"Freedom? Freedom? That is a worship word. Yang worship. You will not speak it." Okay, okay, ignore the obvious geek reference to "The Omega Glory" episode of the original Star Trek series, circa 1968. Yes, I'm old enough to have watched it the first time it was aired. So sue me.
That's not what this is all about. Yesterday, I received my retirement orders! Needless to say, I spent some time celebrating all by myself.
They were mailed out on November 30, 2007. The powers that be obviously knew they would take at least 2 months to get here. The official discharge certificate couldn't be prepared until after January 16, 2008, so it should be a couple of more months before I receive it. The effective date of retirement is February 1, 2008. [They even sent me a retirement pin.]
The interesting part of the orders is paragraph 3: "As a retired Marine you may be ordered to active duty without your consent." I really had to laugh. Sure, when hell freezes over. They'll bring back the draft before they call my sorry ass to active duty again. Ah, but they have to put that in there in order to appease all the dumbasses who whine every time the issue of the draft comes up in Congress. I completely understand and I wouldn't complain if they did order me back. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Besides, I would probably get a promotion and then an increase in my retirement pay once I left active duty again.
I can smell freedom? Can you?
