When my husband and I first met, he made it very clear that he wanted to be in the service until he retired out. Five years later he changed his mind and wanted to get out of the military and pursue his dream of law enforcement. He wanted to give back to our local community and be an officer that could make a positive change.
One of the biggest appeals for my husband going towards law enforcement is the camaraderie that he misses from his years in the service. Since he has entered the academy I can already tell that he has changed his attitude from when he first got out of the military. I think he, like many veterans, struggled to find his place in the civilian world. I truly believe he has found his calling.
An unfortunate part of being an infantryman’s wife is that you are already fairly used to fear of your spouse possibly not coming home from a deployment or field exercise. Moving forward with him working everyday in potentially more danger is nerve wracking, but you may find many former military spouse friends whose spouses are now in law enforcement to talk to about what the life looks like.
One of the oddest transitions for us as a family was moving towards a career where we had to pay for his “school” to go through the academy. You can use the GI Bill to pay for the academy, but we chose as a family to continue to use the GI Bill towards him getting his Bachelor’s Degree and we decided to pay for the academy out of pocket. While it has been difficult we decided it would be worth it to have our budget be tighter for a short period of time so we could keep his GI Bill towards his degree.
While we still have a while to go before we feel more comfortable with his shift in careers, we are excited for where our lives may lead us.
Everything that has been occurring in the world has made my husband more determined to become a law enforcement officer. He wants to help bridge the gap between the community and officers. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t even more nervous for him to go into law enforcement now, but I am working hard to trust his training.
