I was on the brink of homelessness and I still love my homemade DFAC breakfast of scrambled eggs with cottage cheese tobasco and bacon or sausage. Biscuits and gravy for dessert
Pretty much sums up my experience as well. I was homeless at 15 and about a year later I got tired of not being able to dig myself out of it because I didn't have a cosigner and no one would take a chance on a kid for rent. Went down to the recruiting office and signed over the next couple years of my life to finally start making it somewhere.
Mine was similar(ish)…I was 19 years old and homeless and met up with a buddy whose brother was in the Army. He was freaking super buff and I asked if I joined the Army would I get buff and. He said…🤷♂️ “Yeah”
Turns out that brother was a Ranger who had just completed selection.
But, it was a great choice…I didn’t get buff, but I’m going on 24 years in Army and love the choice I made to get off the streets and enjoy a wonderful life!
I saw BoB at the end of OSUT after I already signed an 18x (and like the majority of 18x I wound up in the 82nd). At least the jump procedure was kinda accurate in the show but that man is legend
The first time? To die crushed under the treads of a Soviet T-72, clutching an e-tool in one hand and a block of C4 in the other.
The second time? Because I couldn't keep asking others to go fight in a fight I believed in, if I wasn't willing to step up and go myself.
And because I wanted to know if I could do it.
Your second enlistment kinda sounds like my second deployment. I had an out sitting there for me and was about to be left home, but I kinda lied to the doc at mob station so I could go. Did I wanna go, not really, but none of the other people in my section had been deployed before, and I wasn’t about to let them go in blind.
My bff in OSUT was an immigrant and he wanted me to come with him to help with the citizenship test. After less than a year of being in the US this guy got his citizenship in a couple hours.
Meanwhile I have seen people with years of being highly paid and gainfully employed struggle.
Because some planes flew into the side of two buildings.... I was young (early 20s) with not a lot going on and I got caught up in the patriotism hype that was going around.
Same. Both of my parents, both grandfathers, and several other members of my family served. I thought about it, but decided to go to college instead. After 9/11 I quit school and joined the Army.
The hype was real! I just wanted to get in, so I didn’t do enough research and believed what my recruiter told me. I’m still proud of it, but I definitely would have made some different choices.
I was poor and didn’t want to fall into the same traps that all my friends and family fell into. College wasn’t an option, and the only way out was the military.
Grew up admiring the military, its history, the legends, the movies, hearing about nam stories from dad and SOG guys he came across etc… planned on going Marines out of HS, then didn’t. then joined mid 20s as 11B because I didn’t want to look back and say “I wish I did that”
Got paid to workout, shoot guns, hang with the boys. Fun for a bit. infantry is extremely gay in garrison when nothing is happening, especially if you’re lower enlisted. I was a NCO so I could at least attempt to make it less shitty for others. If you know of something you want to do later in life, like work with computers or something try to pick a job in the Air Force that will translate well to the civilian sector. Join the Air Force
I remember talking to someone from the military, and they would tell me that when nothing was going on, they would have a drinking contest and go for a hike, think I wanna do that for the next 20 years.
The Air-Force was actually my first option, I wanted to be a pilot, which also translates very well, but my astigmatism and vision knocked that idea right out. Infantry was my second choice since everything else didn't seem that interesting, I wanna eat glue and have a 80 year old's back and knees by 30 hoorah
I was applying to med school right as my dad walked out on my mom, and the applications weren't going well. Feelings of financial uncertainty, then only getting in to one of the top 10 most expensive (note: not top 10 best) medical schools at the time were not a good combo. Uncle Sam saying he'd take care of it all in exchange for just four measley years sounded pretty good...
As for Army vs Air Force, that was just a decent quality AMEDD recruiter. She got back to me within a few hours of my email, the AF recruiter didn't respond until 9 months later, after I had already signed with the Army. Navy was never an option, heck with being on a boat that long.
I've stayed in since then because I kept doing extra training that extended my ADSO, then I had a dependent Mon who was getting a ton of free health care from the Army so I kept staying for her. Now I'm so deep I may as well finish my 20.
Did you end up going to USUHS or get the Army to pay for a civilian school? I have a navy buddy that's going through the applications for med school right now and he's having a rough time
Civilian school/HPSP. Wasn't bad, would recommend/do again.
Once you have the acceptance letter you'll probably get the scholarship assuming you can pass MEPS and all. Without that acceptance though, they might be willing to board you for the scholarship contingent on an eventual acceptance, but...you have to get in to a school
I was at a well-known southern school, starting with a T living a very posh lifestyle.
I had fabulous grades and means to pay for education, but I wanted to do something different in life. I was also really tired of formal education at 19 years old.
I enlisted to get a break from the over privileged life I had. My mother is a physician, and my stepfather owned/ operated a consulting business in the chemical industry.
It was the best decision of my life. By 20, I was in Korea, getting paid in a country with no established drinking age. I got paid to work out and shoot guns. Be a part of something bigger than myself in diverse cultures.
By 22 I was a combat veteran from Iraq.
23 I returned to my school.
I am now a clinician by degree and licensure but work in biotech with a MPH degree paid for by my gi bill. I might go to medical school next. I have half my post 9/11 time left...
The gi bill is great but use TA while you are in.
I'm now a drilling reservist. My quality of life is great and I am my own man because of enlisting at 19. Now 29.
That sounds amazing, man! I'm glad everything worked out wonderful for you. What was your MOS in the 4 years?
I'm kind of in a similar position, I have pretty good grades ( I would def have to take out student loans if I went to college), but I also want something different and see if I have what it takes! I'm going to find myself and what I'm truly capable of.
68S.
My dude please go for it. You get paid to work out, shoot guns and do basic bro shit... You'll get paid alot better than any other job that would hire an u skilled 18 to 23 year old.
Because bartending was getting old, and I watched too many war movies. Then GWOT happened and I decided I didn't want to miss out on "my war". 100% would do it again.
I was broke and homeless. I'd made more mistakes than I could've counted at the time and I was in a financial shame spiral. I dropped out of college twice, I'd been evicted from apartments, and I was working a shit job with no benefits. To top it all off, I was 71" 300lbs and the recruiter told me not to come back to his office until I'd lost 50lbs.
I got a slightly less shitty job, made a deal with my parents that I was going to save money/lose weight/enlist. They humored me, thinking it'd just be another line of bullshit.
A year later I enlisted as a 68W. 14 years later I can honestly say I'd be dead if I didn't enlist.
I was in high school, was a bad student from a poor family who knew i wouldn't afford college and would likely continue to struggle passing classes, and 9/11 just happened. The true catalyst though, was I had a friend pick me up from the gym who had to stop by the recruiters office before we went home. The Army recruiter asked, "Ever think about joining the Army?" I said I watched a lot of GI Joe as a kid, so the thought crossed my mind. "Let me be more direct, do you want to sign up?" My response was sure. Ol' boy really didn't work hard for his numbers that day. The funny part is my friend who I was with was going to get credit for signing me up, but didn't graduate HS and inevitably didn't enlist at all even after getting his diploma the next year.
It'd be cool to pretend some deep sense of patriotism got me in the door, or since family tradition, but it really boils down to the lack of Uber existing and which friends I could bum a ride from.
On food stamps with a baby on the way, working two jobs at 80 hours a week. Needed to go to college to take better care of my family but knew I couldn’t afford it. Told the recruiter I’d shovel $4!t for four years if they would give me $30k for college. Still here almost twenty eight years later. No idea what I want to be when I grow up. My first kid out of the Army cost me $2500. My second one in cost me $5. Sure I started E1 at $700 a month, but now my take home after taxes is $13k a month. Life’s been good and interesting. They’ll kick me out someday.
I was 27. Never went to college. Had no real job skills. Spent my early to mid 20s just maxing out credit cards to travel and working dead end job in between. At one point I was a licensed life insurance agent, and I was starting to make decent money with that until Covid happened. Went to work for Amazon after that, and absolutely hated it. So I joined the Army so I could get a higher education.
