Change of mind

I had a really long blog for today all typed up and I was just about to hit the 'publish' button when I thought about it. In the end it just sounded like I was whining and complaining. I had been thinking over my military career since 9/11 and I was struck by the amount of time my unit has been activated - and there are many units that have been deployed more. My battalion is coming up on it's 5th activation since late 2001. Granted that includes the Katrina/Rita missions from a year and a half ago - and a mission where not everyone went. What struck me is how much 'Big Army' has come to need the National Guard (and the Army Reserve) since 9/11. The drawdowns from the late '90's are catching up. It would not be fair to jump on anyone for those drawdowns. No one can predict the future. But I kept thinking how little my active duty 'cousins' think of us (the National Guard). We are looked down upon. We are still considered by many in the active branch to still be like the soldiers depicted in the movie 'Rambo' as weekend warrios who only serve to hang out with our buddies and drink beer all weekend. The truth - as my brother is learning recently - is much different. We have 37 days a year to train and meet the standards that our active counterparts have 365. On top of that we need to maintain a totally (and usually unrelated) fulltime civilian career. With the reduced time to work in there are often times when we are called on to do administrative tasks on our own time, outside of our drill weekends. All of this is actually accepted among our ranks. I am not typing this to complain about the work. This whole thing is really to bring up the fact that when a reservist retires after twenty (or more) years of service we have to wait until we are 60 years old to draw any benefits for our service (unless the soldier is somehow disabled, then the medical costs for that disability are covered, nothing else) - while my active duty counterparts will draw their benefits immediately. I work with several ex-fulltimers who are essentially double dipping. Now, I am not saying the reservist should get the same amount as a fulltimer. I just think it's unfair that a reservist who has put in 20 years of commitment, should have to wait until he or she is 60. There have been bills before Congress to get that lowered to 50, even at least one to get it to be drawn immediately. But they all get voted down - and yet our representatives keep getting their payraises. Ok, I need to step down off my soap box for now. I'm sorry to have vented like this... I am just out of time and I can't think of anything else to blog about today... Verse for today: Luke 14:27-33, ESV Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.