Today is the day...

Today is the date of my original ETS date. For those of you not familiar with military terminology, ETS is an acronym for Expiration Term of Service, meaning that today SHOULD be the last day of my enlistment. However, since the contract I signed had more fine print than one person should be subjected to in a lifetime, I basically signed my life away for a maximum of 8 years; the 4 years of my enlistment is the MINIMUM time that I agreed to serve on active duty. The military has only to enact stop-loss to keep a soldier in past their ETS date. Of course, the recruiter didn't tell me that; I didn't figure that out until it was far too late. So, here I am stuck in Iraq and likely to be here for several months more. Recently, there has been an attempt to approve a bonus pay of about $2000 per month for soldiers affected by stop-loss. This would be great, but it wasn't approved; supposedly, there will be another attempt to ratify this pay in the next few months.
The reason that I am writing about this is because it was not approved, yet, the US House of Representatives approved a bill granting $417 BILLION for defense spending last Tuesday(June 22, 2004). That amount is virtually incomprehensible and they squabble about a few million that it would cost to pay the people whose lives are being put on hold to serve the military's needs. Personally, I was originally planning on attending college in the fall semester of 2004(read: THIS YEAR). Now, due to my involuntary extension in the United States Army, not only will I miss this fall semester, but I will most likely be unable to submit my application in time to be accepted for the fall semester of 2005; applications are due at the end of 2004 and I will still be stuck in Iraq. I can apply online, but I am unable to take any of the tests that are required by my schools of choice(i.e. SATII). Thus, my life is pushed back 2 years because the Army kept me past my ETS date. That is 2 years sooner that could have had my degree and a job paying at least double what I am making in the military, and yet, the military hasn't even approved paying me, and many others just like me, for my trouble.
None of this would bother me so much, but I actually see how the taxpayers' money is spent. Believe me, whoever coined the term "military efficiency" should be shot; that's more of an oxymoron than "military intelligence." The military, at least the US military, is anything but efficient. I could write a long list of the ways that money is wasted, but I don't think I should. If you really want to know, you should invite me 'round for tea some afternoon and we can talk about it.