"Fair Winds"
Author: Haruo Chikamori
E-mail: hhchikamori
Rating: T
Classification: Meg/Animal
Spoilers:
Summary: After forty years in the Navy, Animal decides that all good things must come to an end.
DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Meg Austin, Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts, Harriet Sims-Roberts et al. belong (in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. Animal and all OC characters are the property of Heather and Hugo Chikamori. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended.
Author's Note: The mandatory age for retirement from military service is 62 years of age, with senior officer approval (JCS) they can extend to 65. Now the usual term of service that most military officers do is a thirty year stretch and out at 52 years of age. But an officer in the Navy with prospects of promotion can be retained with higher approval coming from above. Of course, at any time, any retired serviceman can be recalled to active duty if circumstances become necessary.
The Pentagon, Washington DC., June 29, 2020. Chief of Naval Operations' office
"Are you sure you're OK with this decision of yours?" Admiral Joanna Pruette, the first female Chief of Naval Operations smiled at the well-decorated admiral standing before her with a folder now containing a form; a DD-214. "After all, if you want to continue on…I'd be more than happy to keep you on. I'll throw the form into the shredder and make-believe that I didn't see it." She grinned at Admiral (four-stars) Toshio "Animal" Nakamura who laughed jovially.
"At 62 years, Joanna. I think it's time to let some fresh blood come up through the ranks. My daughter's in high-school, Grade 10 and I want to be home to watch her graduate. I was lucky to be able to watch my son's graduation because the JCS didn't hustle me off to some godforsaken part of the globe." Animal said as he smiled a smile that spoke I'm done.
Gazing upon his ribbon rack, ADM Joanna Pruett grinned, "Well, it's been quite a career." She indicated the sky-blue ribbon with the five stars arranged in an M-shape. Animal raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, every time the weather changes my shoulder reminds me of that fact." Animal responded dryly. "Luckily Meg, my darling wife, keeps the medicine cabinet stocked with ibuprofen."
"How is she?" the CNO asked. "It's been a while since RADM Nakamura was last here at the Pentagon for a meeting."
"Vice-Admiral Rabb keeps her busy with the Judge Advocate General office. As DJAG, she's usually working 15 hour days which means that for the past two years, our kids were latchkey kids before Jamie graduated and went to college. Other than that; life is going great. I'll have time to relax, maybe sleep in or go practice my photography." Animal said as he looked over at Joanna. "40 years, I've been serving. Seen as much as I want to see and it's definitely time."
"Well, Tosh, I'll make sure I remove the card from the rolodex. Otherwise I'll get this unreasonable desire to reactivate you to active duty and make you serve till you're eighty." Joanna laughed.
Animal gave her a mock-horror-struck look. "Heaven forbid." He exclaimed.
"I'm just kidding. You enjoy your retirement. But don't forget to stay in contact."
"Most definitely. Admiral."
"Admiral." Snapping to attention, Admiral Joanna Pruett, Chief of Naval Operations regardless of the area that they were in, rendered a salute. Animal returned it. "Good luck, Admiral…" Admiral Pruett stated formally. "Fair Winds and Following Seas."
As Animal walked out of the CNO's office and to the Naval Bureau of Personnel for his retirement pay disbursement, he remembered the talk that he and Meg had about the fact that he wanted to retire at forty years of service.
"Meg, sweetheart." Animal had said about six months earlier.
"What is it, darling." Meg had replied, her eyes still in a folder of a case that she was reviewing for a lawyer in the JAG office to see if everything was above board – one of her duties as a DJAG. She turned to look at him when he softly exhaled, the sound's nearness startling her.
"You know, I'm almost up against the ceiling." He said quietly as he kneeled beside her chair to look up at her. Meg's look at him was a curious one. "I'm almost at the forty mark. And that's because the CNO wanted me to serve till I was sixty-two years of age. I'll be there in a half year so I have start making preps to figure out what I'm going to do when I'm out."
Meg knew that her husband was approaching the end of his military service. Mandatory retirement age was sixty-two unless the Joint Chiefs requested that he serve longer, but she also knew of his distress at missing a lot of their children's activities and important events during the course of his career. The fact that he had been forty-one, when their first child was born and forty-seven when the second was born, augmented the fact that he felt as though he had let their children down by not being with them for many of the events of their life. As he had been appointed an interim commander of TF-833 or United States Fleet Forces Command, then directly dragooned to US Pacific Fleet Command then to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he'd had a whirlwind of a latter half of a career the past fifteen years. "Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Meg reached out a hand to caress her husband's face. It was worn and creased with worry lines and his hair had started turning salt and pepper. He didn't look old to her, he looked distinguished. Asians were lucky. They didn't age very much and he still had a boyish face albeit with a few more age-lines. "Whatever you decide to do, my love, will be fine with me. I'm going to try for thirty-five years. Besides…the pension at 30 years plus will be 75% and between the two of us…we'll be making 75% of what we both made on active duty."
