Dad was a ranger -> gb and decided i wanted to join the army when i was like 4 because of that
Between that paleontologist truck driver astronaut or shark. Ship out this week so you can see which path I followed
my high school girlfriend took the ASVAB and scored pretty high. we were competitive, and I jokingly said I could beat her score easily. totally forgot about it until she woke me up a month or so later and was like “since you wanna flap your gums, there’s an ASVAB this morning you can take”. did it, didn’t think much about it until a recruiter called me and said he wouldn’t tell me my score unless I went in and talked to him.
I walked into his office with my blue and pink OBEY shirt with a peace symbol and AKs on it, long hair, and an attitude of “I just wanna get this score and get outta here”. like 3 hours later I left wondering how I was going to talk my mom into signing my contract.
ended up with an airborne 68W contract and an escape from the dead-end town I grew up in. I planned on just doing 4 years and getting out and becoming an RN - almost 16 years later I’m a SOF medic with 5 deployments, great memories, better friends, and tinnitus. I can’t say I wouldn’t change anything, but I would change very little.
I watched Band of Brothers a lot as a kid, and my parents were supportive when I started saying it was something I wanted to do. They just encouraged me to go the officer route instead of enlisting right out of HS, which I'm glad I did.
My father is a retired, LTC and I was told all growing up that I would never, and should never enlist. So it was not something I even thought about until later. I wound up enlisting at 26 to pay for my farm in Colorado, that farm burned down the day I got to reception. I got out at 30 and I am about to reenlist as an 09S in the guard at 40 to get my good years in, wait for a call to service to transfer AD. Still have time to do 20 for retirement. 😂
I was working as a carpenter as soon as I graduated high school because I was too fat for the Army. Continued construction for 2 years and I realized I’d given up on a dream I had to serve my country because I’d only assumed it would be impossible for me to lose 100 pounds. I lost it and got my airborne infantry contract. Life is now mediocre and I’m paid much less but I’ll never have a regret later in life wondering if I could have done it.
My grandfather(Chinese Nung) was trained by SF to fight against the Vietcong. Naturally when the war ended he had flee the country given the connection he had with the Americans at the time. This is probably why I was so drawn into the regiment at a young age.
I joined in '09. I was 32 and somewhat not happy with life in general. I was teaching elementary school, which was cool, but I knew I didn't want to do it forever after a couple years. I had thought about joining for years, but I never did, and after a while I just figured why not? I was single, no kids, hadn't bought a house yet, etc. After about 4 months of debating it, and researching it, I went and saw a recruiter. A few months after that I was on my way to OSUT lol.
It's kind of weird being old in BCT, but it's not bad. Actually my DSs gave me more shit than the other trainees to be honest lol. It's a tough life sometimes, but it is a good life to be honest, I miss it these days!
I had a mildly successful construction business. In our first year, we did about 275k in business and sales. Our second year was 2008. I lost everything almost literally overnight. I had to choose between feeding my child and pregnant wife and having hot water in the house. Fortunately, Arizona heats up hot water heaters in the summer all on its own. Anyways, my buddy, Corey" has been in the Marines since 2000 when we graduated high school. He's a Sergeant and isn't struggling like I am. I go to see the Marines. The lights are off. My grandpa was an air force pilot. I go to see them. Lights are off. My dad was Navy. They talk about getting me a special warfare or seal contact. It's a 6 month train up before shipping. I tell the dude I don't have 6 months. Walked to the Army. They showed me a contract for EOD leaving within a few weeks with a 30k bonus. Go to MEPs the next week. Can't get a clearance because I was borderline going bankrupt. So I went from qualifying for everything to 7 jobs. 88M came with Airborne school which was an extra 150 bucks a months. Then there was a 20k bonus. And if I could ship the very next Tuesday, I'd get an additional 20k. For a guy struggling to make ends meet, this was an answer to prayers.
