Last night I took my family out to eat, to celebrate an auspicious occasion in my life. The occasion was the completion of my 10 years of Fleet Reserve Service. For non-military people reading this, it will require a little explanation.
No matter what branch of service you serve, to reach full retirement you must obligate 30 years. At least 20 of those years must consist of Active Duty service. If a Sailor, Airman or Soldier decides to “retire” after 20 years, what they are actually saying is that they will accept assignment to Fleet Reserve or Inactive Reserve until they reach 30 years of service. Fleet Reserve and Inactive Reserve mean the same thing, but are just different terms used by different branches of the military. For example:
A Navy sailor (like me) serves:
20 years Active Duty then obligates to 10 years of Fleet Reserve time
An Army soldier serves:
22 years Active duty then obligates to 8 years of Inactive Reserve time
(In order to reach full retirement, it all has to add up to 30 years of service, regardless of the branch of service)
Yesterday, I reached that milestone in the road of my life. I completed my 20 years of Active Duty service in 2004 and I just completed my 10 years of Fleet Reserve service on 4/10/2014. As of 4/11/2014, I am now fully retired from my military service. I still serve this great nation though, through the American Legion, whose motto is “Still Serving America”. I will serve this great nation until I die or the Lord Jesus returns, but I’ll always serve my Lord first. I lift up, praise and honor my Lord for watching over me through all those years of dangerous training and military deployments.
I am truly blessed.