The U.S Cavalry-the stuff legends are made of-we all have seen the typical hollywood stereotype,of a beleagered wagon train,or frontier outpost,being saved by a handful of cav troopers JUST in the nick of time-its become an integral part of the national character.Well,it goes beyond hollywood-as a cavalryman-(soon to be RETIRED cavalryman
),I take great pride in the role my branch of service has played in our nations history,and continues to,to this day,downrange in Iraq,and Afhganistan.

From the swamps of South Carolina,to the Ohio valley,to the plains of Montana,to the battlefields of the civil war-the jungles of the south pacific,the frozen hillsides of Korea,the jungles of Viet Nam,the deserts of Iraq and Kuwait,the cavalry trooper has always been with us.Never a large force-in its heyday of the late 19th century,the cavalry never numbered more than 8,000 men-25 Regiments of brave men scattered across the entire country-fighting the Indian wars,securing the frontier,escorting wagon trains,serving as the only law and order in some places,and generally,helping to build a nation.And we're STILL a relatively small force-theres around 11,000 of us,army wide-the smallest combat arms MOS in the army.But,ahh,the cav is STILL the stuff legends are made of and always has been - the crossed sabers,the mounted charges,the desparate battles against vastly superior odds and tough old horse soldiers,in the lean periods between wars,faithfully soldiering on,despite low pay,crappy assignments,bad living conditions for themselves and their families-yet they persevered.The dashing Major-General George A. Custer,youngest General officer of the Civil War(and,who,incidentally,graduated at the BOTTOM of his West point Class),leading the 6th Michigan Cavalry to victory after victory(only to fall under the superior firepower of the warriors of Chief Crazy Horse,in 1876,along with 263 of his men)-Zachary Taylor leading the 3rd Dragoons into Mexico City-General Pershing(who had an Aide De Camp,a young Captain by the name of George S. Patton),chasing pancho Villa for hundreds of miles,J.E.B. Stuart,leading confederate horse soldiers throughout the Civil War(yes,Confederate soldiers were just as american as anyone),Lt Colonel Hal Moore leading the first air cavalry assault into the Ia Drang valley in 1965,the 1st of the 5th cav doing deep strike operations against the Iraqi Republican guard units for weeks on end,with little support,during Desert storm-the 2nd of the 2nd taking on an Entire Iraqi DIVISION(I met a guy who was there ) at the battle of 73 Easting-and handing the Iraqis their ASS.....to task force Ryan of the 12th cav,pulling the marines out of Falluja,in 2004,when they just could'nt handle the mission.The list goes on and on-a rich history,written in blood,toil and suffering-and the history continues to be written.We may live in a world of jet travel,high speed internet,cell phones,fax machines,gourmet coffee,and everything else in our modern society-its nice to still have guys like the cav out there-a link to our past,a romantic bit of history-an anachronism?no-the basic mission of cavalry has'nt changed since the days of the Roman legions-only the technology has changed.Its no longer 40 miles a day on beans and hay-we use state of the art communications and navigation equipment the old time horse soldiers could only have dreamed of-but we're STILL horse soldiers -and always will be.I wear my cavalry stetson and spurs with the utmost pride,and am extremely thankful that I was allowed to be a part of this wonderful group of men

Well,I picked up my retirement orders today,soI'm now officially on FIGMO status(god,I LOVE army acronyms..... )FIGMO stands for "F*** it,got my orders".So,tommorrow is my last working day in the army-I'll start clearing on monday-so,of course,the indomitable Prof. Murphy was working overtime,and ensured that the sergeant-major had scheduled me for Staff duty NCO on my last working day.......it figgers.But,after that,I'll be om chill status,and just getting cleared,and getting ready for the packers and movers,and going to briefings and apointments.I saw the rough draft of my DD214 today,( the document showing that you are honorably discharged from the US military,and giving particulars of your service) and there was a nice surprise on there-I've been fighting the army red tape for the last few years,trying to get properly credited for the actual number of years I have for pay purposes(my total number of years,of all types of service-active duty,national guard and army reserve.I'll waive the six months I spent in the naval reserves.I try NOT to talk about THAT)Anyway,I'd only been getting paid for 17 years service,and the guy doing my 214 did the calculations and gave me credit for 23.5 years-so they WILL owe me back pay .I'll probably have to initiate a congressional investigation to actually COLLECT on it,but at least I have the documentation for it now,so EVENTUALLY I should be able to get it.

So now,the moving drama begins moving sucks,and being a soldier,I've made quite a few moves over the years.Glad this is (hopefully) the last one.Well,second to last one-we'll have to initially rent a place to winter in and then buy our own place in the spring.I've been researching houses for sale along the Wisconsin/Michigan line,where we plan to settle,and theres plenty of reasonably priced houses available,but we probably can't get one till spring.But,when that time comes,it'll be a local move,and I can do that a little at a time with my pick up.

One thing we're worried(a little) about,is just trying to make a smooth transition economically-but,maybe won't be so bad.My pension(should) kick in roughly 3 weeks after I leave here(I officially retire on 5 October)-plus I have a few thousand in my thrift savings plan(sort of like a 401K for federal employees),that will help tide us over till I start getting paychecks from work-and jobs are'nt hard to find up there.So,we should do ok,barring any real drama with our vehicles,or anything else.And I get to submit my application to the VA,for disability payments,since I'm a disabled veteran(boy,I'm gonna LOVE those disabled vet plates ).My counselor ran some rough figures for us,and between the pension and VA checks,I'll make about as much as I do now,as a staff sergeant on active duty,actually going to WORK each day-so,whatever I make from whatever job I get will be gravy...well,its about time I enjoy SOME measure of affluence.....maybe now I can get a few of the toys I've been wanting for years!

All in all,it probably won't be THAT hideous of a transition,but,we're still cringing a bit-but we'll be ok.Sure ain't looking forward to hauling 2 neurotic cats,a werewolf chicken,and 2 bunnies all the way home though

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.

Albert Einstein

Well,I was running around,doing errands,running around to the PX and post office and a local grocery store,to get some bottled water.(man,can't wait to get good old northern well water again).Anywho,on my way out of the store,with my 10 gallons of water,I was accosted by one of the local specimens of life who reside WAY down on the food chain,imploring me for some money to "buy gas,to get to Temple,for a job interview".Well,I was'nt aware that job interviews were conducted at 8:30 at night,in ratted out jeans and T-shirts...nice try,jack ass.Same story I've heard numerous times before.My response,usually is along the lines of "move,or bleed".I said that to one scumbag in Tacoma-and he persisted,and was trying to corner me against my truck.I pulled out my friend,a smith and wesson spec ops knife.He chose the "move" option.Anyway,this guy tonight was being persistant.Bear in mind,I'm 6'1 and 230 pounds.AND a pigheaded midwesterner.Don't push me.Especially for some lame attempt to weasel money out of me for an alleged job interview.I've got nothing against helping out someone truly in need-lots of folks have helped ME out in a pinch.But,I have absolute zero tolerance for productivity challenged slugs like him bugging me for money.Well he persisted.....till I grabbed the tire iron from the back of my truck.Started moving away with a QUICKNESS then.......man,grow a little bit of pride,people.During the WORST of my "economic adventures",as I put them,I NEVER begged money off total strangers-and will not be a party to supporting these glaring examples of a waste of oxygen either.

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.

Albert Einstein