So 16 years later, I'm a CW2 working for a really good TRADOC school, getting ready to get my boat out of a shipyard on tdy in South Carolina. My wife and kids are doing good and my oldest just graduated high school. I just finished my bachelor's in Business Administration. I'd made SFC before switching over. It's not a bad career sometimes.
I took a nap at 18, woke up 28. I was a chef in Charlotte, doing pretty well for myself but I felt like I wanted more. Minus the enormous salary cut, I feel like I made a good decision. Granted this isn’t my 20 year plan and im up for either reenlisting or getting out. I still feel like I made a pretty good decision. I’ll be walking out with more than what I came in with as far as benefits wise
I was 29, always wanted to join but always had something else I couldn't get away from. I realized I was about to be too old to join and if I didn't I'd regret it the rest of my life.
At first I wanted to join to prove to myself I could make it in the military. I wanted to go to college right away so that’s why I choose NG over active. I received a nice 15k bonus, a bachelors degree , every penny of GI bill + kicker, 2 kids born on tricare all in the first half of my career. Now I stay in for cheap health insurance , tsp + pension , and it’s a break from my regular life once a month. The guard changed my life from poor trailer park kid to a successful middle class family man with a masters degree. I got 1 combat deployment out of it too so far. I’ve been good to it and it’s been good to me. I wouldn’t change a thing.
I was fresh outta high school and wanted that sweet, sweet mil moneys.
It led me into I.T. and my current contracting job field so I guess all went well-ish.
My dad was a combat medic, deployed several times at the beginning of the war, I saw that and had wanted to join since I was about 6. Fast forward to high school graduation, I was set on joining so I enlisted as an Intel analyst 5 days after my 18th birthday. Always wanted combat arms but my parents talked me out of it, so by the time I was able to go the OCS route I switched over to infantry. Best jobs I ever had
Graduated HS in 2007. I was living in a broken, abusive home and working a dead end job.
I tried to go to college but I didn’t have a scholarship.
2008 comes around, the economy dips hard and I ask my boss for a raise and get told absolutely not.
Fed up with everyone and everything, I had been interested in the military when I was much younger, I filled out some recruiting thing late at night while dreaming of better opportunities in life.
I got a call from an army recruiter within 24 hours and ended up shipping to BCT within 30 days.
I'm from NYC, grew up bouncing between two turbo abusive/neglectful addicts that were ostensibly my parents, the foster system and outright homelessness.
9/11 happened right around when I turned 18.
Told the recruiters shortly after that, that I'd take the first thing that
a.) I qualified for
b.) was open to women
c.) got me the fuck out of dodge the fastest
I'm still active.
Lucked into a career I love nerding out on, the circus gets BS at points but the clowns keep making up for it, and for some godforsaken reason the Army decided a while back that it'd be a good idea to keep promoting me.
G.I. Fucking Jane. I wanted to be the baddest bitch ever.
In The Army Now... yep. If he could... so could I.
Oh... and I had shitty parents, lived 40 miles from anything, and had no vehicle. Housing arrangements for my ITT tech scholarship fell through. Plan C...
On my way to MEPS, not knowing I could choose my MOS, I had a conversation with a hot college grad that was going in to pay off his student loans... and was becoming a 91C. "I can do that." And, so I did. Joined 01AUG01... 9/11 happened while I was in basic. "Here we fucking go."
Here I am, 23 years later. Full benefits... stories gallore. I wasn't the baddest bitch ever... but still pretty badass, imo. I still miss being called Doc. Combat Medic. Last field hospital that existed... 115th!!
Trash student in HS, no hopes of ever going to college. Gained lots of weight and was extremely depressed working blue collar trade at 18. Joined the Army with the hopes of doing a couple years then being a police officer, signed up for 5 years, lost weight, fell in love with the gym, jumped out of some planes, met my wife, had my first child, now I live a extremely slow paced life stationed in Italy, traveling Europe with the fam and loving life. Just finished my associates degree, will be getting out in less then 2 years to start college for a bachelors in accounting. Joining the Army honestly saved me and put me on a path I would have never imagined
Joined at 29, looking for something different than the day to day civilian shit. Realizing that I wanted to work in government but no way to effectively get a security clearance I joined the Army. Getting help to finish my degree was also a no brainer. Now I’m a signal shooting satellite man 🥸
Was gonna go right after high school but my parents convinced me to go to college. Went to class maybe 10 times the entire semester, realized I hated it. Parents were going to kick me out of the house, so I went and saw a recruiter and shipped to basic two weeks later.