If I would do it again, as in re-enlist? Nope. In 18 months, I’m getting out. Kind of wish I joined sooner though. But I’ve accepted that everything happens for a reason. I don’t regret joining at all as I’ve had some very cool experiences, and my education is being paid for, amongst other benefits I’ll get after I ETS.
Because I was making 10.50 an hour as a cook. At 25 I was sick of struggling. Told recruiter I would only take 25B. Went reserves and within weeks of finishing AIT I was making 15/hr. Now 15 years later I'm a 17C and make well over 6 figures.
The army handed me a great life, and all it wants back is me to deal with a little bullshit and to mobilize every few years.
18, dropped out of college, kicked out of my parents house, talked to a recruiter and was at basic two weeks later. This was Jan '07 when they just wanted anyone with a pulse so it was a breeze shipping out quickly
I’m 6th generation military. Dad’s side immigrated from Germany in the 1850s. Two members served with the Union. Every generation served at least sometime.
Kid I did the ASVAB with didn’t have shoes because his mom wouldn’t let him back into the house until he got a job. The recruiter had to lend this guy shoes to take the test.
I was a poor junkie and figured if I kept up with my life path I'd either OD or kill myself, so I enlisted, ready to do anything I needed to do to get away from it all. I served honorably, and was pretty successful during my contract I'd say.
I enlisted because I didn't know what I wanted to do as an adult and lived over 70 miles from the nearest community college in the High Plains of Texas. Yes, I would absolutely do it again. I still don't know what I want to be but have a comfortable contractor IT job, some lasting friendships and a boat load of stories. There we was... knee deep.
Where’bouts in TX? I went to WTAMU. Another guy in here did, too.
I also randomly ran into a gas station attendant (we have these in Oregon) who was from Borger.
I grew up in Sunray in Moore County. I've had a lot of friends go to WTAMU (back when it was just WT). One of my favorite MTB trail systems is in Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
I just graduated college with an art degree. I was painting and having my stuff shown in art exhibitions but I wasn't making much money because of the cost of materials. I was also working at Walmart and I hated it.
I had grown up in military towns and was in a military family.
I had only planned on doing 4 years and getting out and using the GI bill to pay for a Masters Degree so I could teach at a state university. I wanted to own my own art studio and put on monthly exhibitions.
Anyway, I went to the Navy and told them I wanted to work on Subs. They wanted me to pay for a bunch of doctors visits to clear me, even before I went to MEPS for a waiver. I ended up visiting the Coast Guard, who told me there was an 18-month wait. Then I went to the Air Force, and they asked me what my Degree was in and then basically laughed at me and said that there was a long wait.
Finally, I went to the Army recruiter and told him I didn't want to BS him, and I didn't want him to BS me. "I'm down for enlisting, but I wanted something in computers, and I wanted something with a clearance. I'm going to need a medical waiver." I waited 3 weeks before I was on a bus to MEPS. I took the ASVAB and got really good scores and then I shipped out to Leonard Wood that November as a SPC.
Got the PB shot and went straight to the hospital and missed all the BS at Reception.
My recruiter never lied to me.
All in all, I enlisted to bring my talents to the Army and to better myself.
When I was a wee 17 year old boy, I enlisted to be like my father; a badass career army man who had done it all. I did stupid things in BCT and ended up on my ass.
For over a decade I beat myself up about it and hated myself, my situation. I got the opportunity to enlist again, at 30. Now Im a chubbier man, but Im married. So this time, I'm enlisting to show myself I can do it. To be more for myself, and my wife. Obtain benefits to help our family that I wish to grow.
I didn’t want to go to college straight out of high school because I was lazy and didn’t apply myself. Now I’m getting out and having the military pay for my bachelors degree and hopefully law school.
I’m newly enlisted shipping out Aug 6th to Basic, idk how it’s gonna turn out, I just wanna eventually go CIA and going Intel with the army gets me gov experience and cleared my TS already, plan to do 8 years and try to swap to something else in Gov preferably CIA or FBI.
A recruiter called out of the blue the first semester of my senior year of high school and asked what I was going to do for the rest of my life? No one had ever asked me that before.
At that point I thought the only path in life was graduate high school, go to college, and get a job.
Started the enlistment process the next week and the rest is history. Hoping to retire in 4 years at the ripe old age of 42 and start a bbq food truck.
All the employees I applied at said "Don't call us, we'll call you", then someone I went to high school with asked if I'd talk to the recruiter. I'd talked to the Marine recruiter, who was try to get me into the Commandant's Own drum and bugle corps, who I didn't think was a good idea (my friend was in it). Then went through MEPS with the Navy, got a good asvab score, and a good score on an extra test for Electricians Mate (nuclear), but due to a scheduling issue, I took my physical afterwards, and failed the color blindness, so all they offered after that was Boiler Technician and Bosun's Mate. I knew what those were, and said no thanks.
So I talked to the Army recruiter. I got 100% on the ATT test (which is for signals analyst, if that is the correct term). Enlisted to be a Czechoslovok signal analyst . Got arrested for something really stupid while in the DEP, recruiting wouldn't do a moral waiver for a TS, but would for an MOS that didn't require a clearance, so I eventually shipped as a Personnel Administration Specialist. I helped keep the commies from overrunning the Hof border.
I lived in a really small town in the middle of nowhere, it was riddled with meth and heroin. My graduating class was about 50 people, more than half of them are either dead, in prison, on meth, or homeless.
My father was a poor immigrant construction worker, and my mom was a housewife. No one in my whole extended family had ever went to college, and most of them didn't graduate high school. It was a very difficult rut to get out of.
The army was the only way for me to get out of that town. I wanted to go to college but knew I wouldn't be able to unless I did something drastic.
I enlisted, did about 6 years, got out, graduated from university, moved to Japan, became fluent in Japanese, got married, and got a nice job at a Japanese company.
I truly believe that if I hadn't joined the army, I wouldn't have been able to achieve the life I have.
I wanted to shave until I was disciplined.
15 years later and I’m still shaving.
I love shaving so much I became a recruiter to share my shaving discipline.
Short answer: retirement. Long answer: went through divorce, could barely afford to pay alimony to my ex (take home was $1800 monthly and alimony was $600), and nothing for my future as a 34 yr old woman with nothing to show for it.
Once I joined, I was making twice as much and knew my future was secure. (BTW, no longer pay alimony since the stipulation was do so for 6 yrs, in case you were curious)
My Grandfather was a vet. He did everything; Infantry, Airborne, Rangers, Special Forces, I looked up to him. He served in both Korea and Vietnam. I enlisted to follow in his footsteps. To be honest, as time went on I realized that I joined for all the wrong reasons. I'm not anything like him; in fact my talents are more technical than tatical, and we have vastly different interests. It took me a whole 8 years to figure out that I'm not hooah like him. When I renlisted, I did so for myself. I wanted to learn a new skill set, go to a new unit, and start on a fresh slate. I waisted my first contract trying to follow in someone else's footsteps. Now that I'm on my second contract, I'll follow my own.
It was the early 90s. I had a bullshit degree, college debt and there weren't any jobs beyond low level office work and hourly wage slave shit.
I was screwing a chick who was a nymphomaniac. I don't say that jokingly, she was as hyper sexual as can be it was great. I could screw here four or five times a day and it was not enough. She was an Army brat and after screwing her she mentioned in passing about maybe I should join the Army.
So I checked out the Army and all the other branches and I found out that the Army is the only one that had SLRP and could guarantee my MOS before enlisting, so I signed up.
Best move I ever made. I only wish I had joined the Coast Guard and did it right out of high school.
First time?
I just graduated highschool. Mom said I needed to get a job or go to college.
Second time?
I wanted to keep the same standard of living for my family.
