Military Veterans: Do you ever suffer from "Military Withdrawal"???

Question

I was honorably discharged from the Army in05, and during my three year enlistment I could not wait to get out. I'm doing well now in civilian life, but every so often(like after watching a war movie) I get the urge to put on full battle rattle, PMCS a Humvee,clean my weapon,etc,etc.. Heck, I even give myself a PT test every week, just to make sure I can still cut it. (I'm in better shape now, then I've ever been my entire Army career)

Am I the only veteran that feels like this???

Answer 1

Absolutely not. I entered the Military at the age of seventeen and rose through the ranks to retire as a Sergeant Major with 30 years of service. That was seventeen years ago, and I have been in another career for fifteen and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't have "military withdrawal". I discussed this with my brother who did six years and was an E-5. He has the same issues. My wife, on the other hand, spent eight years in the Army as an officer, and has never had a day that she has thought about it since. I think what you are describing is more of a combat arms thing. Most of the REMF people don't relate at all.

Answer 2

Everybody feels that way, short time or long time. Kind of makes you wish you had appreciated being there more when you were huh? What I did, instead of making a full commitment was directly enlist in the IRR. You keep military ID and can wear your uniform if you want. You can volunteer at any time for just a couple of weeks or more if you want. You call, they give you a couple of posts and dates, you pick one and they fly you there.
Then you come home. Or they call (or you do) and volunteer to help out one weekend at a local reserve unit. You do it when you want. Or you could do nothing as you have no obligation to do so. Still in the military and part of something ultimitley and looks good on a resume. Sure you could get called up but that's part of it. Plus as an aside, say your girlfriend leaves you and you lose your job. Happened to me years ago. I picked up the phone, volunteered and was on my way for two months. Felt good to be back and I got paid. Girlfriend seemed insignificant at that point. Oh and by the way if you think about doing this the recruiter may say this can't be done. He knows it and knows that you don't even have to use a recruiter for this. Plus if you got out in 05 you are IRR anyway for a couple more years.

Answer 3

Yes! and no you aren't the only one. It's confusing because it can be a good feeling and bad feeling at the same time. When I got out I was tired...felt burned out...no way did I want to be in combat.....that was one part of me. There was another that went crazy wondering what everyone was doing "back there". I felt like a fish out of water, and actually felt "homesick". At the risk of having some idiot think all of us vets are homicidal maniacs running around with guns, I'll tell you something else. After being in combat, you feel naked and vulnerable without a weapon. Just a suggestion...maybe you might want to consider the reserves or national guard...I wish I would have. Good luck and thank you for serving.

Answer 4

Heck, I miss it and I'm still in. I miss the close comraderie after I come back from being overseas. Here (I'm in Korea again) we work, live, play together. It's nothing like that when you get back CONUS. when I go to units where people look at me like I've got a third arm when I mention missing the field--that's when I miss the field. FTXs are a pain in the butt, but they sure are a lot more satisfying than garrison.

Honestly, I think it's the close buddies you make that make you miss it. People don't appreciate that for which they haven't sacrificed, and I don't know about you, but I've sacrificed a lot to be where I am today.

Answer 5

Nope- it's a common feeling.

Part of the training for the military- as you likely well remember, is to tear one down, your "normal" way of thinking, of reacting- and replace it with (mostly) unquestioned response to an order or authority. "Left face- Right face."

The theory of course is simple- to transform in the shortest time thinking as a "civie" to thinking like a solder. It's hard to get someone off the street to work as a team to take out a machine gun nest- or enter a building under fire.

As a result, a natural and intended result is bonding with your fellow solder's, or Zoomies, Squids, Jar Heads, Grunt's. (Grin.)

That bitching about the conditions, the rules, the marches- are all designed to forge you into a team, a unit. You might dislike or even actively hate the guy-or gal in the next bunk, but you are being conditioned to protect and preserve their life as part of your unit.

This -as I said- intended result is a feeling of friendship, comradeship and of belonging to something important and elite.

You've now left the military. After counting the months-weeks-days-hours until you're short and done.

But, that feeling of belonging is now missing. You feel it and it confuses you to a degree.

Everyone goes through it and everyone handles it in different ways. I was involved in some serious combat and situations -I handled it by going off by myself-hiking back into Yellowstone N.P., for two months until I was ready to begin readjusting myself to "normal life." It still took me almost a decade to really readjust and reintegrate myself.

Some people will need therapy, or make a lot of major changes in their thinking to readjust.

It is a very normal phenomena. No longer can you rely on those around you, confident of how they will react and how you are expected to react in a given situation.

It does entail a period of adjustment. You'll fine you no longer "speak or think" the same language as the friends and family you left behind just a few short years ago.

Combat and the amount of danger-threat you've dealt with in the last few months also has a substantial impact.

Choices are no longer so clear or well defined.

But it is simply a natural readjustment of your thinking and functioning in a non-military environment.

Another good solution is Collage. Take some courses you would never have previously considered- I took existentialism- just to stretch your brain into new directions. That also helps you to readjust. (I went back to collage after many years away, and ended up with a Doctorate, but I was always a bit of a show-off...grin.)

So- welcome back to the world, it's not what you remembered. In part because all things change- but mostly because you are just discovering how much you've changed.

Hope this helps a bit.

(SSgt. 1980, USAF.)

Answer 6

YES! I was USAF for ten years. I miss the immediate connection you have with others dislocated from friends and family - I miss the bond we all felt. I miss being able to glance at at person and address them properly even if I don't know them (rank and name tag). I miss NOT having to figure out what to wear every day. I miss the fact that in the service there are consequences in doing even a small part of your job incorrectly. I miss the discipline. I miss feeling like I was doing something special no matter how small the task at hand was for that day. I miss going on maneuvers and mobility and all of being tired after 2 weeks in the field - coming back to the squadron and having a sense of accomplishment.

I am happy in my civilian life, and I certainly enjoy finally getting paid for overtime - but I am extremely proud of my service time and miss it very much.

Answer 7

No way. I did 6+ in the Navy and miss it all the time. I heard a really good analogy once: it's like being in a room full of s**t for 6 years and all of a sudden you get to go home. You think back like, "the s**t didn't smell that bad, there wasn't too much corn in it, etc."
I miss my bros, the uniform, the paycheck, and the sense of accomplishment.

I don't miss cleaning every damn day, watch standing, underways, and some of my ****** bosses.

Answer 8

I think about it everyday. I'm not sure what it is but something about it i miss. The military is a much different life and once your out and experience the other civilian life, you miss the military way. The structure, the training, the no drama, the friend ships and good times. I think about it all the time. I miss it allot.
13FOX--FO

Answer 9

lol - My husband is the same way. If he's on leave for too long or they haven't done much at work lately he gets a little antsy. Never heard him want to PMCS a Humvee though....

Answer 10

I miss the friendships that were created and the travel (on the house per se). Life has been good to me also after I left the navy and I would have retired in 02' after 20yrs. My only regret is not staying in contact with former friends...