What convinced you to join the military?
I don’t mean “Duty” or abject sense of “honor” or anything like that, I mean more like what things drove you towards service?
For me it was two things. The first was the book “Ender’s Game” which was largely responsible for landing me in a military school. But the second was the 1987-1990 TV series “Tour of Duty.” To this day when I hear Paint it Black I want to head off into the jungle and hunt Charlie.
Anyone else have some sort of thing that pushed them in this direction? Probably most of you were relatives, but I had none that served except my grandfather and he never even told me he served until I was in.
Category: Politics
Don’t remember there ever being a question of “if,” only when, and with some thought to “Can I survive in this Army family if I enlist in the Air Force?”
Most people assume they went to “Group” (yes Group NOT Regiment-I’m dating myself) because it was different than the RA. Some called RA the Regular Army, we called it the Raggedly Army. Years later, a teammate pointed it out succinctly, “We all ended up in Group because WE ARE DIFFERENT. I went for the challenge, and man did they whip it out in fucking spades. Thankfully I went hard early, because it just kept on getting harder. The only job where you busted your ass just to be average!
I think I knew since the age of about 11-12 that I was going into the military in some capacity, but it wasn’t until my junior year of HS that I knew I was going Navy and wanted to be a nuke and a bubblehead. Officer or enlisted wasn’t really that important a distinction to me.
My mother had other ideas–she wouldn’t even let me join the Civil Air Patrol. So maybe part was rebellion (my dad signed my PC for me as I was 17 when I went in.)
Army and Marines didn’t seem that interested in me (all their walkins seemed to be dopers in my HS), and frankly, when the Navy recruiter told me about the PI, I knew I made the right choice.
BLUF:
Boilers! I wanted to steam boilers and be part of the Black Gang, a Boiler Technician, the toughest rate in the Navy … a STEAMIN’ DEAMON SNIPE! After the Korean War my dad was one of the biggest boilermen in NYC. Today my eldest brother is on top of the boiler manufacturering insustry in the US. Of the 7 kids, 5 are either PE’s, mechanical or electrical engineers who all got their start building boiler and associated controls plants.
More on the 4 generations of warriors that started with the Boys of Kilmichael … The Dublin Guard, later I must hit the road for a few hours. Relocating to FOB Warwick.
Dad was full-time National Guard; his brother was USAF; another uncle Navy, and 2 others served at least one hitch. Yeah, that was an influence as you would expect.
But what DROVE me to commit to joining was- college. And it wasn’t just paying for it- although the fact that the NG would pay 100% tuition, it was the opportunity to get a leg-up on other grads with the training/experience the military gave me. I picked Signal not only because it was fun (and available locally) but it gave me training that wasn’t going to be given in college courses.
I had been accepted to Ohio U, and then I had to figure out how to pay for it. All said and done, by the time I was graduated, I only had 6k of student loans to pay back. A MINIMAL amount compared to today’s grads.
The training and discipline you get from the military is often overlooked today, what with all the focus on paying for school. Employers looking at grads will take experience PLUS edu over just a degree anytime.
My dad had 9 brothers and 2 sisters, most of whom served in either the Army or Navy during WWII, Korea and Vietnam. His father served during WWI. He lost a brother in Korea whose remains have never been found. It was pretty much a logical choice, although after spending the summer of 87 in the DEP and watching Full Metal Jacket, I wasn’t sure that choosing the Marine Corps was in my best interests. I guess that I turned out alright.
I did have relatives who served but never knew about it because nobody brought it up. So that was not a reason. However, I did have good friends enlist and actually influence my choice.
