5 Years Gone By Quick (08-10)

Today marks my fifth anniversary with my police agency and it does not feel like five years have gone by since my hiring date.  I’ve seen alot in five years and some of it wasn’t on this country’s soil.  Alot can happen in five years and although I might not remember everything I did in five years as a police officer I do remember the highlights and the lowlights. 

I’ve won several awards and certificates throughout those five years, but have seen officers come and go like this job is one big revolving door.  My academy class graduated in 2003 and everyone is still employed there including myself except for maybe two or three others.  One female recruit that went through was failed out of FTO and is now working for NIH.  One asian recruit, male, failed firearms training, but was allowed to come back and graduate.  He didn’t make it through FTO training either and is now wherever he is.  Once guy had to leave the academy and go back to Pennsylvania where he originally came from.  Me, well I guess you can say I belong to two graduating classes in two years.

I left the police academy in 2003 one week before I was to graduate and was shipped out to Afghanistan to fight a war.  I returned back in nine months to only figure out that another academy class was going through at that time.  I had the option of staying out for at least a year and then go back to the academy to make up lost time only or rest for two weeks and come back and finish with the current academy class.  I chosed to finish with the current academy class and graduated with great applause from other officers who attended the ceremony.  During FTO I was given extra hours to finish the program due to me having to remember things and incorporate what I’ve learned previously. 

To everyone’s surprise I finished on time and one of the first one’s off FTO regardless of my difficutly to adapt to civilian life.  During my first year or two I was nicked named the “Eye of the Storm” for reasons of me being able to find trouble amongst the peace and quite of the city and campus.  It always seemed to happen to me to find things at odd times and come across the most difficult situations you could face as a first years officer.  I’ve seen people die in front of me from suicide jumps from my very first service call on FTO being a B&E at a house in the downtown area.  I remember saying to myself something like my first call I’m drawing my weapon to search a house, and I know this will be the beginning of things to come.  I can say proudly that I have not shot anyone up to this point, but still long ways to go in my career.

I’ve had car chases and caught some of them and even had to rough up a few suspects here and there.  I’ve been in numerous fights that my current squad members now usually call me if someone wants to fight or wants to act rowdy.  Some officers I work well with some I don’t, but I know we all have a common goal and that is to get home with our families in one piece.  I’ve heard numerous rumors from high heaven to the lower gates of hell and still alot of times those rumors are just that, rumors. 

Within those five years I’ve met the girl of my dreams and she soon became the wife of my household and the love of my life.  I don’t regret doing what I did to get her and spoiling her now everyday is something I enjoy doing and that brings me joy.  I thank God I haven’t suffered nightmares or war dreams as much as some or most soldiers would suffer from.  I still get them now and then, but they are so far and few between that I can’t remember most of the time the last one I had.  I suppose I can start writing them down to see if a pattern emerges or not.  Since being back in the U.S. since 2004 I can probably say I’ve been sick once or none at all.  I’ve been around folks with the flu and pnuemonia and it never affected my body one bit except a runny nose.  It would go around twice in the family before it would even disappear for good.  I’m enjoying that part of my immune system as it may last for the rest of my life or only for a short while longer.  I got sick twice overseas in Afghanistan and one illness kept me up for 8 hours in agony and frustrations.  I got sick the first time eating the local food with a few U.S. soldiers and couldn’t move literally for three days unless I wanted to throw up each time I moved.  The second time I was diagnosed with an upper respiratory virus, which basically gave me difficulty breathing in.  Took about a week for that to go away with an inhaler and other medications.

I have to say that I am a different person from the time of the Pre-Afghanistan Tour through it all and to the Post-Afghanistan Tour.  To be quite honest if I didn’t go overseas I have no clue where I would be in my life right now and what kind of person I would be.  I’m glad for the experience even though at that time I was scared and not enjoying myself sort of speak.  Now, my wifey and I have found a church for us to go worship in every Sunday and enjoy the people very much so.

It is a different world over there and people are not getting the full story on what is going on.  News don’t touch close to half of what is going on over there and will only tell you what they are allowed to dissiminate to the public.  So my five years in law enforcement have pretty much derived from my military tour that started in 2003.  Even though I spent eight years as a Military Policeman I was nothing like I am now personality wise.  I wouldn’t say I was a bad person, but certain things I say or do now I probably would be too scared to do back then. 

So as I step into my fifth year in law enforcement as a civilian police officer I will pray and hope that God will give me another five years in police work and more beyond that.  I look back and I can’t think of anything that I would regret happening.  That my friends right there is a serious accomplishment within itself.