With all that is going on with Russia right now, I wondered if the Good Chaplain could be recalled to active duty if needed. Guess what? The answer is yes.
“Our retirement pay is really a retainer,” the Good Chaplain says. And it is.
If your spouse is retired, there is a line on their DD214 form that says they may be recalled to active duty when necessary. We know it happened once.
In 1991, the Good Chaplain was re-commissioned from the Chaplain Candidate program into the Air Force Reserves. At the time, we lived in a town without a military installation nearby. The first Gulf War was happening, and the local National Guard unit was activated. Two retired colonels, probably in their 70s, were called upon to man the armory. One of them commissioned the Good Chaplain.
It can happen, but I pray it doesn’t. The issues between Russia and Ukraine are ugly. In my opinion, I fear Vladimir Putin is going to try to put the USSR back together and maybe go further into Europe. It reminds me so much of what I have read about Hitler and World War II. I’m scared.
I’m scared for the Ukrainians. I’m afraid for Eastern Europe, and I’m scared we might end up in another war. Nobody wants that. But by protecting the borders between Ukraine and Poland, Romania, and the rest of our NATO allies, maybe we can avoid a long, protracted war and let Russia know that can’t just grab any land they want. That’s my national pride coming out.
Please just pray with me that the powers on both sides can resolve this issue peacefully with no loss of life. And please pray for those troops, mainly from Ft. Bragg, who are deployed to the region.
Sorry, this is so gloomy today, but it is definitely on my mind. I don’t want the Good Chaplain to come out of retirement. Russia is messing with my peaceful way of life..
Until next time,
Vicki
Victoria Terrinoni is the author of “Where You Go, I Will Go: Lessons From a Military Spouse,” available here or by clicking the Shop tab above. Watch for her new book on the Good Chaplain’s Africa deployment coming soon!