God Help Us All
Published on October 22, 2004 By pseudosoldier In Personal Relationships
From the man who brought you: (Link)

"pseudosoldier says:
Listen, I was surprised that you decided to do Reserve time.
pseudosoldier says:
I was a little disappointed, as you seemed to be setting yourself up for future screw-jobs.
pseudosoldier says:
The Army could've called you up when numerical unit went over.
pseudosoldier says:
The Army could call you up when numerical unit #2 goes back.
pseudosoldier says:
I'm unclear of what you might've been thinking... how the positives may have outweighed the negatives.
pseudosoldier says:
I know I made a mistake reenlisting.
pseudosoldier says:
AND the Army made a mistake letting me.
pseudosoldier says:
The whole deal has generated nothing but ill feelings for me.
pseudosoldier says:
I still have no awards to speak of.
pseudosoldier says:
1 GCM and 1 overdue GCM.
GUS says:
But I am attached to alphabetical unit...so it is unlikely that I will go anywhere unless my unit gets called up..
pseudosoldier says:
bah
pseudosoldier says:
Or the unit could get called up and you all could be parceled out.
pseudosoldier says:
Maybe you're right about your unit, tho...
pseudosoldier says:
You're still placing yourself under the stress and scrutiny that is the overweight program.
pseudosoldier says:
And if you aren't feeling stress and you aren't under scrutiny, I would put to you that your unit isn't doing its job.
GUS says:
and the three times they have been mobilised wince 9-11 they stayed at alphabetical agency. I knew exactly what I was doing...my main goal was to get through one semester before gettting calles up...that is done...the rest is gravy.
1. It has been debated whether he has ever known what he was doing.
2. Odd that he mentions gravy. Just, odd."


Now comes:

GUS says:
yo, hey i got important news
pseudosoldier says:
'sup?
GUS says:
getting deployed, sandbox
pseudosoldier says:
wow
pseudosoldier says:
Activated with what unit?
GUS says:
numerical unit +o(
pseudosoldier says:
Is that your reserve unit?
pseudosoldier says:
Are you all going over together?
GUS says:
I aqm getting pulled ouyt of my unit and getting to sent to numerical unit.
pseudosoldier says:
Ah.
pseudosoldier says:
What's the numerical unit?
GUS says:
prophet+o(+o(
pseudosoldier says:
Uck.
pseudosoldier says:
Not a fun deployment, then.
pseudosoldier says:
I'm sorry.
pseudosoldier says:
I sympathize.
pseudosoldier says:
Do you know when you go?
GUS says:
soon mobilize
pseudosoldier says:
Wow.
pseudosoldier says:
That wreaks havoc with school for you.
pseudosoldier says:
Not that you needed me to tell youthat.
GUS says:
no... had a heads up a week and a half ago, already worked out incompletes
pseudosoldier says:
Well, that's good at least.
pseudosoldier says:
Or "not bad" I suppose.
GUS says:
no not at all brb
GUS says:
back.
pseudosoldier says:
k
GUS says:
I asm rather excited
pseudosoldier says:
Really?
GUS says:
yeah, I am sure I will get over it soon
pseudosoldier says:
Hmm.
GUS says:
I am NOT excited about working a prophet system or being farmed out to numerical unit...but what can I do?
GUS says:
no use complaining about it, just makes it harder.
pseudosoldier says:
Not much...
pseudosoldier says:
Yah.
pseudosoldier says:
I've met a handful of people who like the Prophet.
pseudosoldier says:
Most don't, though.
GUS says:
hey, I am gonna go, I got a thousand things to do...yeah
pseudosoldier says:
Okay, man.
GUS says:
I gotta do early voting, I will be online tonight though
pseudosoldier says:
Alright. I may be able to log in. We're moving off post this weekend.
pseudosoldier says:
Hope I have a chance to talk, soon.
GUS says:
ahh ok
GUS says:
cool
pseudosoldier says:
Good luck.

Now, I'm not glad that he's going, although it was very hard to not say, "I told you so." Moral of the story: any time you sign the papers, ask yourself, "What's the worst they can do to me?" Because they will.

Comments
on Oct 22, 2004
Grrrr@ people who try to make sure they never have to deploy and @ people who find out *oops!* they actually do . . .
on Oct 23, 2004
I tell you what Tex, speaking for myself and the others over here who know Gus, It'd be just fine with me if he stayed in the states. He's one of those guys who, through obstinance or idiocy, (or his unique mixture of both), might very likely get the people he works with hurt or killed. Let him stay in the states and make us that much safer here.
Hey Pseudo, he's not geting attatched to MY number unit, is he? Does he know he'll have to work sundays?
on Oct 23, 2004
No, he's going to a unit out of Meade. You guys are relatively safe from the GUS effect. Actually, I hope you guys are coming home some time soon... I was afraid that you might have to orient his unit to the job there, that they might've been replacing you, but I guess it's too early for that.
I think he knows he'll have to work Sundays, and that he won't be able to give Bible readings to local inmates... unless you count the other people on his Prophet team.
on Oct 23, 2004
He got what he signed up for. (drives me nuts when I hear about people doing that sort of stuff). If you sign up for the wrong reasons then even while unhappy about the later consequences you have to do what you can for your unit and the Army. Just the way that whole contract thing works out.
on Oct 23, 2004
You are not the only one who told him that he was likely to be activated. I'll say it: "I TOLD YOU SO!"
on Oct 31, 2004
Wow. I'm sending up prayers to various gods for the team he's assigned with.

Btw, sup Pseudo
on Dec 12, 2004
I have told a funny story to some of you in the SCIF:
My friend SGT Hot Kyopo, who was with several of us at DLI, decided to do some National Guard time after her ETS date came up. She wanted to enlist in her back home NG unit, in Missouri. But they didn't have any linguist slots or even MI. They did, however, have a slot available for an ASPHALT AND CONCRETE PAVING NCO. And since it was a SSG slot, Hot Kyopo finagled a promotion. She thought to herself, "Hot Kyopo gets a raise!" And, "I'll just switch my MOS back to 98G while no one's looking." Oh yeah, and she also thought to herself, "Hot Kyopo, there's no way this unit will go to Iraq..."
Needless to say, famous last words. Not only is she in Baghdad now, but she'll be in the summer heat of Baghdad or some other god-forsaken hellhole mixing and laying 500 degree asphalt.
The moral of this story: always worst-case-scenario it out before signing on the dotted line.