U.S. Navy, 1969 to
1990.
The government has been sending me a thank you card the first of every month for 27 years as of this past September. That's thanks enough, but I do appreciate the thought.
The Navy was good to me. Taught me a trade (Electronics) provided a living for me and my family, took me to interesting places (Philippines, Japan, Korea, Iceland and a side-trip through Italy and Spain), met a lot of interesting people (and a few jerks...) and had a WHOLE lot of fun.
That retirement check let me pick and choose jobs for the next 20+ years. I could take a job that interested me, not one I had to have for the money. Also let me wave bye-bye to a job on a couple of occasions without fretting too much about finding another one.
Unlike some folks I know tho, when they piped me over the side at my retirement ceremony, I never looked back. That part of my life was a long time ago in a different world.