3 years, 8 months. That was the extent of my active duty service to our country. A far cry from the 20 I envisioned when I enlisted back in November 2007. I did my basic training in Fort Leonardwood, MO (lovingly referred to is Fort Lost in the Woods, Misery) and my AIT (advanced individual training) in Fort Sam Houston, TX. My first duty station (as well as my last) was Fort Benning, GA where I was assigned to Charlie Company, 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. The infamous "3rd ID". Come to find out we were the most deployed unit. 12 and 18 month deployments with maybe a year dwell time (being back home) before being sent out for another rotation.
I loved my job as a medic. Though most days, I was more of an administrative assistant, I still ate up every minute of it. I loved wearing the uniform; what it stood for. Then we came down on orders to deply to FOB Kalso, Iraq, in October 2009. It was about 45 minutes SE of Baghdad. Finally! An opportunity to actually put into play my medical skills I had been trained in! The being away from my family sucked. The separation and BS that goes along with it cost me my second marriage, and the strain on Caden was difficult. I saw a lot of crazy stuff. But I got to help a lot of people too. March 2010, something snapped. I started having bizarre symptoms that no one could pinpoint. They said I was crazy (and maybe I am...). I began having "seizure like episodes" as they were referred to. Finally, in May of 2010, I was sent home. I got treated like crap because I got sick and only served 7 of my 11 months in Iraq. I was accused of faking it to get out of the deployment...I'm sorry, but if I was going to "fake" my symptoms to leave Iraq...don't you think I would have done it during the first month or two? NOT when we were over the hump and past the half way mark?? But anyway..I digress...
Being sent home was a double edged sword for me...I was happy to be able to try and figure out what was wrong with me, but I hated to leave "my guys". From the day I left Iraq, until my retirement on 30 July 2011, I lived from a version of hell I would wish on no one. It was one headache after another after another. Mal-treatment, piss poor medical care by providers who judged rather than treated, and segregation because I was sick. My medical evaluation board (to determine if I was fit for duty or was to be kicked out) took a year. Luckily, I had a decent doc who ran my Med Board and he recommended medical retirement, rather than just separation. I ended up with a combined disability rating of 80% from the VA.
Right now, I'm working on retraining. I can no longer be a medic because of my illnesses/injuries. SO, I'm going back to school for multimedia design at DeVry University Online.
Am I sad that that particular chapter in my life had ended? You betcha. But it was a necessary evil. I got stuck in a horrible unit with a horrible chain of command. Maybe things would have worked out differently if I had gotten assigned to a good unit... Life happens for a reason...I may not understand it now...But in time I will.
So here's to making lemonade out of lemons, and remembering that no matter how hard life gets, all ya gotta do is "just breathe".
<3 Shawna
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