I recall despising having to rely on others and also knowing that I wanted life on my own terms. I knew when I was a junior in HS that I was going to do the Military. One, I would be paid and on my own. Two, I could save for school and go to school and bonus…travel. I applied to colleges and all that but I just didn’t want to go there. I told only my best friend and I left. Clean slate. I learned more in an 8 week span that I would have ever thought possible. To this day at the “Superbowl” E-1-1, Tank Hill, I remember what it felt like when I blew my claymore target to shit. Then, never having made a “Q” score on the M-16 practice ranges and finally killing it. Every single thing came together. I went to the Commander, who said I wouldn’t do it (let alone make it through basic) and we dropped for push-ups. Ahem–Lost my military bearing and I didn’t salute first before I said, “See, I told you so, sir.”
I had wanted to be in the Army since I was a little kid. Probably from watching GI Joe cartoons that were popular then, and watching classic war films with my dad
I was with my girlfriend when her grandmother’s flight crashed into the WTC. While I really wanted to join up right then, I stayed with her for awhile while she mentally recovered (her grandmother raised her). In late 2002, I finally swore in and shipped off to Ft. Leonard Wood and then to Ft. Hood. I had never felt the compulsion to serve before 9/11, but that event and seeing how it had directly affected someone I loved stoked the flames of patriotism inside of me. RIP Mildred Rose Naiman.
My father and everybody else’s fathers were WWII, Korea, or both veterans. “Objective Burma” and “Longest Day” made me want to be a Paratrooper, and Barry Sadler inspired me to go SF. My recruiter said I was too young, “have to be 21” to go SF but Airborne “unassigned” would be a “good choice”. It was really those two movies that made me want to be a soldier above all.
Three things for me. First, my father was career Army. Second, John Wayne, and the final reason was a short lived TV series back in the early 80’s called “For Love And Honor”.
Many things. But one of the things that pushed me over was visiting the Vietnam memorial.
I was a poor kid from the Blue Ridge Mountains. And the recruiter asked me if I wanted an extra $75 a month in my pay…
For Me it was my Dad who was in the Navy during the 1970s and got out when I was born in 80. I remember when I was younger he would tell me stories about traveling around the world and seeing things. That is what did it for me, and I ended up seeing many countries in my 9 years in the Navy.
I was born in the Army. At the time of my birth my father was a Captain in the Quartermaster Corps. The longest I lived in one place was the four years of High School, and that was after he had retired. I always wanted to be a soldier so it was a forgone conclusion that I would enlist. My peers all wanted to avoid the draft and go to college, I wanted to fly helicopters. That didn’t happen, blew the eye test, but I did spend four years in the Army. I was ready to try something else when my hitch was up. No other organization would have given a 20 year old the responsibility I had as a spec 5.
I had no money, no job, no prospects and no future.
Sounds lame but it is the truth.
Forebears, usually Army, going back to the Revolutionary War.
Friends, mostly reservists out of Kansas City but all SF in Vietnam. A few Navy guys. A cop who ignored an expired license, insurance, and tags to pull me over and ask what I had been doing the night before (knew my reputation was out of hand.) Never looked back.
I was very gung-ho about the Iraq war, and figured I should friggin’ do something about it. Many influences (by the time you’re 35, you accrue a lot of influences), but really, for me it came down to this:
http://www.vinmag.com/online/media/gbu0/prodlg/AP1182-daddy-what-did-you-do-in-the-great-war-poster-1910s.jpg
Various reasons.
I wanted to work and I hated college
I was 21. I was old enough to decide what to do with my life
I had friends who were over in Vietnam.
It just seemed like the right thing to do.
My father even thought it was a good idea.
I read a lot when I was in grade school, and watched all the John Wayne WWII movies (no cable in the late ’70s). I knew from the time I was 10 I wanted to be in the military in one way or another. If I had to pick a book that heavily influenced my decision, it would be Fields of Fire by James Webb, even though I became a Submariner and not a Marine.