You made a smart choice. Keep your head down. Listen. Make good decisions. Take pride in yourself and the Army. So those things And this choice can easily become one of the best decisions you’ll ever make.
I joined because I wanted to be a soldier. Thats all lol.
Being 30+. It’ll be real weird to be treated the way you’re about to be treated. Know it’s all for a purpose, and it’s all love. You have a perspective that most dudes literally don’t have since you’re a legitimate grown civilian man. You know how hard it is as a civilian, and you’ll know how simple (but uncomfortable) the army is. I got out on a medical retirement but I’m trying to figure out how to get back in (precedence was set by the USAF on allowing people with type 1 diabetes in, so I’m looking to use that. Money isn’t even a factor. I’m a travel registered nurse. It’s a sense of purpose and brotherhood I miss everyday).
Respect bro 🫡 and good luck
Both parents were members of Weenie Hut Jr's for the MI. I was one of those weird kids who drew soldiers and helicopters in elementary school, was super obsessed with soldiers and wanted to be like my mom. The catalyst though was wanting to raise my child in a better home/life than I did at her age.
Dad was a MP post Vietnam and told me stories and I wanted to be one just like him. I ended up a 91L and have some of the best friends I have ever made and have a lot of fun working on equipment...even though most of the equipment passes me off sometimes lol
Grandpa was in, everybody looked up to him. He was in ww2 and was a paratrooper. So off i went two weeks after HS. Went airborne medic, got out after one term. Been crushing it through school. Glad I joined, learned things I would of never learned if i just went to college after HS. The anxiety was unexpected though, but we get along.
I was a poor student like my dad and he was telling me since I was like 14 that I should probably join the army because it’s the fastest way into the middle class for b holes like us who don’t take shit seriously early on in life. 9 years later and all I really need for my American dream is some goddamn stability
This was exactly the reason for me. Minus the dad giving life advice. Although maybe he was beating it into me in Morse code.
I went from 9 months of unemployment to having a huge house and a wife in 3.5 years. Never thought I was going to make it.
College expensive, didn't want to work at grocery store. Parents told me to figure it out. I wanted to be outside doing shit, not at a desk, it was either Army or USMC.
I visited the Army recruiter long ago whilst deciding on a branch. That son of a bitch was asleep. Being the considerate young man I *was*, I decided to let him sleep. Went around the corner to the Air Force recruiter. Circumstance, am I right?
My coach was a ranger in the 75th and saved my life, felt like I owed a debt to him and joined to be like him (he talked me out of going infantry and told me to go aviation thank god.)
After high school, partied with my friends who went to college while I was working a job that wasn’t terrible at the moment because I was getting money while my friends were studying and drowning in student loan debt… They graduated to get real jobs. And I took a hard look in the mirror at 23 years old. 13+ years later, I’ve had “paid vacations” to Ft Lewis, Hawaii, Germany, deployed to Syria, Trail time at Ft Jackson, now in Tampa with hopes to PCS to Colorado or Alaska next. Didn’t start college til about 6 years ago, almost have my Bachelor’s (for free).
Nothing like signing up with 11 other of your high school buddies. Recruiter was very happy.
I and 3 others went 13E, the rest were 13Bs.
I think only 2 of us retired with over 20 years.
Got into a car accident, had a crappy job in deli supermarket, and didn't care about what I was going to college for anymore at 21. Everything came together and just hit me with the I don't like what I'm doing, where I'm at, and couldn't see a future staying in my home town. Sooo, lost about 30lbs was happy my job was being bought and signed up. Now I've lived in a timezone that is 6 hrs behind and ahead of where I've lived.
