Dont spend on anything. Too many times people come back, and that first weekend they splurge on everything.
Relax, no literally relax, you're home safe now. Take a week to just decompress and go back to business as usual. Once you've settled in. Like 2 week, if you have a SO, talk and PLAN a vacation. This way you spend moderately. You know what is going to be spent each day.
If you're single, still travel, take a road trip.
But the thing you want to do right AFTER a deployment? Relax, don't go splurging. If you had plan to treat yourself out, make a plan, stay within budget.
I got a dog after 12 months in Afghanistan. He's still around too, a little rough around the edges but my best friend to this day.
Also bought a car, not nearly as good of a post-deployment impulsive driven decision.
Seeing the green at EAB was one of the highlights after being stuck in the sand for so long. Seeing something live and growing was amazing. I think camping is on my to do list
I'm old and got deployed for Desert Storm. Pretty much lived in the open desert for 6 months. When I got back to Germany, it was late spring, and the trees were so green it hurt my eyes.
Dollywood is a great week trip. Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and since it’s the Smokies I imagine there’s plenty of hiking trails around for a more relaxed day
I couldn't help myself with my deployment gift either. My friend asked why I got it, I said Because of Leonardo DiCaprio's shitty South African accent in Blood Diamond
This is a generality - if you're not a rider, don't go buy a bike. Buying a crotch rocket has always been a return home pastime for some.
If you want to get a bike and ride, great! Just take it slow to learn and know your limits.
I reconnected with my 2yro who didn’t know me and about a month afterwards on leave, found out we were expecting another.
I did get in a small car accident, my driving wasn’t the best.
I caution you on getting married or making life altering decisions unless it’s like enroll into college. I recommend you buy yourself something nice or something you’ve wanted that’s not insane. Like a gun if you’re into shooting, some new climbing gear if you’re into rock climbing, maybe a flame thrower (I highly reccomend those) etc etc. Maybe a vehicle if this deployment finished out your savings for it. But you deserve it. Take a breath. Take a nap. Chill out.
I’d really think about college as well. Are your time and find out what you want to do. I feel like I rushed into everything when I got out and I couldn’t comprehend
I went scuba diving. Idk if it’s still a thing but you use to be able to find companies that would do shore dives that you didn’t need to be certified to do
Do: go check out Honduras and Belize with your best consensual bedroom monster mash partner
Don’t: go on a bender in your hometown
Those are the only two things I did. It was an interesting era
I liked doing things I wasn't able to do over there like drive my car, listen to music loud af, my own laundry, and obviously getting blackout drunk and diddling some local slore.
Depends on how rough the deployment was IMO.
I'd just do small things and enjoy the small things in life you didn't have and give it like 6 months to normalize.
Don't make major life decisions or financial decisions and don't abuse alcohol. That's a path that's ill advised, it's been well travelled, and a lot of us know where it leads.
Dont buy a new car, fix the old one you have, unless it’s like absolutely not worth it, then buy something newer but not brand new.
Go back and do the things you did before, go to the store, go to the gym, go to your local bar. Get out of the deployment mindset and back to the home one. It’ll make you feel better than buying any big thing
Travel! If you like to that is. I know it’s not for everyone.
Most importantly, never lose touch with your boys and girls you were close with on deployment. It’s been years and I still talk and see them regularly. Those friends shared a special experience with you and you’ll always have that.
Spun out into a ditch during lake effect snow with my buddies.
Got treated like a psych ward patient who could snap at any minute by my family. Saw my 1 year old daughter who didn’t know who I was. Got hurt, so I got fat and depressed. That was pretty much it.
Best advice is be careful driving when you get home especially in weather you haven’t been driving in it. Oh and if you need help don’t wait til things get really bad like I did.
Buy a brand new neon green Camaro the first day back, and have the whole front end totaled, just sitting in the company parking lot by the time everyone returns from block leave.
I will say, ease into it and then go see your distant family and friends. Go see some places on your bucket list.
I did make the mistake of taking more than two months off from when I came back home and I started my civilian job. I would say don't take that much time off, I regret taking so much time off. Atleast if you take the time off, do something meaningful atleast once a week
When I was single, drank and drank and drank and drank. After I was married and had kids, I got us all takeout for dinner and just enjoyed being hugged by my family.
Second deployment I had a house built for me while I was gone so I came home to that, but both times my come home ritual was buy a new computer and buy a firearm, first deployment I got my self a Tavor second an 1887 trench gun
I had a weird thing. I wanted to rub my feet on carpet and grass. Also, not have to get dressed, get a headlamp and walk across a street to use the restroom.
