Here is my little vent, and I apologize if I offend anyone but this needs to come out. I hate what I have been hearing from people lately. The “be thankful he is not deployed” thing. Here’s the thing, Christopher’s job is NOTHING like any of the jobs in the Marine Corps. His job does not deploy but it does take him away for a month with random time off, usually a night off a week. He is not allowed to have his cell phone or laptop or anything. So he calls me when he can from the community phone, and he gets on the community computer to Facebook chat me when he can. What Chris was promised before he got there, is nothing like what it really is. Of course, this is the Marine Corps.
This is his job description “The MCSF guard will be assigned to duty with MCSF units. He will be physically fit and mentally capable of enduring the rigors of combat. He will have the requisite knowledge to safely and properly employ the service rifle, pistol and shotgun. As a member of a reaction force, he will conduct offensive infantry tactics in confined spaces, ashore and afloat, to restore breached security and provide the final barrier/element of an integrated security plan for the asset being protected. He also must possess skills in land navigation and patrolling. In the grades of corporal through gunnery sergeant, as a security supervisor, the Marine will plan, evaluate, and supervise the implementation of site-specific security plans to protect assets designated as vital to the national security. “
Basically he stands guard, and protects weapons. He stands post for about 6 hours then usually gets 6 hours off, not always. They are so short on people that he doesn’t always get those 6 hours off. Chris’s section is the shortest section in his whole company. That means they work more than any other section. They don’t sleep much at all, if any, and they don’t get time off. So when they get a weekend off they all go crazy. Usually those are the times I get to go see him. That is usually once every 5 or 6 weeks. However this tour will be 7 weeks since they have to do double since they’re short on guys.
And when I say off I mean they are still down at work but not on post. They work 24 hours a day when they are down at work. So they are working a good 160 hours at a time. What does yours do? 12-15 hours maybe? Not trying to be a bitch but you have no clue what that is like. Yeah a deployment they will be gone for 7+ months. I did over 5 months with getting to talk to him a few minutes every 2 or 3 weeks. The only reason I got to see him when I did was because it was a last minute random weekend.
No one understands this because it is rare. It is hard to get this MOS. The people that do understand it have been through it, or have family members that have. So for the people who tell me at least its not deployment, you have no clue. Yes he is states side and sort of “safe”, but no I don’t see him or talk to him much at all. It is not as great as it sounds. Having him so close but can’t go down to see him because he is working.
So yes I am allowed to complain about my 6 weeks. Because during my 6 weeks, I will be lucky to talk to him once a day for a few minutes. I hate people telling me that it is JUST 6 weeks. Yes deployment is hard. I have not been there but I can only imagine how hard it must be. But I will tell you one thing. This 2 year contract in Kings Bay, will make a deployment will be a breeze. This is making me stronger every single day. It tests every last part of my nerve, has tested our love and made it stronger, tests my faith that this will all be worth it in the long run. I know that no matter what people think that this is hard, and this is not fun, but this is MORE than worth it. I may hate every second that he is in the wire, because everything goes wrong when he is at work, but I know that this is making us more thankful and cherish the little time we do have together. We don’t take advantage of our random weekends, or our random phone calls, and breaks out of the wire.
Every one has it hard, no one is better than anyone. This is a hard relationship. Whether he is active and deployed, or states side. Or reserves and working all the time. It is hard.
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