My Navy medical board results came back: fit to continue Navy service. Unfortunately, I was expecting to be found unfit, so I have been making plans to get out. Job hunting, budgeting, saving, house hunting, etc. have been my life (apart from my Ph.D.) for the last two months.

The big problem is, if I accept the results and stay in, I still have the possibility of being administratively separated if my medical problem flairs up, or if my next command decides to not accept someone in my condition. With the draw-down the Navy is planning for (25,000 people in the next few years), there is no real reason for the Navy to keep someone who is medically limited around.

So, I’m still planning on getting out if I can’t find permanent shore duty orders or convert to a less sea-intensive rating. Plus, I haven’t heard back from any of my job applications yet. One way to guarantee a job offer is to stay in the Navy, and I have regretted it every time I’ve done it in the past.

Though this is another problem with the Navy, I won’t categorize it with that group of posts, at least not without supporting statistics.

I applied for the FY11 Limited Duty Officer program but I was not selected. Honestly, I don’t know what it takes to be picked up. The requirements for civilians to become an officer are pretty low (http://www.navy.org/officer_requirements/) but the requirements for enlisted to become an officer are crazy. > more <

I was just accepted to a university to start on my Ph.D. School doesn’t start until October but that’s fine. I don’t know how much time the Navy will give me to work on the degree anyways.

One of the reasons I haven’t posted in a long time is because I have been deployed so bloody much. Working on a Ph.D may clash with the schedule, not to mention the spotty Internet connection we have when we are at sea. > more <

Having recently returned from Iraq, I found out that the new service uniforms are finally available at the Navy Exchange (NEX) Uniform Shop. These new uniforms are designed to replace the office working whites (the “ice cream man” uniform) and the working blues (the “Johnny Cash” uniform). For those who haven’t seen it yet, it’s almost like the Marine Corps office uniform: khaki shirt, black pants, black garrison cap, collar rank insignia, etc.

I like the idea of not having to sew on the rank patches anymore; that could get pretty expensive, especially if you change rates. And having one uniform for the whole year is a nice idea; I never understood why we had to have two different uniforms when you can just wear a coat. > more <

Just wanted to post a picture I finally got from my visit to the medical clinic. The girl is Jasmine, the one who really, really wanted the pink soccer ball. Sadly, the military has cancelled the clinic, no reasons given. My guess is that someone in a “senior leadership position” decided that, because the clinic was an unfunded venture for the military, it was more important to use the money and supplies on something “better”.

It seems like the military or politicians would have learned a thing or two about “hearts and minds” from Vietnam but apparently not. Granted, I don’t know the exact reason why the program was stopped but, knowing the military the way I do, I can almost guarantee the reason was probably stupid.

So, that was the first and only time I’ll probably be able to work with real Iraqis. I had fun and wouldn’t mind doing a tour that allowed me to work with the locals on a regular basis.

Just a couple more days and I’ll be at my 90 day mark in-country. Not only that, but I finally (after 6 months) got my follow-on orders. After I’m done in Iraq, I’ll be heading to Japan. Rock on!

I’ve been trying to go back to Japan since I left there in 2003. At the time, I was on the USS Kitty Hawk (nicknamed the Shitty Kitty for reasons I soon found out). I had reported there in June of 2001. For those without a calendar, just a few months later was the infamous 9/11 incident in New York. Being a forward deployed battle group, we were naturally one of the first units to respond to the upcoming war in Afghanistan. > more <