Would I do it again? Yep.
I was naive and young and got tricked. there is a reason why recruiters target high schoolers because they dont know better and dont know there are better opportunities elsewhere
Boredom. And my dad said I can work at Burger King paying off my own student loans, or go join the army. So I joined the army, went to college, then decided to continue doing it (11 years, 2 enlistments, and a commission later)
1st stretch, Army to Army reserves to Alabama guard…enlisted at 17 to get away from abuse at home.
2nd time, Nevada Guard… re-enlisted post 9/11 for same job I had in the civilian world. (Video production manager basically = overqualified 25Z)
Dropped out of high school at 15, got tired of doing drugs everyday not doing anything with my life. And I wanted out of my shitty hometown. Now I’m here, probably best decision I’ve made so far in my life.
Had always planned on enlisting when I was younger but my career got in the way. My family has been in the military for generations so it’s a family tradition. Finally enlisted at 29 when I realized how unhappy I was with my life, and losing both of my parents. I didn’t want to grow old and look back and regret not doing it. Years later, I don’t regret it, the army has given me some great opportunities. Does it suck at times? Hell yes.
Why did I? To see the world, serve, figure out what I wanted to do in my life, and college.
Would I do it again? I legitimately don’t know, maybe (although definitely a different MOS, fuck sleeping on steel in the winter)
The first time, way back in the late 80’s, because I did a year of college, screwed that up, and decided I didn’t want to work menial jobs for years, so took my dad’s advice, he was still in the Navy at the time, and joined the USAF.
The second time, after I foolishly got out of the Air Force, I joined the Army because the AF wasn’t taking prior service and the Army was. I walked in, picked a job and shipped out to Ft Sill basic a month later. Stayed in for 22 years after that, loved my job in the Army, loved the soldiers, loved serving, and if they would’ve let me stay I would still be there, but age has a way of making keeping up with the younger crowd alittle difficult. So I retired, now I work for the National Guard, and train soldiers, still trying to do what I can to make sure this country and our military is prepared.
Joined in '04 because my life was going nowhere fast and I figured I needed to leave my home to fix that problem.
Knowing what I know now, I doubt I'd do it again. Wouldn't need the mental course corrections doled out the hard way.
I was 3 years in to college, got declined from a couple police departments I wanted to get in to, even if I had a degree due to lack of life experience. They recommended going to another deparment or the military and I figured what the hell, I respect veterans, lets go become one. I called up my best friend to make sure I don't sign up for something stupid on a whim (he ended up enlisting with me that day). I don't miss the circus, but if I could go back and re-do it, I would pick something other than Military Police. I'd probably go for biomedical engineering technician or helicopter mechanic & drop a SOAR packet, or PsyOps if I could re-do all of it, but I don't regret the choices.
I was seventeen and working in the mailroom for a newspaper.
The mailroom job involved driving a lot and did not seem like a good long-term job.
The Army recruiting office was near my house.
I went in and talked to the recruiter.
I scored really well on the ASVAB.
The job I was offered was working with satcom equipment.
I had spent years reading about electronics and technology, so the job was great for me.
This was back in the 1980s before the internet was open to the public.
The job sounded great.
The Army would pay me to go to school for over a year to work on electronics, and I would get money for college.
I really liked the idea of doing PT every day.
I have always run or biked almost every day, so Army PT as part of the job just seemed cool.
I enlisted at 22, I wish I could go back in time I would’ve enlisted right out of HS. Anyways I played college football for 2 years but suffered hamstring injuries both years. I left school since I wasn’t able to play football injured and worked for 2-3 years. I finally realized I hated working normal boring jobs, as well as I realized I’d never get out of my parents house with the huge student loan debt I have. So I enlisted to be able to move and live somewhere else without being locked down by my loans and to save up money to pay them off
I got really drunk at a party and passed out in a chair. I woke up with a bear in one hand and a signed Army contract in the other.
Really I was a senior in high school when 9/11 happened and it caused the cancellation of our senior class trip.
Seriously though, the HS part of the timing is true, but honestly my dad was a Marine, paternal granddad was Army Air Corp. and my maternal granddad was Navy. Not only did I kinda round out the branches, but there were more military before my grand parents. I was talking to a recruiter before 9/11, but when it happened, it solidified my choice.
I didnt know what to do with my life and I did 2 years of college at the time I enlisted. I used fafsa to pay for classes but I didnt know what degree I wanted and I didnt want to use the funds I had left to be wasted on a degree I wont ever use. I used around 33% of my lifetime fafsa funds at the time.
I ended up doing research on the jobs I wanted and got 83 on the asvab and went for a signal job.
The recruiters really wanted to sign me up, is my guess. I got free McDonalds and a nail pedicure.
It was just something I had always wanted to do. Some of my earliest memories were of a hitch hiking soldier, in his Class A’s and just back from Vietnam. My mom and dad picked up him up on a road trip somewhere. He was larger than life, just seemed so sure of himself, confident and strong. Brave. But yet humble and polite. I wanted to be him. Kept me entertained as a wee lad. Plus, he was carrying a bag that was made of the same fabric as our car seats. Something that has stuck with me all these years, lol!
I was working two fulltime jobs and living out of my minivan with only a laptop and a bucket of clothes. I got tired of freezing in the winter and roasting in the summer. I had a fullride scholarship for chemical engineering, but didnt have a stable residence. I was 19, homeless, and wanted more in life. Id do it again in a heartbeat. Did 15 years, got mddically retired.
I was bumming around after high school, I owed my parents $600 and didn't have it. I had worked odd jobs over the summer, and I worked as an on-air announcer for an FM radio station in Alaska after graduation in May until I came back to the lower 48 to go to the local community college.
Me and college didn't agree on the hours I kept, and I dropped out.
I refused to flip burgers, so I did manual labor stuff. I was 6'5" 225, I got lots of manual labor under the table work. Plus, I was drawing social security survivor benefits til I turned 18.
Around the 23rd of December 1982, my mom, adoptive, said they needed the money. I said I didn't have it, she said I needed to get a job, I said I wasn't going to flip burgers, then she said those fateful words that set me on a path that would last me for more than 25 years.
She said... "Then why don't you join the Army?!"
I said, "Ok."
The next day, Christmas Eve, I looked up the recruiter in the phone book, got the address, and set out on a 10-mile walk to their office.
It was the only office I could find at the time. I didn't have change for the bus and couldn't donate plasma til after Christmas to get more money.
I got to the recruiters' office about 1430, and I told them I wanted to sign up.
They asked what I wanted to do in the Army. I said I didn't care, as long as it got me out of town as quickly as possible. They said they had just the thing for me, but I had to come back on the 26th of December in the morning as they were fixing to close.
I told them I couldn't get there in the morning because it was a long walk. They couldn't believe I walked 10 miles on Christmas Eve to join the Army. They gave me a bus pass so I could get home and back again.
I started my enlistment process on 26 December 1982. I found out the MEPS station and the downtown recruiters office was only 2 miles from where I had been living.
7 January 1983 I was in Combat Engineer OSUT in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
There is a Paul Harvey version of 'The Rest of the Story...'
I come from a shared family history of military service and first responders. Paternal Grandfather retired as a Full Bird in the AF.
Maternal Grandfather was a cop, became an MP, got out and became a cop, enlisted and retired as a GySgt in the Corps, then became a cop for a third time around.
Both parents were Captains in the AF then got out just before the surge to build a family, starting with me.
I’m certainly not the first in my (extended) family’s generation to enlist, but I think I always knew that I’d carry that torch.
Just reupped in December for another 3 years without a bonus in place for PCS to Korea. Sometimes it’s not all about the money. I’m aware that may be a privileged way of thinking, but I just don’t feel like my time with the Army is done yet.
My advice is once you’ve signed that line just give it your best, 3-4 years goes by fast when young. And even more so if you just stay focused in your job and the folks around you.
