I can't speak for the Army, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard since I don't have a clear picture of what it's like to

be a member of those services. However, I assume that Army Reservist Lt. Col. ***** [Opinion Letters, Oct. 18]

was including the Navy in his comments since I read them in the Navy Times.

I salute Lt. Colonel *****'s service to Our Country both in and out of uniform. However, as a civilian

contractor and a Reservist, it is clear that he has a jaded idea of what life in the Active Duty military is like.

With both Active Duty and Reservist Army components spending back-to-back tours in Iraq and Afghanistan,

and with such a high number of them coming home injured or dead, I find it amazing that a Reservist who clearly

stands almost no chance of getting “called up” due to his civilian contractor status would dare to be critical of his

fellow compatriots' benefits while he enjoys the absolute BEST benefit: the ability to serve AND go home to

wife and kids every night.

Comments that are made in a clear tone of criticism, such as “don't invite me to the pity party for the active duty

military”, cheapen the sacrifices that we make. He makes reference to situations where Active Duty service

members are often allowed the privilege of accomplishing personal business during often-times normal working

hours.

What he clearly forgot to consider is the ENORMOUS amount of time that Active Duty service members sacrifice

after normal working hours. From duty days, to staying extended hours in order to ensure that a high-priority

project gets completed, to time spent away from homeport doing various levels of training and work-ups,

to actual deployments, and that doesn't account for the fact that even when we are in “home” port, we aren't

usually at “home”. My home of record is Salt Lake City, which is where my entire family lives, with the

exception of my wife. Being stationed in San Diego, we don't have the luxury of enjoying “civilian

benefits” such as eating Sunday Dinner at Mom's house.

In the last 3 years I have been on deployment twice, spending a total of 11 months at sea. Because of the high op-

tempo of my ship, we have spent the remainder of the time while not on deployment doing work-ups and

mandatory inspections. Easily one-third of that time is spent at sea. That adds up to another 9 months not

spent at home. That means that in 3 years, I was only in “home” port for 19 months. Duty rotations varied

but we were always in a 4-section or 6-section rotation. So, of the 570 days spent in “home” port, an average

of 114 days were spent in a duty status, living and sleeping aboard ship from 7AM on my duty day until the end of

working hours the next day. This all adds up to 624 nights that I have not been at home with my wife. So, for the

3 years that I have been on-board my ship, more than 58% of that time was spent at sea and not at home with my

wife. Add to that the fact that I leave on deployment AGAIN before the end of this year, and it quickly becomes

obvious that the Active Duty life isn't as rosy a picture as it might appear to some.

I urge Lt. Colonel ***** to keep this in mind when he sees an Active Duty member taking time off in

order to go to his/her child's school performance. Keep in mind that even though this Active Duty member

is getting this privilege, it is generally given to them because most Seniors realize how much time with their

families is LOST... and that time that is lost is lost FOREVER... fortunately, my wife is a strong woman and

understands and accepts the sacrifices that we must make, but don't think for a minute that I don't understand

that losing that much time with me doesn't hurt her.