40 Years since I joined the Army

11 April, 2020

This should have been posted on 11 April.  I posted it on Facebook that day, and I meant to post it here. It's significant enough for a blog entry, but the day got away from me.  So here it is:

40 years ago today, on 11 April 1980, my life changed forever when I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I joined the U.S. Army through the “Delayed Entry Program”, under which I had several months before I had to report for basic training. So 800411 became my PEBD (Pay Entry Base Date), and 800925 became my BASD (Base Active Service Date). Those two dates were significant throughout my military career, as they determined eligibility dates for promotion and time-in-service pay raises, among other things. But another reason those dates are significant in my life was because of what I did in between them.

After college graduation, I spent the summer of 1980 hitchhiking and backpacking around the western USA with my dog. I spent weeks on end deep in some of the most beautiful wilderness areas in our country. In between the Bob Marshall and Cabinet Peaks Wildernesses in Montana and the Pasayten Wilderness in Washington, I traveled across North Idaho. I only got a brief glimpse of what was here, but I always meant to come back some day. 

Backpacking in Montana as a young man.

“Some day” turned out to be almost 40 years later, but now we have retired and live in Coeur d’Alene. I am poised to begin exploring Idaho’s wilderness areas, which promise to be as wild and beautiful as anyplace I have ever been. Every life has its ups and downs, but on balance mine has been very good. I am grateful for the experiences and opportunities afforded to me by my service in the Army, and I am grateful to be here, even if it did take much longer than I would have predicted when I was 21!

Teresa and I at my War College graduation.