So, vets, tell us about your last day in the armed forces

[HEyHEY]

I was just watching Forrest Gump and there's that part where the guy just walks up and says, "Service is up" and hands him papers. It seems to me that's not how it's done.

[Aristus]

1. Mine was kind of funny. I signed out on terminal leave at midnight, but had to appear

at morning formation in uniform to receive my parting award and certificate. My CO even said to me: "I wasn't sure you were going to show up. I know technically you're on leave." I said: "Obeying orders to the last, sir." Then he said: "Any speech you want to deliver to the company?"

"No sir."

"All right then. You're dismissed. Good luck."

"Thank you, sir."

I went upstairs to my barracks room, changed into civvies for my flight, and caught a ride to the airport. End of story.

[Symarip]

2. Hm.

Mine was pretty uneventful.

[old mark]

3. I had a few problems with my records, but got it all straightened out.

We had a talk from some Major who said,"I'm sure you all got something good out of your service." The guy behind me said,"Yeah,I got a real good sleeping bag."

Went to my house, put on my real clothes, got into the car, drove upfrom Fort Bragg to PA to my girlfriend's house.

That was it. February of 1971.

mark

[Ten Bears]

4. Try as I might...

... I can't even remember. I'm sure it involved signing out on terminal leave.

[Parche]

5. Air Force

You get your discharge papers, and then leave the base, all there is!!

[sarge43]

12. That's pretty much it.

The only thing I remember was driving away as fast as legally possible and yelling, "To quote Sir Edmund Hillary, 'Did the bitch!'"

I was concerned I might be on the receiving end of a retirement gotcha, ie two weeks before sliding out the gates something stupid or dreadful happens. For example the male sergeant who was put on hold because he was pregnant (urine sample mix up) or the unfortunate chief after 30 years and three wars was killed when a wing fell off a plane he was under.

[XNASA]

6. I had a checklist with about 8 locations I had to get signed-off.

Had to see Personel and get my check with my unused leave on it, and get my DD-214 etc.

The last person on the list was our squadron commander who asked me if I liked the Navy, to which I responded in the affirmative. Then he asked me if I'd like to re-up. I said 'no thanks'.

It took about 4 hours or so to check out.

[two gun sid]

7. I left on terminal leave in civvies....

when I stepped off the brow I turned and gave the OOD the finger. He laughed and wished me good luck. I drove home to my apartment and smoked dope and drank beer. Other than giving a Ltjg the finger to his face, it was a lot like every other day I was in the service.

[Doc_Technical]

8. One day I was told that I would be out of the Air Force in two weeks.

Up until that time, I had eight months to go until the end
of my enlistment, but the Air Force was undergoing a RIF
(Reduction in Force) and I was one of the lucky ones
that met the requirements for early separation.
It took about 6 days to go to several bases to have records
signed off, have a separation physical, hand carry most
of my records, and have my personal items packed and
shipped.
I left Europe on an afternoon flight and we got to
McGuire AFB around 11:00 PM and had to be at the
personnel office at 7:00 AM for separation.
This procedure took most of the day and we finished around
6:00 PM. Being separated by RIF is different than normal
separation so it was not as smooth and organized as the
normally scheduled separation.
We were given plane tickets and put on a bus to the
Philadelphia Airport but my flight was for the next morning
so I spent the night in the Airport USO.
I arrived in San Francisco around 12:30 PM and was met by my
best friend and my brother.
They asked me if I had seen the movie "Blazing Saddles."
This movie just came out and I had not seen it.
By this time, I had been up for about 3 days and all I
wanted to do is get some sleep.
Instead, they took me directly to a movie theater and we saw
the movie except I fell asleep during the movie and my friend
couldn't believe that I couldn't stay awake for one of the
funniest movies ever made. They finally took me home and I
slept for about 14 hours. It took about 3 days to get my
"body clock" reset.

[billyoc]

9. They opened the door to my cell,

said "President Reagan is offering all you dopers Honorable discharges if you leave now".

I left.

