I don't know what I been told

One thing I have not really talked about here is my service in the Army. It may have been a contributing factor to the spondylolisthesis so I guess this is a fitting forum for it.

I grew up the son of a US Army Field Artillery officer so naturally my life was spent seeing what goes on in the military. During the summer between my junior and senior years I decided I wanted to enlist so the very day I turned 17 I went and took the ASVAB and physical. Being a junior meant that I could not go on active duty yet as the Army requires a HS diploma or GED, so I looked at what was called split option. Basically I would enlist in the reserves and go to basic during the first summer and then after graduation I would go to AIT. There were no infantry units in my area and the only thing they were offering was 88T, railroad repairman. Not being someone who likes to fix things (I prefer to break them) I passed on the option and finished my senior year. In April of my senior year I hit MEPS again and got an AD 11X option. Of course back in my day there were more then 11B's and C's, you also had 11H and 11M's. I left Fort Benning in late 88 as a newly minted 11B ready to take on the world.

During my time in the Army I was stationed at Fort Irwin as part of the OPFOR. I was part of the 1/52INF(M) that played the role of the Soviet Army and trained other units how to fight the Soviet threat. Of course with the collapse of the Soviet Union or mission changed somewhat but we still trained all US Army units in armored warfare.

While I was at Irwin I was transitioned to 11M and given a Bradley to call my own. I thought hitting the ranges was fun as a leg but when they let me fire the 25mm cannon on the Bradley I knew I had found my true calling. Running a Bradley crew is a tough job though. You have both the vehicle and the dismounts to watch out for and it can be a handful at times.

I also went to the promotion board and then to PLDC while I was there. Upon graduation I made the cutoff score and was promoted from Corporal to Sergeant.

In the end I spent 6 years at Fort Irwin. While it was a great job and I loved the desert I did not want to homestead. This was all during the draw down of the mid 90's and new duty stations were tough to come by. It was either re-enlist for 5 years at the NTC or go to Korea for a year. I decided it was time for me to head home and go to college. In 1994 I left AD for the National Guard and went home to use my GI Bill to go to school.

I would love to go back to active duty but due to my current injuries I am no longer medically fit for service. When I had the surgery and they fused my vertebra together I was DQ'd for life from going back into the service. It appears that this is one of those injuries that they will not even consider a waiver to allow me to go back in a limited role.