Army Reserve Decision

Pre Story Background-

I already shared my "About Me" that has led me up to this point so far.  What I didn't share.. is why I want to join the Army... and why now.  I honestly never thought about joining the military up through college.  I was raised with pride in country, self pride, the need to accomplish more and do my best, family values, and so on..... but that never translated to the military.  It wasn't until I was employed as a Personal Trainer at 24 Hour Fitness that I started wanting to do the research.  It finally hit me that it should be a sense of duty.  Veteran's Day and any and every holiday and event that honored the Military always left me feeling guilty or empty.  It was then that I realized I have not done everything that I should.  I want to join the military but I also feel I need to do my part.

 While going through the process of trying to join back in 2010... I got a call for a great new career opportunity with Enterprise and decided the take the selfish approach and accept the position..which in turn meant I needed to stop the Military process for that time.  I put everything into making sure I could learn as much as possible.. and contribute my share and more while learning the Oil and Gas field.  The feeling of wanting to join never left... I just didn't have the ability to walk away from my career at that time. Enterprise was/is known for attending many Vet recruiting events and hiring a lot of vets.  I had the pleasure to work with many of these guys as well as train them. 

Fast forward 4 years and a new company for me in Cheniere... and the timing hit me.  The current company is treating me great and I see many positive years to come.  The only deal is.. they hired me to be a Senior Pipeline Controller for a pipeline and process that was not even in operation yet.  They got a good jump on us and the training we were able to receive was afar beyond what I expected.  We are prepared for when the real operation kicks in and we have a great crew of guys ready once it starts.  BUT... compared to my past company, the work was going to be fairly quiet for about a year.  Staying still and not being able to better myself just drives me nuts.  This led me to start looking at the military again.  Of all the branches.. I chose the Army because of the flexibility it allowed for me to pick a MOS (army job) and ensure I would make it back to my current civilian career without missing a beat.  I felt incredibly guilty about walking away from my company after only being with them 6 months.. but I thought through every angle before deciding.  I will be able to leave for training.. which will be about 7 months long in all.. and still be able to return with plenty of time to spare to catch up before our big commissioning project kicks off.  My selfish side slightly kicked in with joining the Reserves.. because as much as I want to do my part.. I have come so far in my personal career that I can not see myself completely turning away from it.  Cheniere as a company and my direct reports seemed supportive and I hope that is their true feelings.  I guess this is the part I will find out about when I return back to work at the beginning of May.