A first-person reflection by Hinesh Chauhan about experiencing an identity crisis after leaving long-term military service. He describes joining the army at 17, serving (on and off) for over 18 years, leaving in his mid-30s, and how losing his soldier identity coincided with and may have contributed to the dissolution of his marriage.
I had a major identity crisis, for lack of better words, which made me really dig into this to understand why and how does this happen. I joined the army on a part time basis when I was 17, and it turned into a full time thing and then part time thing, and it lasted over 18 years. When I left, I was in my mid-30s, and it rocked me because it was the only constant in my entire adult life. I defined myself as a soldier first, and when I was leaving, I didn't even realize how much it shook up my life, because that identity, my core, the essence of who I was, was rattled. And it took me years. It took me several years to figure that out, because it also coincided with the dissolving of my marriage that broke apart at the same time. How much did my identity play a part in that.
