AZ you just don't get it and I'm not sure you have the back ground to understand.
The military is a young man's (and women
) world. At 30 I was pushing into "old man" territory. If I had stayed for 20 I could have "retired" at the tender age of 38 (or more likely closer to 40 due to "encouraged" extensions), actually it is officially a transfer to the Naval reserve as I would have been obligated to a further 10 year inactive reserve term during which I would have been subject to involuntary recall, there is a good possibility had I stayed for 20 I could have still been subject to recall after 9/11. As it was when I took an early out at 12 years of service I was obligated for a 2 year inactive reserve. That expired in 1994.
I am unaware of any civilian occupation where you can forceably be recalled to a previous job.
How long did it take you to become competent at your chosen career? How long did it take you to get
good at it?
Would you like to start over in a similar but not quite the same line of work (oh, and a significant part of your resume is "classified"), starting at the bottom working with people that have been doing your new line of work for 10-15 or more years?
That's what most vets face when they get out of the military whether they served 20 or a lesser hitch like I did. Sure a 4 year enlistment isn't that big a set back to a career but try starting over after just 12 like I did. I had spent 12 years first learning then becoming pretty damn good at what I did which in addition to being an electronics tech I also trained and for the last several years supervised my division on the boat. Sure when I got out I eventually landed a job doing electronics/computer work but it was entry level and I had to work my way back up from the bottom, which I did in pretty short order.
A 20 year career does entail considerable sacrifice. Just compensation for that sacrifice at the very least includes our government not breaking the promises it made to the people that volunteered to
serve their country risking their life and limb so that the majority of people in this country don't have to.
Yes, we face a serious pendng financial crisis but military retirements and other
earned benefits are not the anchor that is dragging us into oblivion.