P.O.G.
Person Other than Grunt.
That is who I am. I spent no time behind the wire. My biggest flex from my service was trying to help diring the Fukushima disaster on March 11, 2011. I was on a newly built Guided Missile Destroyer that was sailed out of Pascagoula, Mississippi, and stationed in san diego. DDG-105 the USS Dewey.
We were on deployment with the fifth fleet when we got called to the disaster zone. While assembling an accommodation ladder for boats to come alongside while anchored out, my face got hot, and my mouth tasted like metal. Another shipmate was experiencing the same thing. We were the only ones out there. We got topside and saw two fireboats spraying seawater on a building and steam coming from the building in large plumes that were floating right by us. They were cooling a nuclear reactor that melted down into an Elephants foot shape. I got very sick with major thyroid issues.
I am plagued with Crohn's disease and AVN of the major joints. Now, I am 40 with two hip replacement surgeries in my near future. With all that said, I would do it all again. I love this land, and I am truly happy about what little I did. All service matters despite what you decided to sign up for. Many a grunt will disagree. With that said, many a grunt eat crayons and try to become testosterone itself.