(no subject)
Dec. 15th, 2004 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caraigToday I got a large, cardboard envelope from the Coast Guard. Within was a simple cardstock folder, and inside that was a certificate saying that I have been honorably discharged.
As of now I no longer have the threat of mobilization hanging over my head, accomplished by the expedient of resigning my commission in the USCG.
On the one hand it's a little bittersweet, since nothing goes so far as to define you as military service. Even today I still write time in 24-hour style. I still cling to a shred of the romanticism of military service, that it is -- or more to the point, can be -- noble and honorable to serve in that manner. On the other hand, at this time, being mobilized or recalled to duty would be... discomfiting. Above and beyond the condition of my mother, there's the concern that they could send me just about anywhere, no matter what I had been originally. It doesn't exactly make me comfortable that the Coast Guard is now an armed, uniformed military service under the Department of Homeland Security, an executive department with a dubious raison d'etre at best.*
Well, it's moot now. As of today I am officially no longer in the Coast Guard and am not subject to recall, mobilization, and the wiles and whims of the military. All in all, it was a surprisingly hard decision to make but I'm glad I did. I don't need any of that hanging over my head, now or ever.
* - To the best of my knowledge, there are seven uniformed services in the United States. Four of them -- the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force -- are under the Defense Department. One of them -- the Coast Guard -- used to be under the Treasury Department (because the main mission was originally the Revenue Cutter Service before joining with the Lifesaving Service and Lighthouse and Buoy Service.) One of them -- the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps-- is under the Department of Health and Human Services and was originally charged with the quarantine, care, and treatment of merchant seamen. Finally, one -- the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps -- is under the Commerce Department, and is responsible for command of the government's fleet of research and survey ships. Of these services, only the USCG is outside the Defense Department and is trained and armed for combat; neither the NOAA Corps or the Public Health Service have combat anywhere near their mission profiles. (I very badly wanted to join the NOAA Corps when I graduated from college.) For some reason, the USCG under the control of the DHS bothers me, but I guess it's better than them being under the Defense Department.
As of now I no longer have the threat of mobilization hanging over my head, accomplished by the expedient of resigning my commission in the USCG.
On the one hand it's a little bittersweet, since nothing goes so far as to define you as military service. Even today I still write time in 24-hour style. I still cling to a shred of the romanticism of military service, that it is -- or more to the point, can be -- noble and honorable to serve in that manner. On the other hand, at this time, being mobilized or recalled to duty would be... discomfiting. Above and beyond the condition of my mother, there's the concern that they could send me just about anywhere, no matter what I had been originally. It doesn't exactly make me comfortable that the Coast Guard is now an armed, uniformed military service under the Department of Homeland Security, an executive department with a dubious raison d'etre at best.*
Well, it's moot now. As of today I am officially no longer in the Coast Guard and am not subject to recall, mobilization, and the wiles and whims of the military. All in all, it was a surprisingly hard decision to make but I'm glad I did. I don't need any of that hanging over my head, now or ever.
* - To the best of my knowledge, there are seven uniformed services in the United States. Four of them -- the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force -- are under the Defense Department. One of them -- the Coast Guard -- used to be under the Treasury Department (because the main mission was originally the Revenue Cutter Service before joining with the Lifesaving Service and Lighthouse and Buoy Service.) One of them -- the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps-- is under the Department of Health and Human Services and was originally charged with the quarantine, care, and treatment of merchant seamen. Finally, one -- the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps -- is under the Commerce Department, and is responsible for command of the government's fleet of research and survey ships. Of these services, only the USCG is outside the Defense Department and is trained and armed for combat; neither the NOAA Corps or the Public Health Service have combat anywhere near their mission profiles. (I very badly wanted to join the NOAA Corps when I graduated from college.) For some reason, the USCG under the control of the DHS bothers me, but I guess it's better than them being under the Defense Department.
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-16 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-16 01:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-24 01:40 am (UTC)When I got out of the Coast Guard my rank was Lieutenant JG.