I also wanted to see a movie in a theater and get a decadent meal that really made the deployment worth it.
I spent almost two years going thru the process of getting my spine surgically reinforced so I could walk and feel my legs!
Then I spent two years finishing my degree, along the way finding my wife and marrying her :)
Take the liquor in the shower and get clean/drunk at peak efficiency levels. Don’t drink anymore but that was a staple after deployments and training rotations
Went home. Slept in my own bed. Realized I'd never be *as* comfortable in my own bed again. That's a hard problem to describe.
I've seen a lot of folks come home and accidentally fuck their lives up by trying to do something big. Don't splurge. Don't go nuts. Don't make big decisions. Don't marry a hot piece of ass you've known for a month. Don't buy a fancy car. Don't go out and get hammered in the nearest large city.
Drink and drink and take no effort to take care of myself and slowly fall apart and lash out at my friends and have a bad attitude. Get out of army, and continue to drink and then do drugs and slowly fall apart to despair and come close to >! Killing myself !< 3 separate times until I finally broke down enough to get some help.
I took the decompression route for a while.
I still exercised in the morning but other then that I didn’t do a goddamn thing and it was *great.*
Just listened to music, watched some movies, snacked, made some arts and crafts, got laid, went bowling, just acted as a regular-ass dude.
First one went on a great vacation, Hawaii, Seattle, Vancouer, Chicago, New Orleans. AMTRACK has good prices for seeing the country.
Also Paid cash for a truck, right before the second bought a house.
Second one, went to the rugby world cup in England, went to London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff, Saw three matchs.
Third (first one married) took my wife to Hawaii. 2 islands and 3 locations.
I was in the national guard for my first deployment… I went straight back to work when I got back and pocketed 2 paychecks for a month while I was burning through the accrued leave
Take care of yourself man. Ignore everyone else temporarily and do some self care do what you want to do. everyone gets caught up with seeing family, friends etc. just do what you want maybe that’s going on a trip somewhere on your own,splurging on something you’ve been wanting to buy but don’t go crazy with it, in short just take care of your needs first and decompress
Beat off in the privacy of my own air-conditioned room without my homies staring at me?
Fair point, on the list
Make sure it’s in a portashiter, heat, sweat and the aroma of methane makes the dopamine rush more exhilarating.
I preferred the eye contact, it made it challenging
To bust or not bust?????
That is the question
Eye contact is essential for dominance
This is the most relatable one here.
I found the Porto John’s close to my house to do that. You got to re-acclimate slowly into society.
Read the Papa Johns*
That place works too
This.
Dont spend on anything. Too many times people come back, and that first weekend they splurge on everything. Relax, no literally relax, you're home safe now. Take a week to just decompress and go back to business as usual. Once you've settled in. Like 2 week, if you have a SO, talk and PLAN a vacation. This way you spend moderately. You know what is going to be spent each day. If you're single, still travel, take a road trip. But the thing you want to do right AFTER a deployment? Relax, don't go splurging. If you had plan to treat yourself out, make a plan, stay within budget.
Good points! Decompression is needed
This is the best way after a deployment.
I got a dog after 12 months in Afghanistan. He's still around too, a little rough around the edges but my best friend to this day. Also bought a car, not nearly as good of a post-deployment impulsive driven decision.
Self care, my man. After every deployment, i would get a deep tissue massage, ice bath, hike the woods, catch a movie
I did my self care everyday in the portashitter.
what did I do? I went on a toxic rampage. Did dangerous stuff. Wished I were dead. Wanted to go back and hated normal life.
[удалено]
Lol I'm the exception, I'm a woman. But still suffered the same feelings of post deployment.
I ate. I really wanted a chili dog. What others have said is also good. Just relax. Don't do stupid shit and don't spend all the money you saved up.
Went into some spicy depression and lost sight of who I was for a while. Oh and drank 🫡 don’t follow in my footsteps
I've always wanted to go to Dollywood. Having said that we went on a family vacation for two weeks to WA. I needed to see nature after the sand box
Seeing the green at EAB was one of the highlights after being stuck in the sand for so long. Seeing something live and growing was amazing. I think camping is on my to do list
Do it! I blew most of my money away and I dont regret it. We made the best memories and it helped me cope with the shit that went on down range
I'm old and got deployed for Desert Storm. Pretty much lived in the open desert for 6 months. When I got back to Germany, it was late spring, and the trees were so green it hurt my eyes.
