Originally Posted by
jaxgtr
I was USN from 81 to 90 and I was going to make it a career, but it was a funky time. They were starting to cut people loose due to the end of the iron curtain and my wife was over me only being home 25% of the time. She wanted to have kids, but wanted me to be there to help raise them. So I had to make a choice and we actually flipped a quarter in the kitchen, with her making the call, heads I stay in, tails I get out. The next day, I went to tell the command I had decided to exit the service and as timing is just perfect, the chief's board results came out, and I had been selected, but it would require another 4 years. I was really conflicted, but I told her I would stand by the flip of the coin.
I was in the army from '86-'10 and I remember when they did the early outs in '90 we had a lot of guys take it. But a bunch of them were regretting it after they got out. One was actually my roommate I had an apartment with off post when i was stationed at Bragg. When he got out he stayed in Fayetteville and got a job at some factory, but that very first week he was killing himself for getting out. He tried everything he could to get back in but it was a no go. He was really pissed when we deployed for Desert Shield/Storm and he missed it.
A lot of people also screwed themselves then they did the early retirement a few years later.