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 <

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 <

Flying into Iraq is an experience. We had to wait 3 extra hours at the airport in Kuwait because our original flight was converted into a cargo flight so they had to find another plane for us. We flew on an Air Force C-17 cargo plane; they put removable cargo seats in the bay for us to ride in. > more <

The last week at Camp McCrady is pretty quick. The big events are learning to clear rooms (a la SWAT teams) and convoy operations. The biggest classroom training is SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape); basically how to prevent being captured and if you are, what to do to stay alive. > more <

While stationed at Camp McCrady (Fort Jackson) in South Carolina, I heard about the term “NARMY”. Obviously it’s a combination of Navy and Army, but it’s kind of cute. It’s the unofficial term for Navy Individual Augmentees, since we are augmenting Army personnel. > more <