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I’m contemplating releasing from the CF. I’m starting to have doubts about continuing my service in the military. I’ve been with the Reserves for 6 years, ever since I was in High School; now I’m through with my post-secondary education and working. I’m QL5 qualified, but I’ve gone through the process of taking a commission as a Reserve officer. Here’s the dilemma I’m facing right now:
-It’s becoming more and more of a burden to parade and I’m starting to feel burnt out. I have a great civilian job that’s very flexible with my being in the Reserves; but I also have 95% parade rate with my unit. I’ve coined the expression that I work “6-8 days a week,” since Monday’s-Fridays I work 9-5 as a civy; but I also work every Wednesday and Saturday, and sometimes the full weekend with the Reserves. To make it worse, I use up my civilian vacation time to do all my Reserve training.
-Looking at my military career path, over the next 3 years, I’ll have to take a lot of unpaid time off from my civilian career; my net income, even considering reduced expenses associated with being on course, will be far lower doing the training than it would at my civilian job. On top of that, doing the training could potentially handicap my career progression.
-I’ve always wanted to go on tour, and down the road, lifestyle permitting, I can reenlist with the Regular force if my civilian career doesn’t pan out. I wouldn’t mind doing my Basic or Trades courses again, since I have nothing but respect for the Regular Force. I made the decision when I finished post-secondary to work as a civilian in my area of expertise; I am willing to live with it, even though my heart was really with the military.
-Interpersonal politics have sapped my desire to devote time to the Reserves. I was a very dedicated Class A Reservist; I dedicated a lot of personal time and energy into doing a good job, teaching, going on callouts, going on training. I was recently severely reprimanded for something I was involved with. I deserved the reprimand, but I felt it was disproportionate for the offense I had caused and administered in bad faith. I dare not to redress it, since I don’t want there to be the perception that I’m doing it as an interpersonal conflict towards the higher authority that administered it.
-Personal problems with my family and friends on account of my excessive dedication to the military. I realized recently that I’m so much more distant from my friends and family because of fanatically serving in the Reserves. It seems impossible to lead a “normal” personal life, devoting so much personal time and energy towards the Reserves and it’s depressing to come to this realization.
The last two are biggest reason for wanting to release. I’ve never expected to be thanked or appreciated for my service; and in fact, I never had been. I always justified the personal sacrifices involved with being in the Reserves by savoring how much I enjoyed doing it. But the combination of feeling unappreciated, powerless to react to injustice, and feeling like I’m contributing way more than is fair and reasonable has really removed from me that sense of satisfaction.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to approach this problem? I love being in the military, but being in the military is causing me such dissatisfaction that I think releasing is the only viable option.
-It’s becoming more and more of a burden to parade and I’m starting to feel burnt out. I have a great civilian job that’s very flexible with my being in the Reserves; but I also have 95% parade rate with my unit. I’ve coined the expression that I work “6-8 days a week,” since Monday’s-Fridays I work 9-5 as a civy; but I also work every Wednesday and Saturday, and sometimes the full weekend with the Reserves. To make it worse, I use up my civilian vacation time to do all my Reserve training.
-Looking at my military career path, over the next 3 years, I’ll have to take a lot of unpaid time off from my civilian career; my net income, even considering reduced expenses associated with being on course, will be far lower doing the training than it would at my civilian job. On top of that, doing the training could potentially handicap my career progression.
-I’ve always wanted to go on tour, and down the road, lifestyle permitting, I can reenlist with the Regular force if my civilian career doesn’t pan out. I wouldn’t mind doing my Basic or Trades courses again, since I have nothing but respect for the Regular Force. I made the decision when I finished post-secondary to work as a civilian in my area of expertise; I am willing to live with it, even though my heart was really with the military.
-Interpersonal politics have sapped my desire to devote time to the Reserves. I was a very dedicated Class A Reservist; I dedicated a lot of personal time and energy into doing a good job, teaching, going on callouts, going on training. I was recently severely reprimanded for something I was involved with. I deserved the reprimand, but I felt it was disproportionate for the offense I had caused and administered in bad faith. I dare not to redress it, since I don’t want there to be the perception that I’m doing it as an interpersonal conflict towards the higher authority that administered it.
-Personal problems with my family and friends on account of my excessive dedication to the military. I realized recently that I’m so much more distant from my friends and family because of fanatically serving in the Reserves. It seems impossible to lead a “normal” personal life, devoting so much personal time and energy towards the Reserves and it’s depressing to come to this realization.
The last two are biggest reason for wanting to release. I’ve never expected to be thanked or appreciated for my service; and in fact, I never had been. I always justified the personal sacrifices involved with being in the Reserves by savoring how much I enjoyed doing it. But the combination of feeling unappreciated, powerless to react to injustice, and feeling like I’m contributing way more than is fair and reasonable has really removed from me that sense of satisfaction.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to approach this problem? I love being in the military, but being in the military is causing me such dissatisfaction that I think releasing is the only viable option.
