Thanks for the great back story. So you started off in the Army and switched to the Navy. That's probably not a usual thing, but interesting that you did it. Does sound like your 20 years in the Navy was rewarding for you. Any special reason why you decided not to go 30 years for retirement? You get 50% of your highest 3 years base pay, right? Retiring at 30 years would get you 75% of your highest average 3 years base pay.So altogether I served 21.5 years. I was in the Army before the Navy for the 1.5 and you are VERY welcome. As far as being a SAMI it happened like this. I was on sea duty and I ran the Armory so I was responsible for all the weapons, Force Protection Gear, Nigh Vision, RSL's, Magazines, Ammo, Gun Mounts, etc etc. They for whatever reason sent another E6 to SAMI school. Now we were homeported in Ingleside, Texas and the small arms instructor school was in San Diego. For one of our inspections we needed to have this NEC and needed to be able to train our crew. So this other E6...was grossly overweight and not the brightest tool in the shed. When I reported to the crew he had just been busted down to an E5 for falling asleep on watch in the Captain's chair on the bridge...by the Captain. Sitting in the Captain's chair is a huge NO NO. Literally all the departments were run by an E6 and this guy and one other guy didn't run shit. Maybe that is why they sent him, dumb reason. So I get a call from him a few weeks later and he tells me he just failed out of school. So on the average it's a 33% failure rate. I told him he needed to call Chief and let him know. The CO of the ship managed to get him into the next class 2 weeks later. He calls me about that day and tells me he failed out of the entry test and that was it. I said, call Chief. Kid you not, 5 minutes later the Commanding Officer is screaming my name throughout the ship. He said pack your shit you're headed to California and do not Fu*king come back unless you have that Fu78ing NEC! So I fly to Vegas the hub and my plane left without me, swear I was legit. I had to get a rental car and drive the rest of the way. I drive throughout the night, get there just in time to shave and change into my uniform. Despite being absolutely exhausted I made 100 on the entry test, basic shit. I passed every test after that for multiple weapon systems and passed all the range time with ease. But I sure watched others fail out. My time in the Army and running the Armory helped me a good bit no doubt. The only thing they ever said to me was to pull my handgun from the Isosceles and not the Weaver before I started my way through the course of fire. So that school covered the M9 Berretta, M500 Mossberg, M14, M16. It also covered some pilot handgun that was pretty much only made for right handed people. I literally had to cant the weapon sideways to remove the safety with the opposite hand. I didn't go through the school but I also taught Crew Served Weapons to my crew. Our ship had twin .50's, M19 Grenade launchers and M240B machine guns. Now the M240 is an amazing weapon, love it and maintenance was cake compared to a .50. So yup...maybe trained a couple hundred people after that before I retired. The best man at my wedding was also the non lethal weapons instructor of the ship and worked just under me in the Armory. He made this gun happen for me at my retirement. Stellar Guy.