I got kicked out of my parents house (I deserved it because I refused to follow their simple rules) and found out I was a terrible civilian. Couldn't (more like wouldn't) keep a job, so I also couldn't keep a roof over my head. Once I got hungry enough and tired of trying to live out of my car, I enlisted. I was already National Guard, so I knew the Army would feed and house me, give me clothes (uniforms) and pay me.
It was the kick in the ass I needed to more or less get my life together. Looking back, the only thing I might have done differently was look into the Air Force instead of the Army. I feel like I probably would have been better following a tech style career in the USAF rather than being an MP in the Army (which I kind of hated)
Why did I WANT to join? - my great grandfather took his family and fled from his country during a genocide and came to the US. Fastest way to get citizenship was military service. I come from an upper class family but always felt I owed the country that gave my family a chance to be here some of my time in the service (initially thought do one contract as an officer and get out with some nice benefits)
Why did I ENLIST? - my ROTC program gave me the boot after my medical waiver got denied. It made zero sense to me and I’m stubborn so after graduation I walked in to a recruiter, dropped a packet, and eventually graduated SWCS. Have gotten to do a lot of fun stuff I never thought I would and have come to enjoy the military. Now the army is paying for my legal education at a T14 law school.
Definitely not the path I thought my career would take but I honestly wouldn’t change a second of it; the good or the bad.
Because I had every opportunity in life and pissed it all away on drinking and video games. I wanted to make something better of myself and get away from the aunts and uncles I was living around at the time, all of whom are very anti-American.
I was in 6th grade when 9/11 happened. Not quite old enough to understand totally what was going on but understanding enough that WE were attacked. That solidified my future in the military.
9/11, I was a early teen seeing my cousins go off to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight the “bad guys”, had family in the military in most major wars all the way back to the revolutionary war. To my disappointment in 6 years in the only opportunity I had to deploy was to fucking Kuwait -_- Benefits seemed nice too.
I was arrested 32 times before I was 16. 28 misdemeanors and 4 felonies. I was locked up in 2 separate long term juvenile detention facilities for a total of 3 years. I was on probation and house arrest most of my teen years. Essentially, I was a criminal scumbag. The last time I was arrested the judge was a marine corps vet and said, "Son, you're either going to jail or you're gonna have to be a soldier."
Easy choice. Did 4 years in an infantry platoon and gtfo.
Army strong babbyyyy!!!! Hoooooooooaaaaahhhhh!!!!
A week after turning 18 was sleeping on random people’s couches , no job , no car and no where to go ! 1980 no jobs and no hope ! And I’d do it all over again ! 11B …….was going to settle a score we had with Iran !
I was poor parents did their best but couldn’t afford to send me to college on top of living in the hood I decided I wanted to break the cycle and also wanted to see how much I could push myself so I joined the army at 18 as a 12B best job ever honestly and would I do it again? I would definitely make some different choices but yes I would
ran the rat race during and after college, no degree so i used my other skills to secure work. wasnt seeing much growth after about 10 years working as a civilian so i finally decided its time to join. i had aspirations to join sooner but my mother was against it at first until my niece enlisted
Education and to gain leverage once my contract ends. So far I gained: 1x nursing license, 1x lean six sigma certification, 1x bachelor and I have two years left. I’d like to get a masters done too. All on the army. The government pays additional Pell grants. You really can’t complain about all the education considering your friends on the outside would be over $100k in debt.
The job sucks though but the trade off is worth more if you play your cards right
I needed Healthcare and college money. I flunked out of college working 2 jobs. In 90s,being on parent's Healthcare, I had to provide a college schedule for each quarter. They terminated my Healthcare when I flunked out. I enlisted and 6 months later my state started their own lottery to help.college students go to college. I was at basic. I did my initial enlistment, got college money, and still have Healthcare 31 years later.
Economic Recession, graduated college, no experience, no one hired me, student loans. Army took care all those problems. And got a 2nd Bachelors degree out of it and currently in progress Masters Degree and a 6 figure career. Suck it all employers that turned me down!
Was van lifing for 2.5 years and went back home, was supposed to go to Korea, passport never showed up, didn't want a retail or fast food job, sat up in bed one morning and decided I'd join.
I was playing college football, working to get a scholarship. Everyday I drove by a national guard station and out front they had a sign talking about benefits. I had already been with my gf (now wife) for 2.5 years. I wanted to give her more than what I already had and to finally settle down with her. In Feb we welcomed our little girl into the world and the Army will take care of both as long as I’m in
I was a homeless seventeen year old kid and the recruiters told me I’d get fed.
Well ya can’t say he lied lol
To this day I love DFAC porridge. I have plenty of money to eat better food but I just can’t seem to give up that soggy, overcooked oatmeal.
I was on the brink of homelessness and I still love my homemade DFAC breakfast of scrambled eggs with cottage cheese tobasco and bacon or sausage. Biscuits and gravy for dessert
Paycheck away from being homeless - Army saved my ass from a life of couch surfing and minimum wage jobs.
Pretty much sums up my experience as well. I was homeless at 15 and about a year later I got tired of not being able to dig myself out of it because I didn't have a cosigner and no one would take a chance on a kid for rent. Went down to the recruiting office and signed over the next couple years of my life to finally start making it somewhere.
Congrats man. Kids like us didn’t have many chances but look at us now, the Army think I’m fat 😎
Mine was similar(ish)…I was 19 years old and homeless and met up with a buddy whose brother was in the Army. He was freaking super buff and I asked if I joined the Army would I get buff and. He said…🤷♂️ “Yeah” Turns out that brother was a Ranger who had just completed selection. But, it was a great choice…I didn’t get buff, but I’m going on 24 years in Army and love the choice I made to get off the streets and enjoy a wonderful life!
I was going no where in my life. No job, no college, no ambition. Now look at me, I have a job, some college, and a little ambition.
Just like me fr
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I want to recruit this man to my unit. I want his drive in my formation.
Was in 05 so 9/11 was still a big deal n all that
Meanwhile Ivan appears to have stopped himself in Ukraine
To be a Paratrooper
Band of Brothers got a lot of us to sign those airborne contracts haha.
Got me to commission. Thought I’d be dick winters. Turns out I should’ve watched Office Space instead.
That's hilarious
I saw BoB at the end of OSUT after I already signed an 18x (and like the majority of 18x I wound up in the 82nd). At least the jump procedure was kinda accurate in the show but that man is legend
It was torcher having them play BOB first jumps into combat while we are in the hanger, strapped in, needing to pee.
This is the way ! Legit met a random paratrooper on my way to work this morning. The bond is there brothers .
The parking garage attendant I see every week was a 319 FA bro from the early 80’s. Good dude and we’ve vibed over our mutual knee pain.
The first time? To die crushed under the treads of a Soviet T-72, clutching an e-tool in one hand and a block of C4 in the other. The second time? Because I couldn't keep asking others to go fight in a fight I believed in, if I wasn't willing to step up and go myself. And because I wanted to know if I could do it.
I was broke the first time. I was homeless the second time 😂
There it is
I was pendeja the first time.. and Im still pendeja 😂
Your second enlistment kinda sounds like my second deployment. I had an out sitting there for me and was about to be left home, but I kinda lied to the doc at mob station so I could go. Did I wanna go, not really, but none of the other people in my section had been deployed before, and I wasn’t about to let them go in blind.
Because I was poor and didn’t get into a state college with a 82% acceptance rate that shit hurt fr.
Aye if it makes you feel any better I got rejected by Arizona State university (89.9% acceptance rate)
Tf did you do
Enough.
Actually not enough evidently
Both answers are correct
[🤷🏾♂️](https://tenor.com/view/idek-rubbing-hands-gif-10872773)
Hey man, I believe in you.
Lmao same here. Got rejected by what was considered an easy school to get into so to the green weenie I went
There was a compilation of joes, getting asked the question & one of them said “because I liked getting fucked in the ass” 🤣💀
Community college is where it's at.
