Just this morning I found the military records of my great-grandfather. The first thing I noticed among them are an unusual number of honorable discharge papers.
Dates of Service | Reason for Discharge
----------------------------------------------------------
7 Jul 1911 - 6 Jul 1914 | Expiration of term of service
29 Jul 1914 - 21 Jun 1920 | Sec 30 Act of Congress Approved June 4, 1920
4 Aug 1920 - 3 Aug 1923 | Expiration term of service
4 Aug 1923 - 20 Sep 1924 | purchase per section III. for 18, AR. 615-360
1 Oct 1924 - 30 Sep 1927 | Expiration of service
1 Oct 1927 - 30 Sep 1930 | Expiration of service
1 Oct 1930 - 30 Sep 1933 | Expiration of service
1 Oct 1933 - 30 Sep 1936 | Expiration of service
1 Oct 1936 - 30 Sep 1939 | Expiration of service
- 31 Dec 1942 | Retirement*
I was previously under the impression that it was abnormal to re-enter the military after being discharged, so it shocked me to see so many discharge papers. However, this makes it seem normal to be discharged after each assignment.
Why go through the formalities of discharging and re-enlisting? Why not just have some vacation time between terms of service? Was my great-grandfather fickle? Or was this normal in the early 1900s?
* Technically, retirement is not a form of discharge