Ladies and Gentlemen,
I left the military a number of years ago. I was very proud to be a Non-Commissioned Officer of Marines. However, after 9/11 I wanted to reaffiliate with the military, as many have done in the past 7 years. I was never in the right spot with family or career. Now, all my kids are out of diapers and in school, finely. My marriage is stable and I believe I had entered the "mid-life crisis" zone. I always felt that I could give more to the nation in the form of service. I did not want to enlist, as I met the criteria for a commission. I looked at all of my options and found that the Army Reserve offered me the opportunity to be commissioned without the obligation of serving in the event of the commissioning falling through. I had also discovered that I was too old, 37, for a commission in my beloved Marine Corps. However, there was no issue with the USAR. Nine months ago, I submitted a commissioning package. Today, I found out that my package has been endorsed by The Secretary of the Army. I am not "in" yet as I still have the physical and background check to go through but I do not anticipate any issues with that. I am not sure when I will be pinned, but now it is not a case of "if" but "when."
Needless to say I was VERY excited when I got the news today.