Thursday, November 17, 2005

GUNG HO, GUNG HO!

…hit with a sense of an end nearing, I just remembered that I am in fact in the military. With one month left in my six-year enlistment I’m overwhelmed with memories of the few places I’ve been to and all the people I’ve met during my short career with the Air National Guard. The timing couldn’t have been any better with movies like Jarhead and books like My War: Killing time in Iraq being released in successive months, reminding me of the camaraderie that comes along with being a part of the military.

During the past few weeks its been slowly coming back to me: the Air Force core values, my military bearing, attention to detail, etc.—everything I’ve learned in boot camp. Now, with one month left in my enlistment and a staff sergeant stripe in arms reach, I’m actually thinking about re-enlisting. It all depends, of course.

I’m hoping to cross-train to the Public Affairs career field with the focus on journalism. If the career field is available at the reserve units at, either, Travis AFB or Beale AFB, then I’m doing it—I’m re-enlisting. This re-enlistment idea is kind of funny considering my anticipation of being discharged. And, it was only two years ago when I went AWOL (Absent Without Leave) and was willing to take a dishonorable discharge just to get the fuck out of the military. Damn, do things change!

I’m waiting to get a call back from the Air Force Reserves recruiter, so until then…



—Senior Airman Antonio C. Aranzamendez III