"I've missed too many events of Jamie's while on duty with the Navy. I don't want to miss very many of Katharine's. And I don't want to miss her graduation like I almost did with Jamie's." His expression was earnest as Meg leaned in to give him a kiss.
"Don't think yourself a bad father. It was duty that had to be done." Meg said as she gathered her husband's hands in her own. "I'm sure Jamie understood why."
"Well, I still haven't forgiven myself for getting into his graduation ceremony five minutes prior to when he was supposed to go up on stage to receive his diploma." Animal said dourly.
Katharine was in the kitchen washing up a dish that she had used for some ice-cream. She came out and said to Animal. "Dad. Mom's right. We love you. If you think you've put in enough time in the military and are planning on leaving the Navy, we support you." She came over to put her arms around her dad in a show of affection. "Don't worry about finances…I'll just bug Mom for allowance money." Meg gave her a look of horror and elbowed Animal when he snickered. Animal winced.
Standing up, Meg nestled into his arms in an embrace. "Sweetheart, whatever you decide, I will support you 100%. We are fine as far as finances go. Our house is paid for, we don't have many financial commitments, except for the car we bought almost three years ago and that's about at the last three or four payments. Have you thought about what you plan to do when you're retired, honey?"
"Haunt the camera shop…" Animal grinned. "And…" he adopted a quizzical look. "…hmmm…nope…haven't thought much beyond that."
Running her lips across his, Meg smirked, her eyes twinkling. "You might want to think about that…since I'll be at work and won't be there to take care of your boredom."
Animal grinned at the memory as he walked into the BuPERS office to file out a retirement disbursement with 75% benefits, filled out an application for a spousal dependent card as Animal was now technically a dependent of a serving officer; that being Meg. Making sure that all matters were checked off regarding PERS-835, the BuPERS disbursing officer signed the forms as the second officer to sign off, the first being the Chief of Naval Operations. "Congratulations, sir. You are officially separated and retired."
"Thank you. Commander." Animal grinned. "I believe my wife faxed over the signed DD Form 1172-2 so that I can get my spousal identification card. I believe my military ID will no longer work at any military installation."
"That's a big affirmative, sir. Your wife did fax over the DD Form 1172-2 and DD Form 1173 last week and phoned to ask us this morning that your card be expedited so that you can pick her up from work this afternoon."
"Why, thank you, Commander for notifying me of that. Did she mention the reason why?"
"She evidently had a motor vehicle breakdown around 400 block E Broad Street and she had to walk the rest of the way into work. The tow company towed the car to the shop and it looks like she'll be rideless." The commander stated.
"Damn…" Animal said.
"Your interim card will be the one with your military ID photo on it for expediency sake, you should receive your actual card in about two weeks - that special card is for Medal of Honor recipients only as your ribbon on your uniform and your military personnel file indicates; an issued DOD identification card, as are their family members, for recipients who are not on active duty and military retirees. It authorizes them military commissary, Post Exchange, and theatre privileges. All of the services, consistent with DOD policy, authorize use of morale, welfare, and recreation activities, including honorary club membership without dues. You are aware that as a Medal of Honor recipient, you are eligible for uniform privileges which allow recipients to wear their uniforms at any time or place they choose, unlike other military personnel or retirees. Your special MOH Travel and Identification Card signed by the Secretary of the Navy is still in effect, however as you are now retired and not an active or reserve member of the United States Military you may not use the ID card as a way of ensuring utilization of space-available military air transportation. Do you understand those requirements?" the commander at BuPERS indicated as he walked Animal through the list of requirements and benefits. "We are also signing you up for TRICARE…and establishing dependent care for your children. Of course your wife still has active-duty benefits."
"Absolutely, Commander."
"The other benefit, sir, to your Medal of Honor is a $1,259/mo pension."
Considering that $1,259.00 a month was non-taxable, that was a convenient addition. The fact that their combined income was being taxed at 33% hit the pocketbook and any pension that was non-taxable was a bonus.
