And today is the last day of my quarterly leave. Mom was taken to the airport. My BDUs are washed and pressed, and my boots are shined. Unfortunately my goatee will be gone in the morning. Mrs. SSG B loves the goatee, and I'm for anything that makes her happy.
I've been snippy all day. Recruiting is like this Sword of Damocles over you every waking hour. You go out to dinner with your family and you're looking at the wait staff thinking "that kid looks like he'd make weight," or "damn, that waitress has a tattoo on her neck." It's all Recruiting all the time. You have to consciously tell yourself to stop trying to find people and enjoy the damned meal.
I spent the four weeks prior to going on leave trying to find someone for this RCM. In those four weeks I'd managed to get a couple of decent names worked out. None enlisted before I went on leave. One admitted to some unpaid traffic fines ($500) which he won't be able to pay off for a couple months (he was hoping that his enlistment bonus would be able to pay them off). One was 10 pounds underweight (6'4, 130#); he's made some progress and might be able to make it by the end of the RCM. Another two were both non-committal, but I think I'll be able to shake one of them out. The problem is I'll be going back into the lion's den with no tickmarks by my name. And that sucks.
Oh well... the good times couldn't keep rolling forever.
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