In my opinion I'm almost back to square one. If you are wondering what I mean by that I mean this. I may be out of a job come this time next year.
There are some things that the Navy does that does not make a lot of sense to anyone but the one who is making the rules up. One of their wacky ideas is giving us a standardized test to see if we can advance.
I've probably talked about it before but I think it's one of the most retarded ideas out there.
To me it's not understandable to evaluate whether or not some one is ready for advancement on how well they can take a test. Some people honestly have a difficult time taking test but does that mean they can not advance to the next pay grade? If you ask me, I would say NO!!!
Some people have that kind of smarts to take a test and pass it with flying colors, but that does not say if this person is ready for the responsibility of a leadership position. Besides the fact that the test that we take are difficult if you don't or haven't ever worked on a fixed wing aircraft or for what we call AIMD which stands for Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department.
Basically what the Navy has done is shot themselves in the foot. What I mean by that is, the Navy had overmanned itself and it can't seem to "pay" for all of us anymore. So what they are doing or have done is to create "hired teenier" and that means after a certain amount of years at one pay grade if you don't advance to the next, then your out. Granted with a nice separation bonus of about 30k but still.
I am an Airframer, and my rate is damn near completely locked up, and the Navy has only just begun to push people out, and it's looking like I may be one of the ones that gets forced out. Which is fairly ridiculous. Since when is it smarter to kick people out that want to be there and keep people that really don't want to be there.
September is my last hope of getting advanced and if I don't, I'm not sure what will be next for me. If I do make Second Class I'm not sure if I will stay in or not. I'm at the point now where I'm almost tired of it all. That and since I have Daisy now, I don't want to go out on a long deployment and have to leave her with Mom. Although Mom wouldn't mind so to speak, I would. I hate imposing on others as well as having to depend on them for some things.
I guess the good thing about being in the Navy has been the places I've gone and the people that I have met, after all I did meet Mighty Mouse on my first deployment, and nothing could beat that experience, no matter what happens.
It's taught me who I am and who I want to be. I am a colorful person, who loves life and culture. I want to have a job that helps people. Maybe even a web designer. I'm a very creative person, and I would like to have the opportunity to fully explore that side of me. After all, I would still be helping people, just making a little bit more money for it.
The down side is, I don't know what I would do for health care, dental, or how I would pay for my mortgage. There are a lot of I don't knows that are still out there, and I don't know where the answer may lie. My career in the Navy has been good and not so good. I loved my job a long time ago, and now...I'm not sure if I do anymore. I'm ready to see the world how I want to see it. Be in charge of myself and do what I want without fear of getting in trouble. I hate fear, and hate fearing the unknown.
That's why I'm back at square one. I don't know where my future lies anymore. Guess sometime after September exam results come out in December I'll find out.
