Post-Hunt

As you can see there is no picture of me smiling next to a dead moose. My primary access route to the hunting zone was supposed to be a frozen river, Fish and Game had said the river was frozed a foot thick, what they failed to metion was that in spite of this, the channel of the mile wide Nenana River was completely open. I could not cross. As a backup I travelled an additional 200 miles to get to a trailhead that bypassed the river and went into the hunting zone. Unfortunately, I was ill equipped to haul a dead moose over 20 miles to get it back to the truck. With the equipment I had it would have taken 2 days to cart the moose out. I had to call off my hunt early.

While I was hunting I spent a lot of time thinking. At first I was outraged at my situation. They justify this mess by saying I say the wrong thing at the wrong time and equate that to a mental disorder. At the same time we have a civillian employee who turns evry conversation to one of the following: sex, solving the unemployment and welfare problems through slavery, conscripting the children of poor families for forced military service, executing everybody in prison, using nukes or neutron bombs to wipe out all life in Iraq so we close out this war, assaulting religion, and killing women who get abortions. He says he does it because he enjoys "stirring the pot". I am always arguing against this lunacy when he says it to me. He gets in no trouble, but I got in trouble for saying that I was very glad the Partial Birth Abortion Bill finally passed the senate. It would appear he suffers from "personality disorder" but no one cares. Pinning such a silly label on me and trying to boot me from the service is absolutely insane in light of this difference of treatment.

When the rage passedI planned my defense, which is too extensive to detail here. Then finally, I started to make plans for the future if the worst should happen. My intention, as it now stands, is that if I should loose this fight, I will immediately go to the Alaska Highway Partol office and become a policeman. I have taken law enforcement couses in college, and I have done a great deal of military correspondence education in law enforcement. I have always like and admired policemen for the essential service they provide for us all. If I cannot serve my country as a soldier then I will serve it as a cop. Perhaps the first public office I run for will be Sherriff. I may opt for Anchorage City Police instead of the Highway Patrol. My wife is suggesting I apply to the Department of Fish and Game. Fortunately, someone with my education and work experience has many excellent options available to me.

On a side note, once I considered this course of action I began to have fantasies of being the one to bust my commander and/or my NCOIC on a traffic violation. It was . . . satisfying.

My other course of action, since this type of discharge almost universally results in an honorable discharge is to simply go straight to the Army Recruiter's office and enlist again for the Chemical Corps anyway, which is something I can do after just 3 months. In a roundabout way I can still win this battle even if I loose it.

DadOBot mentioned something very insightful that I myself have considered in the past. He suggested that perhaps I have grown so used to constantly fighting that I fight battles I need not fight. Considering how poorly I have chosen some of my battles I am inclined to think he may be right. Considering how out of sorts I feel, apprehensive even, when all is well and there are no fights to be won, I am even more inclined to think he's right. I'm a fighter through-and-through. I know this, and I know that I must channel that energy into a place where it is needed. The military is a natural choice for this since we train hard for, and fight wars. Law enforcement is another natural choice. Politics is another. All fields that I am drawn to as it is.

I have been praying, and I thank all of you who have kept me in your prayers and in your hearts and minds. I have reached a point of peace regarding my situation. I have the strangest feeling that whatever happens is for the best and will serve me well in the long-run. They say that when the Lord closes one door He opens another, better one, though it may not be apparrent at first. I trust that this is the case for me.

Thank you all for you kind words and your support. It means a lot to me.