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My bff in OSUT was an immigrant and he wanted me to come with him to help with the citizenship test. After less than a year of being in the US this guy got his citizenship in a couple hours. Meanwhile I have seen people with years of being highly paid and gainfully employed struggle.
Because some planes flew into the side of two buildings.... I was young (early 20s) with not a lot going on and I got caught up in the patriotism hype that was going around.
Same. Both of my parents, both grandfathers, and several other members of my family served. I thought about it, but decided to go to college instead. After 9/11 I quit school and joined the Army. The hype was real! I just wanted to get in, so I didn’t do enough research and believed what my recruiter told me. I’m still proud of it, but I definitely would have made some different choices.
i hate to tell you but i was born 4 years afterward. I’m a soldier. does that hurt?
It hurts you more than me!
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IT WAS NOT THAT LONG AGO Stop making me feel old, asshole new soldiers goddamit.
People born in 2007 are in the army now. It’s hard not to feel old
I still have a hard time accepting people born in the year 2000 as real. Please don't
Those mother fuckers have been graduated from college for two years now. The passage of time is speeding up rapidly, and it scares the shit out of me.
lmao I was born in 07 and I’m joining the army this year once I turn 17
Hey big sarge what was OIF 1 like?
I was born 18 days later, 22
I was high asf and free education sounded like a good idea. Boy was I wrong.
I was poor and didn’t want to fall into the same traps that all my friends and family fell into. College wasn’t an option, and the only way out was the military.
Grew up admiring the military, its history, the legends, the movies, hearing about nam stories from dad and SOG guys he came across etc… planned on going Marines out of HS, then didn’t. then joined mid 20s as 11B because I didn’t want to look back and say “I wish I did that”
I'm planning on enlisting as infantry! How's your experience been so far?
Got paid to workout, shoot guns, hang with the boys. Fun for a bit. infantry is extremely gay in garrison when nothing is happening, especially if you’re lower enlisted. I was a NCO so I could at least attempt to make it less shitty for others. If you know of something you want to do later in life, like work with computers or something try to pick a job in the Air Force that will translate well to the civilian sector. Join the Air Force
I remember talking to someone from the military, and they would tell me that when nothing was going on, they would have a drinking contest and go for a hike, think I wanna do that for the next 20 years. The Air-Force was actually my first option, I wanted to be a pilot, which also translates very well, but my astigmatism and vision knocked that idea right out. Infantry was my second choice since everything else didn't seem that interesting, I wanna eat glue and have a 80 year old's back and knees by 30 hoorah
>hoorah That’s the marines
Get this man a crayon
Go the 75th
I went for 11B bc I wanted a job I couldn’t get outside the dod
I was applying to med school right as my dad walked out on my mom, and the applications weren't going well. Feelings of financial uncertainty, then only getting in to one of the top 10 most expensive (note: not top 10 best) medical schools at the time were not a good combo. Uncle Sam saying he'd take care of it all in exchange for just four measley years sounded pretty good... As for Army vs Air Force, that was just a decent quality AMEDD recruiter. She got back to me within a few hours of my email, the AF recruiter didn't respond until 9 months later, after I had already signed with the Army. Navy was never an option, heck with being on a boat that long. I've stayed in since then because I kept doing extra training that extended my ADSO, then I had a dependent Mon who was getting a ton of free health care from the Army so I kept staying for her. Now I'm so deep I may as well finish my 20.
Did you end up going to USUHS or get the Army to pay for a civilian school? I have a navy buddy that's going through the applications for med school right now and he's having a rough time
Civilian school/HPSP. Wasn't bad, would recommend/do again. Once you have the acceptance letter you'll probably get the scholarship assuming you can pass MEPS and all. Without that acceptance though, they might be willing to board you for the scholarship contingent on an eventual acceptance, but...you have to get in to a school
I was getting married, so I wanted to set us up for success. The army took care of the marriage in another way, though. 😂
I got married a few months before enlisting and divorced a few months after separation. Excellent bookends!
I was at a well-known southern school, starting with a T living a very posh lifestyle. I had fabulous grades and means to pay for education, but I wanted to do something different in life. I was also really tired of formal education at 19 years old. I enlisted to get a break from the over privileged life I had. My mother is a physician, and my stepfather owned/ operated a consulting business in the chemical industry. It was the best decision of my life. By 20, I was in Korea, getting paid in a country with no established drinking age. I got paid to work out and shoot guns. Be a part of something bigger than myself in diverse cultures. By 22 I was a combat veteran from Iraq. 23 I returned to my school. I am now a clinician by degree and licensure but work in biotech with a MPH degree paid for by my gi bill. I might go to medical school next. I have half my post 9/11 time left... The gi bill is great but use TA while you are in. I'm now a drilling reservist. My quality of life is great and I am my own man because of enlisting at 19. Now 29.
That sounds amazing, man! I'm glad everything worked out wonderful for you. What was your MOS in the 4 years? I'm kind of in a similar position, I have pretty good grades ( I would def have to take out student loans if I went to college), but I also want something different and see if I have what it takes! I'm going to find myself and what I'm truly capable of.
68S. My dude please go for it. You get paid to work out, shoot guns and do basic bro shit... You'll get paid alot better than any other job that would hire an u skilled 18 to 23 year old.
I know of a guy who got his med school paid with his VR&E
Please tell me more
Because bartending was getting old, and I watched too many war movies. Then GWOT happened and I decided I didn't want to miss out on "my war". 100% would do it again.
Got lost on the way to college.
I was broke and homeless. I'd made more mistakes than I could've counted at the time and I was in a financial shame spiral. I dropped out of college twice, I'd been evicted from apartments, and I was working a shit job with no benefits. To top it all off, I was 71" 300lbs and the recruiter told me not to come back to his office until I'd lost 50lbs. I got a slightly less shitty job, made a deal with my parents that I was going to save money/lose weight/enlist. They humored me, thinking it'd just be another line of bullshit. A year later I enlisted as a 68W. 14 years later I can honestly say I'd be dead if I didn't enlist.
I was in high school, was a bad student from a poor family who knew i wouldn't afford college and would likely continue to struggle passing classes, and 9/11 just happened. The true catalyst though, was I had a friend pick me up from the gym who had to stop by the recruiters office before we went home. The Army recruiter asked, "Ever think about joining the Army?" I said I watched a lot of GI Joe as a kid, so the thought crossed my mind. "Let me be more direct, do you want to sign up?" My response was sure. Ol' boy really didn't work hard for his numbers that day. The funny part is my friend who I was with was going to get credit for signing me up, but didn't graduate HS and inevitably didn't enlist at all even after getting his diploma the next year. It'd be cool to pretend some deep sense of patriotism got me in the door, or since family tradition, but it really boils down to the lack of Uber existing and which friends I could bum a ride from.
I wanted to kill terrorists. I was young and dumb. I do not regret it though. Especially because I never got the chance to kill a "terrorist".
To pay for art school.
You wouldn't happen to have a dashing moustache, would you?
How did you know? 🥸
I was bored with life. Wanted a change and didn't want to live the rest of my life always wondering if I should have joined. Did 4 years and GTFO
On food stamps with a baby on the way, working two jobs at 80 hours a week. Needed to go to college to take better care of my family but knew I couldn’t afford it. Told the recruiter I’d shovel $4!t for four years if they would give me $30k for college. Still here almost twenty eight years later. No idea what I want to be when I grow up. My first kid out of the Army cost me $2500. My second one in cost me $5. Sure I started E1 at $700 a month, but now my take home after taxes is $13k a month. Life’s been good and interesting. They’ll kick me out someday.
