Leaving the Navy

Yes! I am no longer bound by the laws of UCMJ, the military Uniform Code of Justice. As if today, I am free to voice my opinion in a honest way and I have waited a long time for today...

I have had learned and experienced great deal from the Navy and it's a rewarding experience that will benefit me for the rest of my life. I know I will be more able to adapt to changes and stressful events rather quickly than most - face the challenges and seek for solution! List goes on and on. I can't really thank the Navy enough.

Some people never get out of their comfort zone and spend their entire life being surrounded by same people, same job and same culture. Nothing wrong with that, but the Navy has given me the opportunity to interact with people from all sorts of back ground and from many corners of the states and even the world. It truly opened my eyes to look beyond their appearance, body language and any distraction to truly listen to people and see their quality or purpose.

I am by nature an intuitive person and thought that I was a very good judge of character. Many times, I made my decisions within seconds and new if I like that person or not - done deal, just like that! Well, with the teachings of Navy and diverse interaction has awakened a more observant side of me and now I am more careful and wiser.

If you're a fan of personality tests, you can say that being in the Navy has slowly changed me from totally intuitive to intuitive and analytical.

So, here goes why I left the wonderful Navy that has made me a better person through and through.

When I married Mark, it became a challenge to balance our life style and my Navy career. Mark wasn't an ideal military spouse - dependent is a military term for family and I would be a sponsor. Military spouses, usually have to give up their career to support their sponsor's military career. Be able to pick up and move to every continent of the world or face a long separation if not allowed to accompany - such as hostile location, can you say Iraq? or on a ship. Many military spouse pick up part time jobs, work at home or become a stay at home parent..


However, Mark is a successful businessman based out of Los Vegas and with many employees that depend on him. Plus, his business required frequent travel and he is actively involved in many other projects. So, began the long distance marriage me flying all over the coasts, about twice a month to be with Mark as much as possible. In the beginning everything was fine and exciting but soon, the tolls of travel and odd working hours start to get the best of me.

My basic routine were: Get caught up, travel, work while and during leave (burning vacation time) in Los Vegas home, travel, work late to get caught up with no overtime pay and travel... I was seriously getting burnt out!

After about a year of this ... I carefully weighed out my options. I could request for next duty station to be in Las Vegas or in Cali - Navy's presence is predominant in CA. Me and Mark had many serious conversation to not just through away the 15 years of service and not receive the retirement pension for it.

But then the deal breaker came.

As I advanced in the ranks of Navy, more and more I see people playing manipulative games to get over on people. I got stabbed and stepped on because I refused to play the game and up hold what I believe in. It was a dog it dog world times 10!

Plus, I was in the era of clashing of Old and New Navy!

The Old Navy was that the Rank meant everything! You just don't stand up or correct anyone who is ranked higher than you. And how do you achieve higher ranks? Connection and time served! Education, managing, communication and leadership skills had nothing to do with it. Needless to say, there are lots of people sitting in leadership position collecting their high paychecks and DEMAND respect by the color of their uniform.

Well, that's where my problem gets thicker... I just cannot eat shit with a smile on my face. I really had hard time respecting someone who just didn't have a clue, abused their authority and couldn't adapt to the changing Navy. They thought they had special rules for them that didn't apply to others and it made my skin craw every time I heard, "if you made the paycheck like he/she did, then you can do the same!"

The New Navy is more relaxed and are trying to run more like a corporate. Training and selecting deserving people for certain roles with more credibility and quality. Many benefit to encourage further education to obtain a degree. In the New Navy, an enlisted member with a Doctorate Degree is not un heard of and even becoming a trend.

However, the phasing of Old to New hasn't yet had it's full revolution and still some are getting by the influence of Old.

This was the life I dealt with before Mark and would had completed my 20 to retire, but when looking at all the options, it was best that I left the Navy to be at Mark's side. We would be much more happy and and able to truly enjoy each other.