My departure from the Navy

The best mistake I ever made!

By this point, I was flipping out. I hated the Navy, I hated my supervisors, I hated my work, I even hated the people that called themselves my friends. I was just informed that my "PRD" had been extended another two years, and I would be on the Kitty Hawk for a total of 5 years. A "PRD" is a projected rotation date, and that is the date that you can get away from your post, and move on to your next. I was so pissed off that I just walked out and went home. I guess they understood, because no one said anything to me about it. It would also mean that I would make another 6-month deployment on that ship. That would not have been so bad, but I would also have to move to Japan when the ship went there to replace the USS INDEPENDENCE. I would be no part of that, and with the stress levels just rising more and more each day, I decided to do something that I had been against from the day I made the realization I was gay. I was going to come out and get out!
I began by calling the Lesbian and Gay Men's Center for some assistance in my little plan. I spoke to the military advisor for the center, and he asked me all of the questions that would either one, tell him I was just mad at someone and had not thought it out, or two had thought it out thoroughly enough and had made a solid decision. After 5 minutes, he was typing a letter to my commanding officer to tell him I was "by definition of Op-Nav Instruction" a legal Homosexual. I thought it was the funniest piece of paper that I had ever seen, though it also scared me that I was holding it. It was to be the biggest thing that I had done with my life to date. I was basically telling the Navy that I was gay, and in some small way, I was confirming it to myself as well.
Anyway, I held on to that paper for almost two weeks, before I got up the courage to do anything with it.
The advisor had told me that I was to give this paper to the Executive officer, and no one else. The morning that I had brought it, I walked up to the Executive Officer's office door and knocked. I waited, and got no reply. I took this as my chance to run!  Finally I decided that I needed to do it, so I knocked again, and waited. I figured he was out, so I began to walk away again, when I heard him yell from inside "ENTER!!!"
When I heard that, I walked in. He said "how's it going, Petty officer?" I told him well, but I do not know how well you are going to feel after you read this. I handed the letter to him, and he looked at it. Then he just nonchalantly said "Well, I sure have seen a lot of these in my career." I mean, as if it was an every day occurrence? Anyway, he asked why I would want to do such a thing? I told him I could not live a lie anymore, which was what the advisor said to say, and that I had not acted on it, but that I had the "propensity" to act on it. I laughed when he said that he could just forget that he had seen that, and when he assured me that there would be no reason for me to get out this way. I told him thanks, but I would take my chances in the real world, and he just sent me on my way to begin my discharge procedures.
Needless to say, I was out in less than a week, on a vacation pending discharge, and a week later I was a full-fledged civilian. Then I was unemployed.  I was out of work for a couple of weeks. Then I found a job, and the rest is history.

 

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