FORT STEWART, Ga. - I recently got back from leave and as always, it can be an interesting experience. I have had utterly gruesome leaves, and I’ve had awesome ones. It’s a weird occurrence traveling back to my hometown, although some things are slightly different the majority of it remains constant. I’m lucky enough to have friends that easily transition into me coming or going, so it’s as if I never left.
No matter when you go on leave, there are important things to keep in mind. First off, be flexible. Not just bamboo flexible, but as versatile as oil. Soldiers have a tendency to be pliant, our job in the Army commands it. However, this often causes us to be intransigent when we are afforded the opportunity to formulate our own schedules. Why might this be? Because Soldiers can be down right pertinacious when it comes to their free time. Although we all want our leave to turn into a milieu of fun, sunshine and relaxation, things go wrong and Murphy’s law extends past the 8th dead battery in your shop’s humvee (it’s not the alternator, check your radio amps!).
So what is one to do?
There are two ways to approach leave, and one can mix and match the two as they see fit - planned and unplanned. I’ve alternated between the two for entire vacations, and both have their values. A planned vacation provides a structured stratagem in which to confront your days off, although keep it loose. Try to give yourself at least a thirty minute buffer between events, otherwise you’ll find yourself contemplating when your leave turned into a round-robin training event.
An unplanned vacation is the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, wing-it fest that is a joy to experience. However, it forces even more flexibility, as chances are the things you wish to do or the people you wish to hang out with have their own schedules to tend to.
The best ‘plan’ for leave is a mixture of the two, give yourself a chance to extemporize in your carefully orchestrated symphony. Keep things loosely planned, and give yourself a few ‘zero’ days, where nothing is laid out- but concocted on the spot.
Another thing to keep in mind is that people want to see you, whether it be Family or friends. Although patience is a virtue, empathy should be a forte. Be mindful that this is one of the few times they get to see you. Although you might rather go and see [Insert current big box office movie title here] with your friends for the fourth time, chances are your Family wants to see you too. “The only thing permanent in life is Family,” wrote Elizabeth Gilbert in a book I never read and a movie I have never seen- but a friend of mine has a tattoo of it. Your parents may say “I understand you’re busy” or “It’s your leave, enjoy yourself,” but what they probably mean is they want to see you more than once... for dinner... that they pay for.
Finally, don’t break any laws while you’re on leave. Not only is it an annoyance, but it will cut into your leave or end it all together. Many rules that we follow as Soldiers apply to us both on and off duty, whether on post or off. No one wants to spend their leave explaining to their first sergeant what caused them to be arrested, even if it was for arguing over the legitimacy of a parking ticket.
Social Sharing