Pocketing his last pay as he left BuPERS; and stopping by the Starbucks at Crystal City, he grabbed a mocha frappuchino with two shots of amaretto; thanking the long-time serving barista who recognized the admiral from all his caffeine runs and grinned at him. "Happy retirement, Admiral." Getting to the bookstore was yet another pain in the posterior…further down the Jefferson Davis Hwy. He had thought about dropping by the bookstore to pick up the latest aircraft and photography magazines. In the end he opted to drop the aircraft magazine back on the shelf and pick up the photography one. When he was done at Barnes & Noble near Jefferson Davis Hwy, he headed for the car, pulled out of the parking lot and headed north on the Jefferson Davis Hwy until he got to Custis Memorial Parkway. A left turn onto North Washington Street south towards Falls Church. The entire trip was about thirty two minutes before he was able to pull in beside the gate-guard shack at JAG Headquarters.
JAG HQ, Falls Church, VA
As he pulled in he stopped by the gate-guard, who was a new face, who just about nearly had his eyeballs popping out of his head to see the ribbon on Animal's chest and was even more started to see the four-star admiral pull out his ID card as a spouse. "Sergeant. I just put in my DD-214. Son, I'm out…so you don't have to salute me or anything."
"No, sir. But the Medal of Honor, sir. I'm saluting you because of your Medal, sir. Thank you, sir!"
He found a parking spot in the visitor's parking area and walked over to the front door; snapping off several return salutes as Navy JAG legalmen, both male and female, looked startled at his rack and snapped off salutes. It was like running a gauntlet of salutes to the front door.
From the Judge Advocate General's office; Vice-Admiral Harmon Rabb Jr. grinned and snickered as he muttered to himself. "I'm glad that I mentioned that Admiral Nakamura was dropping by to pick the DJAG up. That's quite a show out there." He said innocently, turning to the person beside him rather informally and grinned that famous Harmon Rabb grin of his.
Meg laughed. "You are so bad, Harm."
"You know, Meg, I've put in my request for separation and retirement from the Navy. I've put my thirty in and I've got my full 75% retirement pay coming. Senate hearings and confirmation have been dealt with and it's official; Meg, you get my chair when I leave." Harm returned to his desk.
"Harm, I thought you were going for four-stars."
"Naw…three's good enough for me. I don't think I want to stay in till I'm 62." He sat down and motioned to Meg to grab a seat. "I can run a legal office or work for a defense contractor in their legal department. I'm not sure which I'm going to do yet, but the feelers are out there."
"My husband says he plans to haunt the camera stores." Meg laughed. "I told him that he'd better figure out something to while away his time as I'm not going to be around to take care of his wants and needs since I'm going to be at work most of the time…as JAG"
Harm raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Too much information, Meg." He grinned a ribald grin.
Meg shook her head laughing and put her hands over her face. "I didn't mean it like that, Harm." She said sarcastically through her fingers as she managed to stop laughing long enough to bring her hands back down from her face. Their friendship had grown throughout the years cultivated by their work and the history of naval aviator camaraderie between her husband and Harm. "So…" she said with a suggestive wink of her own, "how about you and Mac?"
"That's part of the reason why. Mac and I want to spend a lot more time together. She became a Brigadier General in Logistics Command." Meg remembered the promotion ceremony for Brigadier General Mackenzie-Rabb. "However she's seriously thinking of retiring too; Mattie just received her gold oak leaves and is a department head in VFA-41 which just re-equipped with the F-35B Lightning II. Their first tour with the new aircraft. Animal would be impressed." Harm said; the pride in his voice audible to Meg.
"He is." Meg said, knowing just how much Mattie meant to both families. Animal was watching Mattie's career with great interest as she was now in the same squadron as Animal spent most of his career. "If you remember, he was the one who suggested test pilot school."
"And considering what happened to Luke," hearkening back to their days investigating and the case in which AFTERN had flipped Luke's F-14 Tomcat over and put him into the ground. "I was very leery about that, but she was an instrumental part of that program." Harm remembered.
"Absolutely. Tosh was quite impressed that the program, having been slow up to the point where Mattie joined the test pilot crew, just lit afterburners when she came on. She ate up the syllabus at test pilot school so she came in and breezed through the testing phases. Whatever slowdowns that happened after that were all technical related and Mattie hammered the engineers to get those problems solved." Meg stated.
"Well, that's good to hear…" Harm grinned as that wasn't something that he knew…since LCDR Mattie Grace-Rabb, USN, callsign Sparky, namely for her red-hair and her temper, rarely ever intimated that the higher-ups thought highly of her capabilities.
A knock on the door prompted Harm to call out. "Come in!" And Animal poked his head in.
"Hi." He grinned.
"Ah…there's your husband." Harm got up and stood at attention as the four-star admiral walked in.
"At ease, Rabb. I'm now out. You're the ranking active officer here." Animal said, then turned to his wife. "The paper work is all in as of now; I'm retired with my ruptured duck."
