Monday, November 22, 2010

Just a quickie...

Only have time to post a quick one, but there was something on my mind that I just wanted to talk about real quick and ask people's opinion about.

So I'm coming up on the end of this tour...well into the final quarter of the time here. The count is at 77 days and a wake up. Close enough that it's tantalizingly close, yet far enough away still to be discouraging. Especially when it's groundhog day out here. Kind of feel like this when I wake up in the morning:

Me in the morning


With that being said, when I get back to the states, it's going to be a whirlwind of activity from February, until sometime in the summer. The reason is this: I've been at Ft. Gordon now for about 3.5 years. That's 6 months longer than they really like keeping people anywhere. By the time I'm done there, I will have served 4 years there. It's time for me to move.

I have a couple options available to me as far as where my next duty assignment will be. One is better for the career, one is someplace that I've been trying to get to for 7 years, and it's finally available to me. The former is out in Texas, the latter is out in England.

So here are the pros/cons to each (for me):

Texas:

Pros - I have lots of friends out in Texas. The job will be outstanding for my career progression as it stands right now. I'll be able to buy a house when I get out there and establish some equity. I will still, for relatively cheap, fly back to CT to visit the family types, and the cottage.

Cons - The job is going to entail dealing with Soldiers who are not yet qualified on their job. They are in training status, and there is a ton of red tape and politicking that takes place in TRADOC units. (Traning and Doctrine Command). The Soldiers go out of their way sometimes to get their instructors and leadership in trouble. I'm not to scared of that last part, but it's there non-the less. San Angelo isn't exactly the hotbed of activity...though I am only 3 hours away from Austin and San Antonio, and 4 hours away from Dallas/Ft. Worth.

England
Pros - It's where I've been trying to get for the past 7 years. Where I'll be (North Yorkshire) will be only about 1.5 hours away from Newcastle, (I'm a huge Newcastle United supporter). The pool scene in England is doing nothing but growing the past few years from what I understand. It's the last time in my career, most likely, that I'll be able to actually do my job and not be a paper pusher. I'll be able to tour Europe on long weekends for pretty cheap.

Cons - don't know anyone out there for the most part. I would have a hard time taking my truck over there (it's a full sized pick-up truck). It's not a very good career move, as far as career progression goes, but there are other options available as well. It's going to cost an arm and a leg to get home. (close to 1200 round trip).

I'm only about 70% sure of where I would like to go. But I might as well be at 50% sure. So, with that being said, I wanted to see what everyone here has to say about it. Someone just may bring up a great point that I haven't thought about yet. Who knows...but I won't unless you tell me! So please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

On a completely different note, I've added a couple of pages to my blog. One of them is the obligatory "about me" page (I am what I am), and the other is the blog list that I had on the front page. I've expanded it even more...the only difference is you cannot tell which blogs have been updated most recently. I wish there were a widget that I could use on that particular page to do that, but I don't think it will let me. Hope the Thanksgiving Holiday treats everyone well and you all eat plenty of turkey; passing out on the couch while watching New Orleans put the whoopin on Dallas.

till next time!

2 comments:

  1. how in the world is there ANY question in your mind about where you should go?? have you forgotten what a miserable, dirty, disgusting, torturous, dreadful, life-draining, frustration-inducing waste of time that horrible Texas base is?? Where rules make no sense and every day begins with "why in the hell am i forced to go through another day of this?" and ends with "what was the point of this wasted day?" where the classroom training is completely out-dated and the field training is full of cactus thorns in your ass. do you really want to do 5am PT every day? do you really want to conduct 3am surprise health and wellness barracks inspections? do you really want to force the buddy system on soldiers who have 1 1/2 - 2 years of army experience under their belt? you would be surrounded with trainees who hate their life and might hate you just because you're a part of the misery.

    i've been out for almost a year now, but the memories of GAFB are burned into my brain as being, by far, the worst 5 months of my army career.

    england is a hop, skip, and a jump to countless beautiful and historic places in europe! you can visit your family when you come back... but will you ever go back and visit as much of europe as you'll see in the time that you're stationed there? and you'll make far more friends in england than you will in san angelo... you can't even socialize with most of the people there.

    and finally, as for your career... once you're finished with the next base, you'll be pretty close to getting out... right? so i think the job that will be better for your post-army career is the one you should be focusing on. and that would be the one that allows you to actually DO your job and give you a leg-up on getting a sweet contractor job after you retire from the army....

    GO TO ENGLAND!!!! :D

    -amy (formerly, sgt hallock)

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  2. tough questions dagz . . . without knowing your situation fully i guess i can only say the following.

    if you're adventurously minded, then england no doubt. what fun it'd be to visit the country where they're only separated from us by a common language! :P plus, it sounds like you'd enjoy your job more in britain. maybe you'll even pick up snooker or english 8-ball while schooling the boys there on one pocket.

    or, if you're more safety/security minded, then like you said, texas would be the smart move where you can put down your roots and be in the position to get a house. (not easy in this economy, but texas is one of the few states that's actually doing pretty well.) plus the pool scene in texas seems to be pretty active, so you'll be able to play with friends or in tournaments.

    as far as pool goes, it seems that you can get it at either place, so it comes down to what will make you happy more: adventure and exploration, or putting down roots and prepare for future. the good thing is that you're a professional soldier, so you won't have problems prioritizing. :P :) good luck! let us know which city you pick.

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