they weren’t as tough as they now claim!
Retirement was a challenge for my family as well.
One of the twins asked if we could move on post when we arrived in Columbus. She was less than thrilled when I said we could not. Fort Benning does look nice, especially compared to the last Army post that we lived on – Camp Humphreys, Republic of Korea.
Memories of our quonset hut just did not compare well to the houses on Fort Benning.
Well, retirement brings change and lots of old soldiers go through it.
No doubt the local community will gain a few more of those folks in the next few months.
Once they figure out their wardrobe they’ll be productive members of society.
Hopefully they’ll sort out what to wear quickly and get through their retirement ceremony without babbling too much.
I still wake up at 0500 (not this civilian business of 5 a.m.), but I have backed off the old PT program.
No one jumps anymore when I yell except for the two dogs we now have. They would have been good soldiers!
John M. House is a retired Army colonel who lives in Midland, Ga. His e-mail is housearmylife@aol.com.
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