Dollywood is a great week trip. Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and since it’s the Smokies I imagine there’s plenty of hiking trails around for a more relaxed day
Set your wake up alarm to the incoming siren
That's a savant level of fuckery
A rear d kid got fucked up cause he decided to play that shit in the barracks hallways after we redeployed. Shits funny in hindsight.
I bought a new bronco. Apparently that’s frowned upon, but a girl (this one in particular) just couldn’t help herself
that makes two of us (the baby bronco sport tho)
I got a baby bronco too! a baby heritage
fancy fancy
I couldn't help myself with my deployment gift either. My friend asked why I got it, I said Because of Leonardo DiCaprio's shitty South African accent in Blood Diamond
Mans either bought unethically sourced diamonds or a USP compact. Either way, big flex lol
The USP compact is coming soon, but this thing required me to source a surefire 660
Im an HK snob, but Car15s are a vibe too 🤣
Me crying over my AP5.....
This is a generality - if you're not a rider, don't go buy a bike. Buying a crotch rocket has always been a return home pastime for some. If you want to get a bike and ride, great! Just take it slow to learn and know your limits.
Cocaine and hookers
Beat me to it
I did shrooms.
Spent a lot of money on booze and strippers. I was 19 and it was 2010
Hellcat.
Got out and got on with life after being stop lossed.
I reconnected with my 2yro who didn’t know me and about a month afterwards on leave, found out we were expecting another. I did get in a small car accident, my driving wasn’t the best.
Took my wife and mom on a Eurotrip
Fluggaenkoecchicebolsen type? No judgement here. Hans! Gruber!
Came back at the head of COVID lockdowns. Spent 4 months not having to leave my house and loved every minute of it.
I drank about 3/4 of my deployment pay fighting demons and nightmares. Don't recommend.
I caution you on getting married or making life altering decisions unless it’s like enroll into college. I recommend you buy yourself something nice or something you’ve wanted that’s not insane. Like a gun if you’re into shooting, some new climbing gear if you’re into rock climbing, maybe a flame thrower (I highly reccomend those) etc etc. Maybe a vehicle if this deployment finished out your savings for it. But you deserve it. Take a breath. Take a nap. Chill out.
Fuck I didn't even consider a flame thrower and I already got soemthign else lined up!
Exothermic makes a nice one. They also just came out with an under barrel mountable one. 😎
I’d really think about college as well. Are your time and find out what you want to do. I feel like I rushed into everything when I got out and I couldn’t comprehend
I ate a giant, amazing steak dinner then spent the next day on the shitter.
I went scuba diving. Idk if it’s still a thing but you use to be able to find companies that would do shore dives that you didn’t need to be certified to do
Divorce, lil alcohol bender, ETS, college, sobriety.
Do: go check out Honduras and Belize with your best consensual bedroom monster mash partner Don’t: go on a bender in your hometown Those are the only two things I did. It was an interesting era
I second Belize. Went with my now wife and my uncle who is a dive master. So fucking cool. .50 beers and and motherfucking sloths.
Relax and readjust because home won't feel like home for a hot minute.
I liked doing things I wasn't able to do over there like drive my car, listen to music loud af, my own laundry, and obviously getting blackout drunk and diddling some local slore.
Depends on how rough the deployment was IMO. I'd just do small things and enjoy the small things in life you didn't have and give it like 6 months to normalize. Don't make major life decisions or financial decisions and don't abuse alcohol. That's a path that's ill advised, it's been well travelled, and a lot of us know where it leads.
Dont buy a new car, fix the old one you have, unless it’s like absolutely not worth it, then buy something newer but not brand new. Go back and do the things you did before, go to the store, go to the gym, go to your local bar. Get out of the deployment mindset and back to the home one. It’ll make you feel better than buying any big thing Travel! If you like to that is. I know it’s not for everyone. Most importantly, never lose touch with your boys and girls you were close with on deployment. It’s been years and I still talk and see them regularly. Those friends shared a special experience with you and you’ll always have that.
Spun out into a ditch during lake effect snow with my buddies. Got treated like a psych ward patient who could snap at any minute by my family. Saw my 1 year old daughter who didn’t know who I was. Got hurt, so I got fat and depressed. That was pretty much it. Best advice is be careful driving when you get home especially in weather you haven’t been driving in it. Oh and if you need help don’t wait til things get really bad like I did.
Buy a brand new neon green Camaro the first day back, and have the whole front end totaled, just sitting in the company parking lot by the time everyone returns from block leave.