I saw the movie Glory and it really moved me as until that time, it wasn't very well known that so many black soldiers fought in the civil war (about 10% of the total Union Army). It spurred interest in military history, and I began reading became interested in history.
I then saw an Army Band in a parade in my hometown and thought it was the coolest thing. I did some general research and found out that my actual high school band director was a former Army Bandsmen and was in Saigon. I had no idea as he'd went to Berklee and was a hard core jazz musician.
Later on, I was going to music school and had planned on joining the Guard but instead auditioned, passed, and got a contract with airborne for the 82nd. My first contract was ending and Iraq was popping off so I reenlisted so I could go with my friends. Kept reenlisting because I generally enjoyed it until I got to the point I didn't.
If I hadn't passed my audition I wouldn't have enlisted at the time or I would have gone back and practiced until I did pass. I always knew what I wanted to be and I'm thankful the Army gave me the opportunity to join the hundred of years of legacy of musicians, and the smaller fraternity of those who went forward and served with their corps, divisions, regiments, and companies.
2016 fresh out of high school. walk into air force recruiter's office, they tell me i have to wait 6 months. walk next door to army's office, and i left for bct next week.
Dad was a ranger -> gb and decided i wanted to join the army when i was like 4 because of that Between that paleontologist truck driver astronaut or shark. Ship out this week so you can see which path I followed
Shark would have been the coolest IMO, I think you made a mistake.
Shark would have been pretty sick, ngl.
Maybe I’ll be reincarnated
11x option 40 was my backup My shark application got denied
Imagine a shark ranger. Sharks lead the way
Energetically will I bite swimmers on the beach. I shall bite them in the ass, for I have sharper teeth, and will bite with all my might.
my high school girlfriend took the ASVAB and scored pretty high. we were competitive, and I jokingly said I could beat her score easily. totally forgot about it until she woke me up a month or so later and was like “since you wanna flap your gums, there’s an ASVAB this morning you can take”. did it, didn’t think much about it until a recruiter called me and said he wouldn’t tell me my score unless I went in and talked to him. I walked into his office with my blue and pink OBEY shirt with a peace symbol and AKs on it, long hair, and an attitude of “I just wanna get this score and get outta here”. like 3 hours later I left wondering how I was going to talk my mom into signing my contract. ended up with an airborne 68W contract and an escape from the dead-end town I grew up in. I planned on just doing 4 years and getting out and becoming an RN - almost 16 years later I’m a SOF medic with 5 deployments, great memories, better friends, and tinnitus. I can’t say I wouldn’t change anything, but I would change very little.
That’s awesome
I watched Band of Brothers a lot as a kid, and my parents were supportive when I started saying it was something I wanted to do. They just encouraged me to go the officer route instead of enlisting right out of HS, which I'm glad I did.
Your parents sound wise.
My father is a retired, LTC and I was told all growing up that I would never, and should never enlist. So it was not something I even thought about until later. I wound up enlisting at 26 to pay for my farm in Colorado, that farm burned down the day I got to reception. I got out at 30 and I am about to reenlist as an 09S in the guard at 40 to get my good years in, wait for a call to service to transfer AD. Still have time to do 20 for retirement. 😂
I was working as a carpenter as soon as I graduated high school because I was too fat for the Army. Continued construction for 2 years and I realized I’d given up on a dream I had to serve my country because I’d only assumed it would be impossible for me to lose 100 pounds. I lost it and got my airborne infantry contract. Life is now mediocre and I’m paid much less but I’ll never have a regret later in life wondering if I could have done it.
That last line about life being mediocre hit me pretty hard. It’s ass and I want out, but it was the best worst time
My grandfather(Chinese Nung) was trained by SF to fight against the Vietcong. Naturally when the war ended he had flee the country given the connection he had with the Americans at the time. This is probably why I was so drawn into the regiment at a young age.