[Orsino]

10. I took two months of terminal leave...

...so the line between civilian and soldier was kinda blurred. More so than it usually was where I was concerned. :D

Before that, I spent a few days outprocessing (in civvies), which is mainly a scavenger hunt for signatures around post.

[Tikki]

11. Mr Tikki was in Finance...so he got his ETS funding a little early....

We went to the PX and bought baby clothes (we had a three month old then, now 39)
crib sheets, cloth diapers...yes, cloth diapers and some queen bed sheets and
towels for us.

We packed the 65 Fairlane the night before with a baby travel crib, suitcases and ice chest
and the next AM Mr. Tikki went in early to do the final discharge paperwork and I was standing in the driveway
(with baby in my arms) of the little ole fourplex where we lived when Mr. Tikki drove up later that morning to get us.

That was one of the happiest days of my life. Nothing wrong with Louisiana...very nice folks there...
I just wanted my husband to get out of the Army so we could get on with our lives.

We headed West from West Central Louisiana and didn't stop but one night until we hit Santa Monica, California.

The Tikkis

[Roon]

13. My Grandfather was in Germany

The boys were playing horseshoes and badminton while they waited to see what was going to happen with Japan. Once Japan surrendered my Grandfather was shipped back to Boston. He took a bus to New York. He went into a bar..the beer was free..he took a cab to my Grandmother's house...the cab ride was free. He was in uniform and everything was free!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

14. I came into work, they threw me in the

water off the pier and said get the fuck outta hea

I went home

and that was it

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. Funny you should ask, but my last day I accidentally fucked up eine kleine Papierarbeit,

and sent our army into the Sudetenland.

I've been awfully embarrassed ever since about that.

I do apologize.

I've never told anyone about that before.

[deucemagnet]

16. I honestly can't remember.

My relationship with the Air Force turned sour towards the end. It was 1990, and I had my separation orders in my hand, and about a week later I got a phone message from the CBPO asking me to return their call. I returned the call, and they told me that my separation orders were canceled and that I would be retained indefinitely. Of course, I hit the fucking roof, and A1C Dipshit on the other end of the line can't understand why I was so upset. To add insult to injury, they let my room mate in the barracks out on an early-out while I was stop-lossed. You'd think this would have made my last day in the service memorable, but I'd learned not to get my hopes up the hard way. I don't think I really believed I was beyond their grasp until I was out for at least year.

Ironically, if they'd not canceled my orders, I would have immediately joined the Air Reserve and showed up at work like I always did until Gulf War I was over. I probably would have stayed in the reserve until retirement. As it happened, they got to see the kind of shit I'll stir up when I'm angry and they lost somebody with valuable skills.

[AllegroRondo]

17. Lots of paperwork

i drove to the outprocessing office in Class A uniform, sat through about 90 minutes of paperwork checking, then got my DD-214. thats about it really.
the actual outprocessing took about a week. getting all my equipment turned in, records checked, and papers signed.

[BrotherBuzz]

18. I sat in an old Nike base drinking coffee listening to the fog horns.

At 3:30 sharp, I left and drove home. I had no real reason for even being there except the Army had the audacity to call this dumb draftee up for two week IRR (Individual Ready Reserve) obligation. I was assigned to a reserve MP unit and was stationed in an old Nike base in the Marin headlands (Now part of GGNRA). I was not an MP and they had no need for a Nuclear Surety specialist, so I just cheerfully sat in a nice warm office, drank coffee, read, and listened to the fog horns. I could see the Golden Gate bridge from a little bluff above the compound, but it was foggy most days. The food was pretty darn good, too.

Today, the property is used by the YMCA for a kids camp.

[Lasher]

19. December 1970

It was never a surprise when I would get out because I counted the days from when I was first drafted. Got my orders to travel from Seoul to Fort Lewis, Washington. About half of us on that plane were from South Korea and the other half were from Vietnam. Got to Fort Lewis and processed out. Caught a cab from Fort Lewis to the commercial airport to get a flight home. Ther cab driver tried to cheat us. It wasn't like coming home from WWII.