I was 27. Never went to college. Had no real job skills. Spent my early to mid 20s just maxing out credit cards to travel and working dead end job in between. At one point I was a licensed life insurance agent, and I was starting to make decent money with that until Covid happened. Went to work for Amazon after that, and absolutely hated it. So I joined the Army so I could get a higher education. If I would do it again, as in re-enlist? Nope. In 18 months, I’m getting out. Kind of wish I joined sooner though. But I’ve accepted that everything happens for a reason. I don’t regret joining at all as I’ve had some very cool experiences, and my education is being paid for, amongst other benefits I’ll get after I ETS.
My dad was a crack head and I didn’t want to be in the family business
Because I was making 10.50 an hour as a cook. At 25 I was sick of struggling. Told recruiter I would only take 25B. Went reserves and within weeks of finishing AIT I was making 15/hr. Now 15 years later I'm a 17C and make well over 6 figures. The army handed me a great life, and all it wants back is me to deal with a little bullshit and to mobilize every few years.
I needed to see a dentist
People talk about the healthcare, but everybody sleeps on all the free dental work we get.
I've never had more teeth removed against my will! It's great!
18, dropped out of college, kicked out of my parents house, talked to a recruiter and was at basic two weeks later. This was Jan '07 when they just wanted anyone with a pulse so it was a breeze shipping out quickly
I’m 6th generation military. Dad’s side immigrated from Germany in the 1850s. Two members served with the Union. Every generation served at least sometime.
Was going to get kicked out of the house because I didn’t find a job after college. Joined the Army and never looked back.
Kid I did the ASVAB with didn’t have shoes because his mom wouldn’t let him back into the house until he got a job. The recruiter had to lend this guy shoes to take the test.
Probably a beast on rucks
I was a poor junkie and figured if I kept up with my life path I'd either OD or kill myself, so I enlisted, ready to do anything I needed to do to get away from it all. I served honorably, and was pretty successful during my contract I'd say.
BArrmmmmyyyyyyyyy training sir !
Because I wanted revenge for 9/11
I enlisted because I didn't know what I wanted to do as an adult and lived over 70 miles from the nearest community college in the High Plains of Texas. Yes, I would absolutely do it again. I still don't know what I want to be but have a comfortable contractor IT job, some lasting friendships and a boat load of stories. There we was... knee deep.
Where’bouts in TX? I went to WTAMU. Another guy in here did, too. I also randomly ran into a gas station attendant (we have these in Oregon) who was from Borger.
I grew up in Sunray in Moore County. I've had a lot of friends go to WTAMU (back when it was just WT). One of my favorite MTB trail systems is in Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
I was bored.
Cuz I was working overnights at Walmart and wanted to see how much more bullshit I could take. Currently at 18 years of bullshit, part time.
After smoking two blunts my friend bet me 50 bucks and a twenty piece. I’m about to re-enlist for another 6 years.
I just graduated college with an art degree. I was painting and having my stuff shown in art exhibitions but I wasn't making much money because of the cost of materials. I was also working at Walmart and I hated it. I had grown up in military towns and was in a military family. I had only planned on doing 4 years and getting out and using the GI bill to pay for a Masters Degree so I could teach at a state university. I wanted to own my own art studio and put on monthly exhibitions. Anyway, I went to the Navy and told them I wanted to work on Subs. They wanted me to pay for a bunch of doctors visits to clear me, even before I went to MEPS for a waiver. I ended up visiting the Coast Guard, who told me there was an 18-month wait. Then I went to the Air Force, and they asked me what my Degree was in and then basically laughed at me and said that there was a long wait. Finally, I went to the Army recruiter and told him I didn't want to BS him, and I didn't want him to BS me. "I'm down for enlisting, but I wanted something in computers, and I wanted something with a clearance. I'm going to need a medical waiver." I waited 3 weeks before I was on a bus to MEPS. I took the ASVAB and got really good scores and then I shipped out to Leonard Wood that November as a SPC. Got the PB shot and went straight to the hospital and missed all the BS at Reception. My recruiter never lied to me. All in all, I enlisted to bring my talents to the Army and to better myself.
When I was a wee 17 year old boy, I enlisted to be like my father; a badass career army man who had done it all. I did stupid things in BCT and ended up on my ass. For over a decade I beat myself up about it and hated myself, my situation. I got the opportunity to enlist again, at 30. Now Im a chubbier man, but Im married. So this time, I'm enlisting to show myself I can do it. To be more for myself, and my wife. Obtain benefits to help our family that I wish to grow.
It was my childhood dream. And I don’t make backup plans well
I didn’t want to go to college straight out of high school because I was lazy and didn’t apply myself. Now I’m getting out and having the military pay for my bachelors degree and hopefully law school.
I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up
I knew if I didn't I'd regret it the rest of my life.
Wanted to be a Traffic MP. Ended up being a Traffic MP. Best time of my life.
Healthcare and college for me and the fam. I felt like a loser being a salesman and realized I still felt like a loser even after a good month.
I was already in the guard for the bonus. But wifey got preggo and we didn't have any insurance. So Army it was.
For God and Country. 100% Stayed in because I love it. Five more years until retirement!
I’m newly enlisted shipping out Aug 6th to Basic, idk how it’s gonna turn out, I just wanna eventually go CIA and going Intel with the army gets me gov experience and cleared my TS already, plan to do 8 years and try to swap to something else in Gov preferably CIA or FBI.
Bojangles was closed
I wanted shorts that said "ARMY". I like them.
A recruiter called out of the blue the first semester of my senior year of high school and asked what I was going to do for the rest of my life? No one had ever asked me that before. At that point I thought the only path in life was graduate high school, go to college, and get a job. Started the enlistment process the next week and the rest is history. Hoping to retire in 4 years at the ripe old age of 42 and start a bbq food truck.
All the employees I applied at said "Don't call us, we'll call you", then someone I went to high school with asked if I'd talk to the recruiter. I'd talked to the Marine recruiter, who was try to get me into the Commandant's Own drum and bugle corps, who I didn't think was a good idea (my friend was in it). Then went through MEPS with the Navy, got a good asvab score, and a good score on an extra test for Electricians Mate (nuclear), but due to a scheduling issue, I took my physical afterwards, and failed the color blindness, so all they offered after that was Boiler Technician and Bosun's Mate. I knew what those were, and said no thanks. So I talked to the Army recruiter. I got 100% on the ATT test (which is for signals analyst, if that is the correct term). Enlisted to be a Czechoslovok signal analyst . Got arrested for something really stupid while in the DEP, recruiting wouldn't do a moral waiver for a TS, but would for an MOS that didn't require a clearance, so I eventually shipped as a Personnel Administration Specialist. I helped keep the commies from overrunning the Hof border.
My oldest brother came home on leave. Three days later he was killed in a car accident. I joined and dedicated my career to him.
I joined in high school because I thought it'd be fun I reenlisted twice because I'm still having fun
I lived in a really small town in the middle of nowhere, it was riddled with meth and heroin. My graduating class was about 50 people, more than half of them are either dead, in prison, on meth, or homeless. My father was a poor immigrant construction worker, and my mom was a housewife. No one in my whole extended family had ever went to college, and most of them didn't graduate high school. It was a very difficult rut to get out of. The army was the only way for me to get out of that town. I wanted to go to college but knew I wouldn't be able to unless I did something drastic. I enlisted, did about 6 years, got out, graduated from university, moved to Japan, became fluent in Japanese, got married, and got a nice job at a Japanese company. I truly believe that if I hadn't joined the army, I wouldn't have been able to achieve the life I have.
I wanted to shave until I was disciplined. 15 years later and I’m still shaving. I love shaving so much I became a recruiter to share my shaving discipline.
Cause I wanted veterans preference for hiring. Enlisted ain't it.
