I work at a Case IH dealer full time. I have somehow become pretty good at my job despite not caring much for it. Currently I am trying to bait my employers into a significant raise before June (I told them I was leaving after the busy season). I'll see if they bite.
I'm also part time in the Army National Guard as a combat engineer in a sapper company. Joined mainly for college as the college benefits are just about the best thing you can do in the states tuition wise if you don't have a full academic ride through a scholarship. But they also offer cheap insurance too. There are other draws that are hard to explain. I both love and hate it. It's hard to replicate the camaraderie you find in the military, but it is also hard to replicate the pure stupidity of how the Army is run.
My contract ends in July but am considering extending for a year because we are going to Germany to be the opposing force for a huge war game among traditional allied forces. Sapper company's are usually attached to big maneuver units to clear the way for their movements. So it would be interesting to break into team size elements and harass the hell out of those same units as a guerilla force. Sappers would seem to be ideal for this, we can make improvised explosives, understand where units would want to maneuver to and block or funnel their way, what their offensive and defensive capabilities are(because we attach to them we know how they move), and have enough training in small unit tactics because we always attach to the infantry to be a nuisance if we are caught in a movement. Plus they are getting an MWR day to just run around in Germany and take the country in. I've been to Germany before but never in the capacity to take the country in. That's a huge draw, but I generally hate the way that unit is run so maybe not. (They don't train to standard, they train to time, and it drives me crazy)
They leave the month after my contract ends, so I'd literally have another ten months left after we came back. Don't know if that is worth it.
Plus getting out of both jobs at about the same time would mean that I would be completely free of any job related obligations going back 8 years and would have a fresh start.
The flip side is that if I extend for a year with NG and then stay another year with my civilian company I'd be fully vested in that companies ESOP as opposed to just be partially vested now.
That would be like getting a 16,000 dollar bonus if I did decide to leave the next year at about the same time.
So basically it boils down to making financially sound decision vs a decision of FREEDOM. And trust me, freedom is underrated. If you have been burdened with a military contract, you know what I'm talking about.
