Why I Love the Military

So, the military is screwing me around ... again. I guess it's to be expected these days. I mean, they don't have anything other to do than fuck with the troops, so that's what they do. It's a bureaucracy thing this time around, a nifty little loophole in the system designed to screw over the people who weren't prepared. And why would one be prepared as you never find out about this dirty little secret until you decide to release. Or unless you've been in a long enough time to have seen it. What is this loophole, you ask? Well, before I was sent out to Basic, I was sworn in. The time between being sworn in and beginning my Basic course, I was on "leave without pay." It means that I'm not technically in the military at that point. So, when I finish off my contract and I go in to see the Release Clerk about Severance Pay, I'm told that I only get two years instead of the three years I've actually been in. How wonderful!

So, I'm out over a grand in Severance Pay on a technicality.

Well, turns out I can actually do something about this. What? Well, I have to give up a week of my leave time at Christmas and work. You see, leave days can count on a one-for-one basis with these "leave without pay" days that I had before starting Basic. I need eight days in total. I have twelve leave days. That's days off to you civilian folks. I'm giving up time off to work and stashing those days to get me my Severance Pay. So instead of a full three weeks or more I could be getting, I instead get only two weeks. Exactly two weeks. No more. On top of this, I was thrown another little curve ball, just to stir things up a little more. The so-called week off I'd get to go house-hunting up in the city of choice was a complete and utter lie. So, now I have to use my leave time at Christmas to go house hunting instead of spending time with friends and family. Also, job hunting.

The only bit of good news I got was the dates when I get to see the clerks, kit return, full medical, and various other appointments. Oh, yeah, and I will be paid money for going out to the province of choice based on where I first enrolled. And because it's a good distance away, it's a nice little sum of money. Oh, yeah, and supposedly, I'm going to finally get that damned block heater installed in my truck on Saturday. Here's hoping everything goes as planned -- I'm tired of being fucked around.