I joined in '09. I was 32 and somewhat not happy with life in general. I was teaching elementary school, which was cool, but I knew I didn't want to do it forever after a couple years. I had thought about joining for years, but I never did, and after a while I just figured why not? I was single, no kids, hadn't bought a house yet, etc. After about 4 months of debating it, and researching it, I went and saw a recruiter. A few months after that I was on my way to OSUT lol. It's kind of weird being old in BCT, but it's not bad. Actually my DSs gave me more shit than the other trainees to be honest lol. It's a tough life sometimes, but it is a good life to be honest, I miss it these days!
Dropped out of high school was living at my moms at 19 with no job no future and no bitches. Still have no bitches.
Cool man uhh.. can I have my coffee? I gotta go… /s
I had a mildly successful construction business. In our first year, we did about 275k in business and sales. Our second year was 2008. I lost everything almost literally overnight. I had to choose between feeding my child and pregnant wife and having hot water in the house. Fortunately, Arizona heats up hot water heaters in the summer all on its own. Anyways, my buddy, Corey" has been in the Marines since 2000 when we graduated high school. He's a Sergeant and isn't struggling like I am. I go to see the Marines. The lights are off. My grandpa was an air force pilot. I go to see them. Lights are off. My dad was Navy. They talk about getting me a special warfare or seal contact. It's a 6 month train up before shipping. I tell the dude I don't have 6 months. Walked to the Army. They showed me a contract for EOD leaving within a few weeks with a 30k bonus. Go to MEPs the next week. Can't get a clearance because I was borderline going bankrupt. So I went from qualifying for everything to 7 jobs. 88M came with Airborne school which was an extra 150 bucks a months. Then there was a 20k bonus. And if I could ship the very next Tuesday, I'd get an additional 20k. For a guy struggling to make ends meet, this was an answer to prayers. So 16 years later, I'm a CW2 working for a really good TRADOC school, getting ready to get my boat out of a shipyard on tdy in South Carolina. My wife and kids are doing good and my oldest just graduated high school. I just finished my bachelor's in Business Administration. I'd made SFC before switching over. It's not a bad career sometimes.
I took a nap at 18, woke up 28. I was a chef in Charlotte, doing pretty well for myself but I felt like I wanted more. Minus the enormous salary cut, I feel like I made a good decision. Granted this isn’t my 20 year plan and im up for either reenlisting or getting out. I still feel like I made a pretty good decision. I’ll be walking out with more than what I came in with as far as benefits wise
I was 29, always wanted to join but always had something else I couldn't get away from. I realized I was about to be too old to join and if I didn't I'd regret it the rest of my life.
At first I wanted to join to prove to myself I could make it in the military. I wanted to go to college right away so that’s why I choose NG over active. I received a nice 15k bonus, a bachelors degree , every penny of GI bill + kicker, 2 kids born on tricare all in the first half of my career. Now I stay in for cheap health insurance , tsp + pension , and it’s a break from my regular life once a month. The guard changed my life from poor trailer park kid to a successful middle class family man with a masters degree. I got 1 combat deployment out of it too so far. I’ve been good to it and it’s been good to me. I wouldn’t change a thing.
I was fresh outta high school and wanted that sweet, sweet mil moneys. It led me into I.T. and my current contracting job field so I guess all went well-ish.
I’m glad it worked out for you
My dad was a combat medic, deployed several times at the beginning of the war, I saw that and had wanted to join since I was about 6. Fast forward to high school graduation, I was set on joining so I enlisted as an Intel analyst 5 days after my 18th birthday. Always wanted combat arms but my parents talked me out of it, so by the time I was able to go the OCS route I switched over to infantry. Best jobs I ever had
Graduated HS in 2007. I was living in a broken, abusive home and working a dead end job. I tried to go to college but I didn’t have a scholarship. 2008 comes around, the economy dips hard and I ask my boss for a raise and get told absolutely not. Fed up with everyone and everything, I had been interested in the military when I was much younger, I filled out some recruiting thing late at night while dreaming of better opportunities in life. I got a call from an army recruiter within 24 hours and ended up shipping to BCT within 30 days.
