My father's house is my official address, as I'm still living in an apartment. He passes me mail whenever I see him. At one of the weddings over the summer, one of the envelopes contained official orders from the Marine Corps.

I'm still part of the Individual Ready Reserve, consisting of former military members that, while not drilling every month like members of the Selected Reserve, are still eligible to be called back to service. And I was now being called back.

But, not to worry! I was summoned to a one-day muster, so they could make sure I was still healthy, possessed of all my limbs, etc. They also wanted to get updated information on marital status, dependents, and so forth. Uniform of the day was "proper civilian attire" (which actually has a formal definition: nothing ragged or with holes, nothing characteristically worn for exercise, if trouser have belt loops one must wear a belt, etc.) That wasn't a problem, as I just about always wear "proper civilian attire" anyway. The mobilization order also specified that "shaving and hair grooming standards will not be enforced," which is nice, because I've recently regrown my beard. It's not that I missed my beard, it's that with two bad limbs it was very difficult to shave.

Saturday was the day, so I left my house at 0600 to make the drive to the muster in Canandaigua, NY. Show time was 0800, and I made it just in time. We were meeting at the Canandaigua VA Center, which is a mix of old and new brick buildings. My first suspicion was that it was a post-Civil War army base, but some internet research has led me to suspect it really started as an insane asylum incorporated in 1859. The date is about right for the older architecture, and an asylum would certainly explain the military look of the buildings, as well as the impressive stone perimeter fence.

Driving through the town, at an intersection near the VA there were a dozen people gathered, waving flags and cheering every passing car, with a "Thank you Marines!" banner. I got a little sumtin' in my eye. Must have been the glare from the rising sun.

Having made it on time and checked in, I was butt-in-chair near the front of the rather old auditorium. I was right next to a door, which was nice, because as the room heated up I received the benefit of a cooling breeze.

We had a unit formation, in brief, which consisted of a detachment of the state police marching on the colors, then a brief talk by a full-bird colonel standing in for the commander of Marine Corps Mobilization Command (which is the command that all IRR Marines belong to), then a brief talk by the MCMC's Sergeant Major, then the colors marched off. That was enough to make it all official, and then we got about two hours worth of briefings on (a) benefits to which we were entitled, and how to get them; (b) post-military mental issues and how to get help for them ("Getting counseling isn't like wimping out. If you're having trouble with your baseball swing, you talk to your coach. That's what we provide– coaching to help you get your life back on track!"), and (c) a briefing on the reserves, including how we could volunteer for temporary duty while remaining part of the IRR. (That is, so we could do some reservist work and get some reservist pay, without having to sign up for monthly drills). Mostly good info, although the people not fortunate enough to be sitting by an open door were dying from the heat.

At 10:30 the briefs were done, and we were released to go out and check out three big tents outside, which contained companies looking to hire us, colleges looking to recruit us, and organizations looking to help us. I collected a huge bag of swag, including some job leads for friends of mine. I was wearing a UB t-shirt, so the college people didn't try to hard to get me. And I didn't need help from the volunteer organizations, although I did get a form to sign up for the VA just in case I ever need them, although I don't think I qualify. But it never hurts to check.

Done with all that by noon, I ate one of their delicious hot dogs and left as the afternoon session was arriving. I was jealous, I'll admit that: the afternoon guys sure didn't have to get up at 0500 to arrive on time. But it meant I got to drive around scenic Upstate New York in the afternoon, while those guys were sweltering inside a pre-air conditioning auditorium.

I drove down to Big Flats along State Route 14, a terribly scenic route that runs along the western shore of Seneca Lake. That's the heart of wine country, and on a Saturday afternoon every winery was open for tours. There were also dozens of bicyclists along the shoulder, many of them doing the round-the-lake circuit run.

After a bit of confusion in Horseheads, where the roads have been rearranged, I made it to Big Flats where I could take a nap. I did about four hours of driving in total, which was much more than my healing left arm was happy with. All's well that ends well, though.

Posted by: Boviate at 11:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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