75 DAYS AND HOLDING

I just gathered from a comment on Matt's Facebook page that the day we had been worrying about just came.
He got a stop loss notice..
I haven't heard from him yet. but I can imagine how disappointed he must be.
The last email we got from him he said he would be home the end of April to take a Police exam.
He wants to go into police work when he gets out.
Now, like so many others before him, life gets put on hold for who knows how long?
A fine way to reward individuals that fulfill there contractual obligation.
Who go off to war and put their life on the line and don't complain about it.
Those who put up with all the shit that the Army can give on a day to day basis, and believe me, they can put down some shit, and show up for more every day because it's their job.
Well, it seems that they just don't have enough soldiers to do the work that needs to be done.
So, they force the ones they have to do more, and then don't let them out when their time comes.
I wonder if it ever occurred to any of the people running the show that if they made it more rewarding to be a part of it, maybe, just maybe, more people would join and stay.
Of course they will point out that enlistment is up.
It is.
But it isn't as a result of how great the Army.
It's because of the economy.
I guess I'm a little disappointed.
I can't imagine how down Matt is at this point.

And so a new chapter starts.
Another year of life on hold.
I would imagine a deployment to Afghanistan is forth coming, and with it another year of worrying, and stress.