"You may be retired, sir, but your Medal still deserves the salute." Harm grinned. "So, when is your retirement ceremony? I just put my request in for terminal leave as well. Your wife's getting the JAG's chair." Animal looked over at Meg with a questioning look.
"Haven't thought that far along yet, but I figure that it'll be soon. OPNAVINST 1710.7 should deal with that. Other than that, I've got absolutely no clue."
"So what do you plan to do now?" Harm asked his old RAG instructor.
"Grab a camera and go out to do some photography. I think I hear the nature parks calling me." He put a hand to an ear and grinned. "Maybe go see a few airshows. I dunno. But the freedom to do whatever is quite appealing. Katharine's just about grown and Meg and I'll be empty-nesters soon." Animal gave Meg a loving look which she returned.
"Mac's now based out of Georgia – MARCORLOGCOM and she's just got her Brigadier General's but she's thinking about packing it in this year too. She's got 31 years in and she's pretty much decided that's it for her. And I support her move. We plan to do some sightseeing across the United States once we're out. I hear Bud just got tapped for his Rear Admiral lower half two years ago. With that misstep at 0-4, we were wondering if he was promoted as a favor to Admiral Chegwidden, but evidently he's certainly come a long way." Harm indicated.
"Georgia?" Meg asked. "How long have you been apart for?"
"Several years. Meg. We go see each other on weekends and leaves and holidays." Harm said wryly. "Come to think of it. All these years apart, even when married will ironically have made our marriage stronger. We talk and hash things out rather than let things fester. But yeah, it makes for good solid communication. And the fact that once we retire, we'll be together. Just us and an RV."
"You make that sound so good that I think we should join you." Animal snickered. "Meg's got a few more years in, I think, isn't that right, hon?" he queried.
"Well…dear…" she said, giving her husband a loving smirk. "I'm not ready just yet to retire. Talk to me in a couple of years." Harm and Animal both laughed.
There was a subtle knock on the door. Harm barked. "Enter!"
"Sir. I understand the admirals are talking, however, I was wondering if I might have a moment of your time, sir." The dulcet alto voice asked and a familiar face with cheerily merry brown eyes peered around the corner of the door.
"Come on in, Coates." Harm grinned. "Long time, no see. My god, it's almost been 11 years since I saw you last."
"Thank you, sir." The woman walked in and everyone's jaws dropped open in surprise. All the admirals were wearing summer dress and Coates was dressed likewise…but she was dressed in officer garb as well and her shoulders were bearing the shoulder-boards of a Lieutenant Commander (medical corps).
"Lieutenant Commander…Coates?" Harm's jaw was still open.
"Yes, sir." Coates grinned merrily. "But it won't be Coates for much longer, if Jason has anything to say about it, sir. I just wanted to pass you your invitation as well as yours, ma'am." She said to Meg and then turned to Animal and gave him a salute and held it. Animal had no choice but to hoist himself out of his chair and salute her too. "Thank you, sir." She grinned cheekily. "I've always wanted to salute a Medal of Honor, recipient. Now I can cross that off my bucket list."
Animal shook his head wryly. "Jen…" he said softly. "When I put down my signature to help sponsor you into STA-21, I never knew that you'd make such a terrific officer." He reached out his hand to shake Jen's. "Congratulations on your lieutenant commanders promotion. Wasn't able to cross tracks with you to tell you congratulations before and how is Commander Tiner?"
"Terrific, sir; but I'm sure that VADM Rabb here can tell you more about his career now that Commander Tiner is back at JAG Headquarters."
Lieutenant Commander Jen Coates excused herself and left the room, leaving all of them speechless.
"She's made it quite far, hasn't she? The Seaman to Admiral program is definitely working." Animal commented as he looked at the closed door. Peering at the invitation in Meg's hands, they saw
You and a Guest have just been cordially invited
To the Joining in Holy Matrimony
Of
Commander Jason Tiner, USN JAG
And
Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Coates, USN Medical Corps (Psychiatry)
At The Wedding Chapel, Magnolia House Inn
1500 HRS; August 26, 2020
Harm had just opened his and was perusing it too; his eyes growing round in shock. "Well, that's officially it, we're the old generation." He muttered to himself.
"Yep." Meg replied. "It just doesn't feel like it was that long ago when we were lieutenants."
"Speak for yourself, dear." Animal said "There are some days when my body tells me that it ain't gonna do a thing…my old creaking bones."
"Well…anyways, Harm." Meg said. "I guess I have to be taking former Admiral Grumpy home." She grinned at Harm who chuckled. "This ol' ex Navy man tends to whine when he's not fed promptly."
Animal looked offended and exclaimed "Heyyy!" Harm burst out laughing.
(to be continued).