Bah, you guys are spoiled! Back when I deployed on subs, we would have been thankful for any Internet access, filtered or not! We just kinda disappeared for 6 months and then popped up at some port in Europe
Seriously though, excellent article. Although I started gaming online after I got out of the Navy back in '98 (10 years on attack boats), several of my guildmates in various games have been active duty members who had their gaming "careers" put on hold during deployments. There was never any question of welcoming them back with open arms, but the points you make about being behind in either character power or game knowledge are right on the mark.
And a mustang is never really on the dark side.. so you're all right in my book Melchizedek
The Drunken Dwarf
Former EM1(SS)