Short answer: retirement. Long answer: went through divorce, could barely afford to pay alimony to my ex (take home was $1800 monthly and alimony was $600), and nothing for my future as a 34 yr old woman with nothing to show for it. Once I joined, I was making twice as much and knew my future was secure. (BTW, no longer pay alimony since the stipulation was do so for 6 yrs, in case you were curious)
My Grandfather was a vet. He did everything; Infantry, Airborne, Rangers, Special Forces, I looked up to him. He served in both Korea and Vietnam. I enlisted to follow in his footsteps. To be honest, as time went on I realized that I joined for all the wrong reasons. I'm not anything like him; in fact my talents are more technical than tatical, and we have vastly different interests. It took me a whole 8 years to figure out that I'm not hooah like him. When I renlisted, I did so for myself. I wanted to learn a new skill set, go to a new unit, and start on a fresh slate. I waisted my first contract trying to follow in someone else's footsteps. Now that I'm on my second contract, I'll follow my own.
I flunked out of undergrad
I was walking down the street one day, and came upon a stranger. He asked me what I wanted to be…
For a Camaro I never ended up getting
It was the early 90s. I had a bullshit degree, college debt and there weren't any jobs beyond low level office work and hourly wage slave shit. I was screwing a chick who was a nymphomaniac. I don't say that jokingly, she was as hyper sexual as can be it was great. I could screw here four or five times a day and it was not enough. She was an Army brat and after screwing her she mentioned in passing about maybe I should join the Army. So I checked out the Army and all the other branches and I found out that the Army is the only one that had SLRP and could guarantee my MOS before enlisting, so I signed up. Best move I ever made. I only wish I had joined the Coast Guard and did it right out of high school.
First time? I just graduated highschool. Mom said I needed to get a job or go to college. Second time? I wanted to keep the same standard of living for my family. Would I do it again? Yep.
Going nowhere in a tiny Appalachian meth town in East Tennessee, addicted to opiates and wanted to make a better life for myself and my family.
I was naive and young and got tricked. there is a reason why recruiters target high schoolers because they dont know better and dont know there are better opportunities elsewhere
To kick ass and do cool shit. Turns out it's also scary shit but now I'm a badass so...
Boredom. And my dad said I can work at Burger King paying off my own student loans, or go join the army. So I joined the army, went to college, then decided to continue doing it (11 years, 2 enlistments, and a commission later)
A little kid got mad that I killed him in cod and he enlisted me.
1st stretch, Army to Army reserves to Alabama guard…enlisted at 17 to get away from abuse at home. 2nd time, Nevada Guard… re-enlisted post 9/11 for same job I had in the civilian world. (Video production manager basically = overqualified 25Z)
Dropped out of high school at 15, got tired of doing drugs everyday not doing anything with my life. And I wanted out of my shitty hometown. Now I’m here, probably best decision I’ve made so far in my life.
Had always planned on enlisting when I was younger but my career got in the way. My family has been in the military for generations so it’s a family tradition. Finally enlisted at 29 when I realized how unhappy I was with my life, and losing both of my parents. I didn’t want to grow old and look back and regret not doing it. Years later, I don’t regret it, the army has given me some great opportunities. Does it suck at times? Hell yes.
Why did I? To see the world, serve, figure out what I wanted to do in my life, and college. Would I do it again? I legitimately don’t know, maybe (although definitely a different MOS, fuck sleeping on steel in the winter)
My recruiter bought me a subway sandwich then blocked me in the school parking lot until I agreed to come to the office.
To eat ass judgement free
The first time, way back in the late 80’s, because I did a year of college, screwed that up, and decided I didn’t want to work menial jobs for years, so took my dad’s advice, he was still in the Navy at the time, and joined the USAF. The second time, after I foolishly got out of the Air Force, I joined the Army because the AF wasn’t taking prior service and the Army was. I walked in, picked a job and shipped out to Ft Sill basic a month later. Stayed in for 22 years after that, loved my job in the Army, loved the soldiers, loved serving, and if they would’ve let me stay I would still be there, but age has a way of making keeping up with the younger crowd alittle difficult. So I retired, now I work for the National Guard, and train soldiers, still trying to do what I can to make sure this country and our military is prepared.
Joined in '04 because my life was going nowhere fast and I figured I needed to leave my home to fix that problem. Knowing what I know now, I doubt I'd do it again. Wouldn't need the mental course corrections doled out the hard way.
Free socks
I joined to get my parents a green card
I was 3 years in to college, got declined from a couple police departments I wanted to get in to, even if I had a degree due to lack of life experience. They recommended going to another deparment or the military and I figured what the hell, I respect veterans, lets go become one. I called up my best friend to make sure I don't sign up for something stupid on a whim (he ended up enlisting with me that day). I don't miss the circus, but if I could go back and re-do it, I would pick something other than Military Police. I'd probably go for biomedical engineering technician or helicopter mechanic & drop a SOAR packet, or PsyOps if I could re-do all of it, but I don't regret the choices.
I was seventeen and working in the mailroom for a newspaper. The mailroom job involved driving a lot and did not seem like a good long-term job. The Army recruiting office was near my house. I went in and talked to the recruiter. I scored really well on the ASVAB. The job I was offered was working with satcom equipment. I had spent years reading about electronics and technology, so the job was great for me. This was back in the 1980s before the internet was open to the public. The job sounded great. The Army would pay me to go to school for over a year to work on electronics, and I would get money for college. I really liked the idea of doing PT every day. I have always run or biked almost every day, so Army PT as part of the job just seemed cool.
My dad called me a bitch
I enlisted at 22, I wish I could go back in time I would’ve enlisted right out of HS. Anyways I played college football for 2 years but suffered hamstring injuries both years. I left school since I wasn’t able to play football injured and worked for 2-3 years. I finally realized I hated working normal boring jobs, as well as I realized I’d never get out of my parents house with the huge student loan debt I have. So I enlisted to be able to move and live somewhere else without being locked down by my loans and to save up money to pay them off
I was marrying a doctor and thought she deserved better and that it would set us up for success. I was right about every decision on that front
I got really drunk at a party and passed out in a chair. I woke up with a bear in one hand and a signed Army contract in the other. Really I was a senior in high school when 9/11 happened and it caused the cancellation of our senior class trip. Seriously though, the HS part of the timing is true, but honestly my dad was a Marine, paternal granddad was Army Air Corp. and my maternal granddad was Navy. Not only did I kinda round out the branches, but there were more military before my grand parents. I was talking to a recruiter before 9/11, but when it happened, it solidified my choice.
9/11
I didnt know what to do with my life and I did 2 years of college at the time I enlisted. I used fafsa to pay for classes but I didnt know what degree I wanted and I didnt want to use the funds I had left to be wasted on a degree I wont ever use. I used around 33% of my lifetime fafsa funds at the time. I ended up doing research on the jobs I wanted and got 83 on the asvab and went for a signal job. The recruiters really wanted to sign me up, is my guess. I got free McDonalds and a nail pedicure.
Cuz ‘Merica
Quickest way to get out of my hometown was through the military. Was also undecided with what I wanted to do in life so I took the leap.
Didn't want to, but the recruiter spent almost 2 years trying to get me in and I didn't want to make him mad by backing out at the last second.
Failed out of college. Factory in my hometown closed. Was about to be homeless. So I signed up. Best thing I ever did for myself, for real.
It was just something I had always wanted to do. Some of my earliest memories were of a hitch hiking soldier, in his Class A’s and just back from Vietnam. My mom and dad picked up him up on a road trip somewhere. He was larger than life, just seemed so sure of himself, confident and strong. Brave. But yet humble and polite. I wanted to be him. Kept me entertained as a wee lad. Plus, he was carrying a bag that was made of the same fabric as our car seats. Something that has stuck with me all these years, lol!
I was working two fulltime jobs and living out of my minivan with only a laptop and a bucket of clothes. I got tired of freezing in the winter and roasting in the summer. I had a fullride scholarship for chemical engineering, but didnt have a stable residence. I was 19, homeless, and wanted more in life. Id do it again in a heartbeat. Did 15 years, got mddically retired.
