I just joined the forum a few days ago. I was 262 pounds and 65 years old when I decided to get into shape and start riding three years ago. I'm now 206 pounds and do a Saturday group ride of 37 miles at 18 mph (in Florida where the land is flat). I'm looking for a new bike as well. Seems like I'm always looking for a new bike, but I promised my wife (again) that this will be the last one. Right now I'm looking at a Rodriguez Competition Series 2 (
http://www.rodbikes.com/). I'm 6'4" and have a very limited selection (Trek, Specialized and custom) of 64cm bikes.
Thanks for your service. I was in submarines back in the 1960's. I've already figured out that you are not in submarines since I know of none currently in Afghanistan.
I try to ride 15 to 20 miles every morning on a local bike trail. Hope you find a similar place when you return. I still work a full time job and started by forcing myself to ride daily. Now I force myself to return to work daily as I can't wait for dawn every morning to start my morning ride.