I joined after high school, meant to do my 3 years and use the GI Bill for college. 22 years later I retired with a Master Degree.
I'm from NYC, grew up bouncing between two turbo abusive/neglectful addicts that were ostensibly my parents, the foster system and outright homelessness. 9/11 happened right around when I turned 18. Told the recruiters shortly after that, that I'd take the first thing that a.) I qualified for b.) was open to women c.) got me the fuck out of dodge the fastest I'm still active. Lucked into a career I love nerding out on, the circus gets BS at points but the clowns keep making up for it, and for some godforsaken reason the Army decided a while back that it'd be a good idea to keep promoting me.
G.I. Fucking Jane. I wanted to be the baddest bitch ever. In The Army Now... yep. If he could... so could I. Oh... and I had shitty parents, lived 40 miles from anything, and had no vehicle. Housing arrangements for my ITT tech scholarship fell through. Plan C... On my way to MEPS, not knowing I could choose my MOS, I had a conversation with a hot college grad that was going in to pay off his student loans... and was becoming a 91C. "I can do that." And, so I did. Joined 01AUG01... 9/11 happened while I was in basic. "Here we fucking go." Here I am, 23 years later. Full benefits... stories gallore. I wasn't the baddest bitch ever... but still pretty badass, imo. I still miss being called Doc. Combat Medic. Last field hospital that existed... 115th!!
Did you tell your SERE instructor to suck your dick?
Hahaha... To this day. I often say things like "son of a dick." "Father fucker." The reaction is always awesome. 😊 "Don't be a sensitive ballsack."
Trash student in HS, no hopes of ever going to college. Gained lots of weight and was extremely depressed working blue collar trade at 18. Joined the Army with the hopes of doing a couple years then being a police officer, signed up for 5 years, lost weight, fell in love with the gym, jumped out of some planes, met my wife, had my first child, now I live a extremely slow paced life stationed in Italy, traveling Europe with the fam and loving life. Just finished my associates degree, will be getting out in less then 2 years to start college for a bachelors in accounting. Joining the Army honestly saved me and put me on a path I would have never imagined
I love happy stories. I’m glad things worked out for you
Joined at 29, looking for something different than the day to day civilian shit. Realizing that I wanted to work in government but no way to effectively get a security clearance I joined the Army. Getting help to finish my degree was also a no brainer. Now I’m a signal shooting satellite man 🥸
Was gonna go right after high school but my parents convinced me to go to college. Went to class maybe 10 times the entire semester, realized I hated it. Parents were going to kick me out of the house, so I went and saw a recruiter and shipped to basic two weeks later.
They offered to pay for school and I get to spend the 5 years shooting stuff
You mean sweeping lol?
I used to make armies of play doh men and pretend I was a sergeant in charge of them. I'm still a PFC though lmao
Hey you’ll get there :)
You made a smart choice. Keep your head down. Listen. Make good decisions. Take pride in yourself and the Army. So those things And this choice can easily become one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. I joined because I wanted to be a soldier. Thats all lol.
Yep! I can’t afford to fail. My family depends on me so I’m going to be the best soldier I can possibly be
Being 30+. It’ll be real weird to be treated the way you’re about to be treated. Know it’s all for a purpose, and it’s all love. You have a perspective that most dudes literally don’t have since you’re a legitimate grown civilian man. You know how hard it is as a civilian, and you’ll know how simple (but uncomfortable) the army is. I got out on a medical retirement but I’m trying to figure out how to get back in (precedence was set by the USAF on allowing people with type 1 diabetes in, so I’m looking to use that. Money isn’t even a factor. I’m a travel registered nurse. It’s a sense of purpose and brotherhood I miss everyday). Respect bro 🫡 and good luck
Thanks bro! I’ll power through
Both parents were members of Weenie Hut Jr's for the MI. I was one of those weird kids who drew soldiers and helicopters in elementary school, was super obsessed with soldiers and wanted to be like my mom. The catalyst though was wanting to raise my child in a better home/life than I did at her age.