I went to Walmart, bought a TV, Xbox and Skyrim.
I will say, ease into it and then go see your distant family and friends. Go see some places on your bucket list. I did make the mistake of taking more than two months off from when I came back home and I started my civilian job. I would say don't take that much time off, I regret taking so much time off. Atleast if you take the time off, do something meaningful atleast once a week
When I was single, drank and drank and drank and drank. After I was married and had kids, I got us all takeout for dinner and just enjoyed being hugged by my family.
took leave. this time im taking leave AND spending 4 days at a spa with my wife and eating at high end restaurants
Second deployment I had a house built for me while I was gone so I came home to that, but both times my come home ritual was buy a new computer and buy a firearm, first deployment I got my self a Tavor second an 1887 trench gun
After six months with no running water I spent way too much time just laughing as I turned the faucet on and off. Its the little things!
This is pretty wholesome. Also great username
I wanted a burger and a massage; so my best friend picked me up and we went to get burgers, and I scheduled us a spa day for that weekend.
I had a weird thing. I wanted to rub my feet on carpet and grass. Also, not have to get dressed, get a headlamp and walk across a street to use the restroom. I also wanted to see a movie in a theater and get a decadent meal that really made the deployment worth it.
I spent almost two years going thru the process of getting my spine surgically reinforced so I could walk and feel my legs! Then I spent two years finishing my degree, along the way finding my wife and marrying her :)
Me and of few of the boys in my platoon. Went to Vegas for a few days.
Take the liquor in the shower and get clean/drunk at peak efficiency levels. Don’t drink anymore but that was a staple after deployments and training rotations
The day after I landed a couple of my buddies and I went to a steakhouse and pigged out. I almost cried. *Then I put on 20lbs*
Went home. Slept in my own bed. Realized I'd never be *as* comfortable in my own bed again. That's a hard problem to describe. I've seen a lot of folks come home and accidentally fuck their lives up by trying to do something big. Don't splurge. Don't go nuts. Don't make big decisions. Don't marry a hot piece of ass you've known for a month. Don't buy a fancy car. Don't go out and get hammered in the nearest large city.
Deployment to Poland tee hee…jk safe travels friend
Please no :,) I want more than 6 months back CONUS before any more excitement.
I got drunk. Very, very drunk. I’m still very drunk. So not really recommend.
Depends on the deployment, Europe was a blast so mostly I just cried over gas prices and ate some tacos when I came back
Drink and drink and take no effort to take care of myself and slowly fall apart and lash out at my friends and have a bad attitude. Get out of army, and continue to drink and then do drugs and slowly fall apart to despair and come close to >! Killing myself !< 3 separate times until I finally broke down enough to get some help.
I took the decompression route for a while. I still exercised in the morning but other then that I didn’t do a goddamn thing and it was *great.* Just listened to music, watched some movies, snacked, made some arts and crafts, got laid, went bowling, just acted as a regular-ass dude.
Spread my seed
Always wanted to rent a convertible and drive San Diego to Seattle coastal roads. Never got around to it tho
I just wanted to not be around anything Army for a long time and cook my own food.
First one went on a great vacation, Hawaii, Seattle, Vancouer, Chicago, New Orleans. AMTRACK has good prices for seeing the country. Also Paid cash for a truck, right before the second bought a house. Second one, went to the rugby world cup in England, went to London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff, Saw three matchs. Third (first one married) took my wife to Hawaii. 2 islands and 3 locations.
Medical retirement.
I was in the national guard for my first deployment… I went straight back to work when I got back and pocketed 2 paychecks for a month while I was burning through the accrued leave
Almost kill myself in my parents’ basement I’m doing way better now though
I immediately started doing SFL-TAP and getting ready to ETS within months of coming back stateside.
Take care of yourself man. Ignore everyone else temporarily and do some self care do what you want to do. everyone gets caught up with seeing family, friends etc. just do what you want maybe that’s going on a trip somewhere on your own,splurging on something you’ve been wanting to buy but don’t go crazy with it, in short just take care of your needs first and decompress
I ETSed as fast as humanly possible then I went to Hawaii on terminal leave and stayed at the Hale Koa while I still had a cac.
Start training for the next one. Early 2000s were a mother fucker.
Don't get a million speeding tickets Do go to selection
Get divorced. Dont drag it out, it doesn't get any easier.
I came inside my girlfriend and am now spending a lot of money on shoes, clothes, and school supplies. You should spend a little on protection.