02-12-2013, 09:08 PM
I read the whole article yesterday. 16yrs of service in any special operations unit as a shooter equates to about 64 years on your body, plus a lot of the guys would like to raise their kids and try to salvage their family life, if possible. SEALs have a 95% divorce rate, and the SEAL in the article only lives with his wife because of finances.
I don't think there really is a way to convey to civilians how much of a beating your body takes in even a combat arms unit in a conventional unit, let alone special operations community. Football players can start to relate, only compound that with a job where you're away from anything resembling the developed world, carrying ridiculous amounts of weight on your back, and doing it around the clock without sanitation or a change of clothes.
Running, jumping, falling, busting brush, eating spiderwebs in the night as you trek where no man has gone before through the woods, then setting in a patrol base where you might rest for the night after priorities of work, laying in the terrain as it is...mud, sand, soil, and rocks your bed. These are the realities of dismounted small units that actively patrol on extended duration operations. The SEALs actually try to keep their mission profiles fairly short, with a lot of Direct Action followed by exfiltration, but they still encounter the realities of light infantry quite regularly.
What I saw in units that have high OPTEMPOs and abusive physical regimens is that when a serviceman goes to retire at age 38 or 39, he is almost a geriatric-looking physical shell of a man often, while the soft-skills career management fields still look young after 20 years of service. If you were in an Airborne unit and combat arms, it's even harder on your body, as you get to fall from the sky with excessive weight strapped to you at night, from 800-900ft Above Ground Level.
SEALs are Airborne-qualified and frequently maintain their jump status for proficiency, in addition to a whole other skill set filled with hazards: swimming and diving, sub lock-outs, and military watercraft transport. They are told when they get to the Teams that "...25% of you will not see your 30th birthday." That was before 9/11. Additionally, many of the SEALs are Military Free-Fall qualified, and maintain the MFF Level I status involving 14 different types of free-fall jumps per quarter.
This same sets of hazards are shared by Army SF, MARSOC, Ranger Regiment, Force Recon, and Long-Range Surveillance Units, only you don't hear much about any of them, so there are quite a few servicemen out there who go through these same challenges, and work very hard competing against others to get and stay in those units. On top of that, families of these people make huge sacrifices, and have to bear their burdens in silence for many reasons.
It is a difficult adjustment to go from such a tight-knit community in an exclusive club of type A super-achievers, back into civilian life, where mediocrity and nepotism are often rewarded in the face of competence and can-do attitude. Many guys who get out before 20 years of service show up to a job and start performing like they're accustomed to, only to be told to slow down, don't rock the boat, learn your place...they usually end up back in the military or doing contract work back among professionals with the same work ethic.
I barely got out with my body relatively intact, and I have aches and pains every time I try to squat, bend, lift, walk up steps, etc., and I'm not even trying to seek disability or special treatment, especially when I think of the guys who lost their legs, arms, eyesight, hearing, or sanity. I have 4 extra holes in me, feet that went from size 11N to 12R, 37 jumps, neck injury, collapsed arches, significant hearing loss, etc., but that pales in comparison to the guys and gals who have suffered missing body parts, burns, TBI's, etc.
A veteran is pretty much on their own when they exit the military without retirement benefits, but the GI Bill and Army College Fund helped me out tremendously. Getting involved in shooting sports and continuing to associate with the military was good for me, but each person has their own unique set of challenges and opportunities. Considering the problem-solving skill sets and resolve found among career SOF operators, they are uniquely equipped to tackle the challenges of re-entering civilian life. The article leans towards a bleak outlook on life that I refuse to accept personally. I'm all about "Be of good cheer".
I don't think there really is a way to convey to civilians how much of a beating your body takes in even a combat arms unit in a conventional unit, let alone special operations community. Football players can start to relate, only compound that with a job where you're away from anything resembling the developed world, carrying ridiculous amounts of weight on your back, and doing it around the clock without sanitation or a change of clothes.
Running, jumping, falling, busting brush, eating spiderwebs in the night as you trek where no man has gone before through the woods, then setting in a patrol base where you might rest for the night after priorities of work, laying in the terrain as it is...mud, sand, soil, and rocks your bed. These are the realities of dismounted small units that actively patrol on extended duration operations. The SEALs actually try to keep their mission profiles fairly short, with a lot of Direct Action followed by exfiltration, but they still encounter the realities of light infantry quite regularly.
What I saw in units that have high OPTEMPOs and abusive physical regimens is that when a serviceman goes to retire at age 38 or 39, he is almost a geriatric-looking physical shell of a man often, while the soft-skills career management fields still look young after 20 years of service. If you were in an Airborne unit and combat arms, it's even harder on your body, as you get to fall from the sky with excessive weight strapped to you at night, from 800-900ft Above Ground Level.
SEALs are Airborne-qualified and frequently maintain their jump status for proficiency, in addition to a whole other skill set filled with hazards: swimming and diving, sub lock-outs, and military watercraft transport. They are told when they get to the Teams that "...25% of you will not see your 30th birthday." That was before 9/11. Additionally, many of the SEALs are Military Free-Fall qualified, and maintain the MFF Level I status involving 14 different types of free-fall jumps per quarter.
This same sets of hazards are shared by Army SF, MARSOC, Ranger Regiment, Force Recon, and Long-Range Surveillance Units, only you don't hear much about any of them, so there are quite a few servicemen out there who go through these same challenges, and work very hard competing against others to get and stay in those units. On top of that, families of these people make huge sacrifices, and have to bear their burdens in silence for many reasons.
It is a difficult adjustment to go from such a tight-knit community in an exclusive club of type A super-achievers, back into civilian life, where mediocrity and nepotism are often rewarded in the face of competence and can-do attitude. Many guys who get out before 20 years of service show up to a job and start performing like they're accustomed to, only to be told to slow down, don't rock the boat, learn your place...they usually end up back in the military or doing contract work back among professionals with the same work ethic.
I barely got out with my body relatively intact, and I have aches and pains every time I try to squat, bend, lift, walk up steps, etc., and I'm not even trying to seek disability or special treatment, especially when I think of the guys who lost their legs, arms, eyesight, hearing, or sanity. I have 4 extra holes in me, feet that went from size 11N to 12R, 37 jumps, neck injury, collapsed arches, significant hearing loss, etc., but that pales in comparison to the guys and gals who have suffered missing body parts, burns, TBI's, etc.
A veteran is pretty much on their own when they exit the military without retirement benefits, but the GI Bill and Army College Fund helped me out tremendously. Getting involved in shooting sports and continuing to associate with the military was good for me, but each person has their own unique set of challenges and opportunities. Considering the problem-solving skill sets and resolve found among career SOF operators, they are uniquely equipped to tackle the challenges of re-entering civilian life. The article leans towards a bleak outlook on life that I refuse to accept personally. I'm all about "Be of good cheer".