Thursday, December 29, 2011

Deep Dark Marine-Wife Secret #3

I'm a bad bad BAD wife. BAD.
I secretly wish my husband had the drive to become an officer (even a Warrant Officer) instead of wrinkling his nose in distaste. I don't think there's a single thing wrong with being enlisted; my husband certainly enjoys being a Marine.
However: I know he dislikes being an 1141 (electrician)  and prefers being the head hauncho with a desk. In years previous, he received a Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal (NAM) for his above-and-beyond leadership efforts. He was also the Platoon Sergeant (supervises squad leaders and the platoon as a whole. Second in command under the Platoon Commander) for his unit at Camp Pendleton and he seemed to enjoy sitting at a desk delegating and mitigating appropriate paperwork.

His resume is technically non-applicable, but I do believe the aforementioned accolades would serve him well. I think he likes to lead. I think the responsibilities he enjoys taking on would generally be officer-type tasks. I think he is very much looking forward to getting away from the hands-on work of his job and getting into a desk. He had made some noise about becoming a Warrant Officer at some point in time; but being volun-told into recruiting duty more or less depleted all of his MOS credibility, and by the time it gets back to where it needs to be? He'd rather just continue on and become an E-7.

Like I said: I'm a terrible wife. It's his career path, and who am I to judge? I find him (and others as enlisted men) to be honorable, intelligent, hard-working. But let's be honest: I certainly wouldn't mind reaping the benefits of a larger paycheck and an increase in the base housing quality (and/or increase in BAH).

But there we have it. Deep Dark Marine Wife Secret: I kinda wish my husband wanted to be an officer.
Ultimately, I'm happy if he's happy. But I definitely don't call these posts "deep dark secrets" for nothin.

:: hides in hole ::

3 comments:

  1. My deep dark secret? Same as yours. I wish Lance would try to become an officer instead of going for E-7. But alas, he's happy so I'm happy.

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  2. Seeing it from the other side now, I think this is one of those things you can't totally understand unless you're serving. I thought I wanted to be an officer prior to getting in. Now, I've lost the desire to do so, and found another path that I want to carve out for myself. It doesn't hold the weight for me that it used to. I'm envisioning myself as Chief Carpenter, rather than Captain Carpenter. ;) As long as he gets a sense of fulfillment from what he's doing, that's all you can ask for. Rest your laurels on your accomplishments, and know you're not the stereotypical enlisted spouse.

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  3. I love how open and honest your blog is! I am not a Military Spouse, but can appreciate your candidness in a world where maybe not everyone can.

    I'm your newest follower!

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