Daniel update

I almost forgot to update you on the Daniel and military deal. I found out through many, many hours of online research ( I'm proud of my research reputation:)) that he would not be able to go through the paperwork road to go back to the Navy. We looked into the change of discharge angle, but, you have to prove that there was a procedural error before they will overturn the discharge. Then I heard about the Clemency program, where you tell the military courts that you have reformed and get a administrative discharge instead of a punitive one. Alas, I found out that you have to be less than 3 years past the discharge to go that route, and Daniel has been out 8.

So, I finally get a honest-to-god Navy recruiter on the horn. He proceeds to tell me there is a possible way for Daniel to go back into the Navy: by joining the National Guard. Apparently, there is a 1 year program the National Guard offers where one goes in for a year's duty, gets discharged honorably, which cancels out the bad conduct discharge, and then the Navy would take him back no questions asked. What about him being 35 when he gets ready to go back to the Navy? No problem, the recruiter says. So I leave a message with the National Guard recruiter in Hazard to call me back with the details.

A very nice guy returned my calls. He confirmed that yes, Daniel would be enlisted for 1 year in the National Guard, and would not have to go to boot camp OR be deployed overseas. Also, there is a NG unit being formed in Pikeville, a construction unit, where Daniel would only be working a bulldozer one weekend a month and 2 weeks this summer. The only two problems I could foresee is that; one, the next day for the entry physical is May 19 (ROCKERS!!!), and two, him passing the physical. Please, he doesn't weigh 400 lbs ( you'd swear it by listening to him talk about it lol), but he is a little out of shape.

This is all up to Daniel now. He needs to think deeply about whether hes willing (hes more than able) to do what it takes to get back into the Navy. I love him more than life itself, and will support him in whatever he wants to do.