Back in 2003 I was sitting at my computer doing what I love doing the most: posting my thoughts on issues in the insane hope that someone might actually want to read them. Meanwhile, the wife had CNN on and the buildup to the invasion of Iraq was being displayed constantly and the anchors appeared to be getting a little anxious. Soon, the war was in full swing and I looked over my monitor and said aloud "Hmmm, maybe I should re-join the military." The wife looked up and said "Wow, what a great idea!".

A little background. From 1989-1997 I served in the Naval Reserve. I was attending college during Desert Shield/Storm and I wasn't called up to serve on active duty. A few friends of mine were and unfortunately, a few didn't make it back. I always wondered how much of a difference I could have made.

Back in the present, I grabbed my yellow pages and I made a call to the Naval Recruiting center and asked if they'd take me back. They said that I had been out for quite a while and they weren't sure that they would take me. They asked me to write a 500 word essay on why the Navy should allow me to re-enlist. I figured this was tantamount to asking me to beg, so I told them I'd get back to them.

I looked up the Air Force next, but they told me that the cutoff age for allowing prior enlisted into the service was 25. My heart sank. But, my wife encouraged me to keep going so I looked up the Army. When I called their recruiting center they were extremely excited and asked me to come in that day. I did and they told me that I would need some paperwork from the Navy.

So, it was back to the house to call Navy Human Resources and I was on hold for over an hour before I was hung up on. So, the wife decided to take the bull by the horns and sent an impassioned email to our congressman who was able to grease the squeaky wheels of bureaucracy for me. Within a month I had the paperwork and it was back to the recruiting center. They sent me off to take the ASVAB and I scored high enough to qualify for any job I wanted - or so I thought.

When I made it to the in processing center I found that the job I wanted was no longer available, so I decided to take a job in the field of Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological weapons defense. With all of the talk of Weapons of Mass Destruction I thought it would be good to know what kind of armaments I might be facing.

After about four months of basic and advanced training I was able to get sent to my first unit. They were deploying to Iraq in about four months so it gave me plenty of time to get to know the people I was working with. When we made it to Iraq I was overwhelmed by what I saw. It was a primitive looking country with some amazing people that were so happy to be able to decide the destiny of their nation for the first time in many years. They loved us and what we represented. When Sadam was captured they held massive celebrations. When Al Zarqawi was finally killed they hailed us as heroes.

I've since come home from (and returned to) the nation and I can honestly feel that the two years that I spent there has really helped a nation that has fought so hard to eek out their own niche in the world a fighting chance.

Aside from working up the courage to ask my wife out, I'd say that this is the one thing that I am proudest of.

Learn more about this author, David Furritus.
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