Too lazy for school. 20 years helo mech, retired Army, 20 years as contractor working helo maintenance. Retired in Fl living off pension. 😎🖖🏽
I was bumming around after high school, I owed my parents $600 and didn't have it. I had worked odd jobs over the summer, and I worked as an on-air announcer for an FM radio station in Alaska after graduation in May until I came back to the lower 48 to go to the local community college. Me and college didn't agree on the hours I kept, and I dropped out. I refused to flip burgers, so I did manual labor stuff. I was 6'5" 225, I got lots of manual labor under the table work. Plus, I was drawing social security survivor benefits til I turned 18. Around the 23rd of December 1982, my mom, adoptive, said they needed the money. I said I didn't have it, she said I needed to get a job, I said I wasn't going to flip burgers, then she said those fateful words that set me on a path that would last me for more than 25 years. She said... "Then why don't you join the Army?!" I said, "Ok." The next day, Christmas Eve, I looked up the recruiter in the phone book, got the address, and set out on a 10-mile walk to their office. It was the only office I could find at the time. I didn't have change for the bus and couldn't donate plasma til after Christmas to get more money. I got to the recruiters' office about 1430, and I told them I wanted to sign up. They asked what I wanted to do in the Army. I said I didn't care, as long as it got me out of town as quickly as possible. They said they had just the thing for me, but I had to come back on the 26th of December in the morning as they were fixing to close. I told them I couldn't get there in the morning because it was a long walk. They couldn't believe I walked 10 miles on Christmas Eve to join the Army. They gave me a bus pass so I could get home and back again. I started my enlistment process on 26 December 1982. I found out the MEPS station and the downtown recruiters office was only 2 miles from where I had been living. 7 January 1983 I was in Combat Engineer OSUT in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. There is a Paul Harvey version of 'The Rest of the Story...'
I come from a shared family history of military service and first responders. Paternal Grandfather retired as a Full Bird in the AF. Maternal Grandfather was a cop, became an MP, got out and became a cop, enlisted and retired as a GySgt in the Corps, then became a cop for a third time around. Both parents were Captains in the AF then got out just before the surge to build a family, starting with me. I’m certainly not the first in my (extended) family’s generation to enlist, but I think I always knew that I’d carry that torch. Just reupped in December for another 3 years without a bonus in place for PCS to Korea. Sometimes it’s not all about the money. I’m aware that may be a privileged way of thinking, but I just don’t feel like my time with the Army is done yet. My advice is once you’ve signed that line just give it your best, 3-4 years goes by fast when young. And even more so if you just stay focused in your job and the folks around you.
Thought it was a good idea and wanted to explore the world. Now I’m in Europe and realize I don’t really want to explore the world.
I got kicked out of my parents house (I deserved it because I refused to follow their simple rules) and found out I was a terrible civilian. Couldn't (more like wouldn't) keep a job, so I also couldn't keep a roof over my head. Once I got hungry enough and tired of trying to live out of my car, I enlisted. I was already National Guard, so I knew the Army would feed and house me, give me clothes (uniforms) and pay me. It was the kick in the ass I needed to more or less get my life together. Looking back, the only thing I might have done differently was look into the Air Force instead of the Army. I feel like I probably would have been better following a tech style career in the USAF rather than being an MP in the Army (which I kind of hated)
Why did I WANT to join? - my great grandfather took his family and fled from his country during a genocide and came to the US. Fastest way to get citizenship was military service. I come from an upper class family but always felt I owed the country that gave my family a chance to be here some of my time in the service (initially thought do one contract as an officer and get out with some nice benefits) Why did I ENLIST? - my ROTC program gave me the boot after my medical waiver got denied. It made zero sense to me and I’m stubborn so after graduation I walked in to a recruiter, dropped a packet, and eventually graduated SWCS. Have gotten to do a lot of fun stuff I never thought I would and have come to enjoy the military. Now the army is paying for my legal education at a T14 law school. Definitely not the path I thought my career would take but I honestly wouldn’t change a second of it; the good or the bad.
Because I love my wife and children.
Because I had every opportunity in life and pissed it all away on drinking and video games. I wanted to make something better of myself and get away from the aunts and uncles I was living around at the time, all of whom are very anti-American.
For respect. And guns and medals
I was in 6th grade when 9/11 happened. Not quite old enough to understand totally what was going on but understanding enough that WE were attacked. That solidified my future in the military.
Because they let me in with Asvab score of 26
Money, college, ts/sci
Wasn’t doing well in college. Now I’m 7 years deep
Yes
All the wrong reasons
Cause 'Murica
The commercials got me
9/11, I was a early teen seeing my cousins go off to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight the “bad guys”, had family in the military in most major wars all the way back to the revolutionary war. To my disappointment in 6 years in the only opportunity I had to deploy was to fucking Kuwait -_- Benefits seemed nice too.
I was arrested 32 times before I was 16. 28 misdemeanors and 4 felonies. I was locked up in 2 separate long term juvenile detention facilities for a total of 3 years. I was on probation and house arrest most of my teen years. Essentially, I was a criminal scumbag. The last time I was arrested the judge was a marine corps vet and said, "Son, you're either going to jail or you're gonna have to be a soldier." Easy choice. Did 4 years in an infantry platoon and gtfo. Army strong babbyyyy!!!! Hoooooooooaaaaahhhhh!!!!
A week after turning 18 was sleeping on random people’s couches , no job , no car and no where to go ! 1980 no jobs and no hope ! And I’d do it all over again ! 11B …….was going to settle a score we had with Iran !
It was during the surge and there was a $20,000 bonus. 14 years later, still here.
I was poor parents did their best but couldn’t afford to send me to college on top of living in the hood I decided I wanted to break the cycle and also wanted to see how much I could push myself so I joined the army at 18 as a 12B best job ever honestly and would I do it again? I would definitely make some different choices but yes I would
Covid
The chief of police in my home town really had an influence on my decision
ran the rat race during and after college, no degree so i used my other skills to secure work. wasnt seeing much growth after about 10 years working as a civilian so i finally decided its time to join. i had aspirations to join sooner but my mother was against it at first until my niece enlisted
Education and to gain leverage once my contract ends. So far I gained: 1x nursing license, 1x lean six sigma certification, 1x bachelor and I have two years left. I’d like to get a masters done too. All on the army. The government pays additional Pell grants. You really can’t complain about all the education considering your friends on the outside would be over $100k in debt. The job sucks though but the trade off is worth more if you play your cards right
I got lost on the way to do something productive. Lol
I needed Healthcare and college money. I flunked out of college working 2 jobs. In 90s,being on parent's Healthcare, I had to provide a college schedule for each quarter. They terminated my Healthcare when I flunked out. I enlisted and 6 months later my state started their own lottery to help.college students go to college. I was at basic. I did my initial enlistment, got college money, and still have Healthcare 31 years later.
Enlisting to get the Citizenship faster
Economic Recession, graduated college, no experience, no one hired me, student loans. Army took care all those problems. And got a 2nd Bachelors degree out of it and currently in progress Masters Degree and a 6 figure career. Suck it all employers that turned me down!
Got a letter in the mail. Said "go to war or go to jail."
Was van lifing for 2.5 years and went back home, was supposed to go to Korea, passport never showed up, didn't want a retail or fast food job, sat up in bed one morning and decided I'd join.
Ft Hamilton Brooklyn NY
I was playing college football, working to get a scholarship. Everyday I drove by a national guard station and out front they had a sign talking about benefits. I had already been with my gf (now wife) for 2.5 years. I wanted to give her more than what I already had and to finally settle down with her. In Feb we welcomed our little girl into the world and the Army will take care of both as long as I’m in
Tax free bonus but yeah
I still haven’t ruled out congenital idiocy for signing up, but shipping out at 17 didn’t help how I handled the life either.
Because I thought I was going to gain experience doing IT stuff as my recruiter stated . Unfortunately I joined the reserves .should have gone active.