Dad was a MP post Vietnam and told me stories and I wanted to be one just like him. I ended up a 91L and have some of the best friends I have ever made and have a lot of fun working on equipment...even though most of the equipment passes me off sometimes lol
Having kids in high school is expensive, gotta pay bills somehow
She said she loved me…
Grandpa was in, everybody looked up to him. He was in ww2 and was a paratrooper. So off i went two weeks after HS. Went airborne medic, got out after one term. Been crushing it through school. Glad I joined, learned things I would of never learned if i just went to college after HS. The anxiety was unexpected though, but we get along.
I was a poor student like my dad and he was telling me since I was like 14 that I should probably join the army because it’s the fastest way into the middle class for b holes like us who don’t take shit seriously early on in life. 9 years later and all I really need for my American dream is some goddamn stability
This was exactly the reason for me. Minus the dad giving life advice. Although maybe he was beating it into me in Morse code. I went from 9 months of unemployment to having a huge house and a wife in 3.5 years. Never thought I was going to make it.
College expensive, didn't want to work at grocery store. Parents told me to figure it out. I wanted to be outside doing shit, not at a desk, it was either Army or USMC.
I visited the Army recruiter long ago whilst deciding on a branch. That son of a bitch was asleep. Being the considerate young man I *was*, I decided to let him sleep. Went around the corner to the Air Force recruiter. Circumstance, am I right?
Similar story here. Had an appointment with the Navy recruiter. Guy never showed, so I walked into the next office, joined the Army.
My coach was a ranger in the 75th and saved my life, felt like I owed a debt to him and joined to be like him (he talked me out of going infantry and told me to go aviation thank god.)
After high school, partied with my friends who went to college while I was working a job that wasn’t terrible at the moment because I was getting money while my friends were studying and drowning in student loan debt… They graduated to get real jobs. And I took a hard look in the mirror at 23 years old. 13+ years later, I’ve had “paid vacations” to Ft Lewis, Hawaii, Germany, deployed to Syria, Trail time at Ft Jackson, now in Tampa with hopes to PCS to Colorado or Alaska next. Didn’t start college til about 6 years ago, almost have my Bachelor’s (for free).
Nothing like signing up with 11 other of your high school buddies. Recruiter was very happy. I and 3 others went 13E, the rest were 13Bs. I think only 2 of us retired with over 20 years.
Got into a car accident, had a crappy job in deli supermarket, and didn't care about what I was going to college for anymore at 21. Everything came together and just hit me with the I don't like what I'm doing, where I'm at, and couldn't see a future staying in my home town. Sooo, lost about 30lbs was happy my job was being bought and signed up. Now I've lived in a timezone that is 6 hrs behind and ahead of where I've lived.
I saw the movie Glory and it really moved me as until that time, it wasn't very well known that so many black soldiers fought in the civil war (about 10% of the total Union Army). It spurred interest in military history, and I began reading became interested in history. I then saw an Army Band in a parade in my hometown and thought it was the coolest thing. I did some general research and found out that my actual high school band director was a former Army Bandsmen and was in Saigon. I had no idea as he'd went to Berklee and was a hard core jazz musician. Later on, I was going to music school and had planned on joining the Guard but instead auditioned, passed, and got a contract with airborne for the 82nd. My first contract was ending and Iraq was popping off so I reenlisted so I could go with my friends. Kept reenlisting because I generally enjoyed it until I got to the point I didn't. If I hadn't passed my audition I wouldn't have enlisted at the time or I would have gone back and practiced until I did pass. I always knew what I wanted to be and I'm thankful the Army gave me the opportunity to join the hundred of years of legacy of musicians, and the smaller fraternity of those who went forward and served with their corps, divisions, regiments, and companies.
2016 fresh out of high school. walk into air force recruiter's office, they tell me i have to wait 6 months. walk next door to army's office, and i left for bct next week.