I had an uncle who was WW2 vet and another uncle who was a Vietnam vet, both had been in the infantry and both were guys that I respected. Both had made comments about the service not necessarily making them tougher, but making them realize they had the necessary mental toughness to succeed and get things done. I had grown up with a concrete construction worker German dad and hard as nails German mom and I was athletically strong, I thought I was mentally tough as well but I really didn’t know if was or wasn’t….but I graduated with honors from high school and took a couple of years off from college to consider the future. I had no grand designs on patriotism, or service or duty to country….I just wondered if being physically strong was in spite of mental toughness or because of it. I wondered if I would measure up with other men in a positive way when it came to serving as a soldier. I actually found a great paying job when I left high school, I was making about 5 times the minimum wage in 1976 and worked that job for a couple of years after high school graduation. I enjoyed making the money and buying stuff but I still had that concern in my head that I might not be good enough to serve my country. So in 1978 I quit my high paying job and signed up as an 11b to make less than $400 a month when I had been making more than that per week. I went to Ft Dix for basic and then Ft. Benning for AIT. I met and served with some great people and served under some men I’ve never forgotten. That focus on results has led to a great career in private industry for the last 30 years involving some senior managerial positions and a directors position at my current employer. I was never the quality soldier that so many of you here have clearly been, I was just another regular infantry guy who learned to serve his… Read more »
Brother was Navy, Dad did a couple of years in WWII. Had lousy dead end job and always thought I might be decent at it. There was only one way to find out. Then that B-52’s song “Roam if you want to” kept playing on the radio and I was gone.
Tradition…My Grandfather and Great Uncles all served in WWI, My Father and Uncles served in WWII and Korea. My father( BAR man) was was a Bronze Star with Valor, Purple Heart recipient for action during the Battle of the Bulge. My Uncle was a POW after being capture when the bomber he was a tailgunner on was shot down( he was shot down three times).I joined in 1966 and volunteered for Vietnam in 1969. My brother served in Desert Storm and my son just finished 4&1/2 years with Bravo Co., 2-508th PIR, 4BCT, 82nd Airborne Division with two tours downrange in Afghanistan. Family tree covers all branches of the military. Like I said TRADITION.
Partially for the challenge, partially for the college $$$, and partially because of Vic Morrow in Combat!
a baloney sandwich, a 6 pack of Michelob and a boring summer day. The recruiter caught me at a really good time
In all honesty-inertia. I was 17 and I took the ASVAB to get out of class, then the Army recruiter wouldn’t give up despite my indifference (the Marine recruiter had) and I got slightly strong armed at MEPs. I mean, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me, but that’s the truth of it, I really didn’t have any other plans.
I had always been attracted to the idea of being in the service when I was a kid-my grandfather who was my personal hero had been a grunt in Italy in WWII, but 17 year old me was kind of driftless, and the Army took me and made me a better man, which I think is probably the case with a lot of us.
My Dad mostly, a Marine in the Korean War – Inchon, Chosin, and then attached to the Korean Marines. Watching WWII war movies with him as a kid, Sgt Rock comic books and any other war comic.
Funny story – asking my dad about his dad, I found out that when WWI started, my granddad and his buddies went to Canada to fight – they were all Scottish immigrants that had naturalized, but the US wouldn’t join the war quick enough. So they went north to enlist and fight for the crown. How times changed by the ’60s, huh?
my father was in 5th group in the 80s, and growing up all i ever did was try to best my dad in everything i could. i was 17 when i graduated high school in 02 and went off to Ft Benning the next day. enlisted with an airborne infantry contract and volunteered for RIP in airborne school. being a Ranger was about the only thing my father never did in the army, so it was my goal from day one.
LebbenB-where are you from? I am from Morganton, N.C. at the base of the mountains.
I enlisted two days after my eighteenth birthday. Not for money. E-1’s made $90 a month, and working Iron, I made over three times that in 1970. As my father before me, and his father before him, and our forefathers going all the way back to at least Spain kicking the Moors in their fourth point of contact out of Spain, I did it out of a sense of duty.
And I find nothing abject about Honor.
Since my dad was a paratrooper with the 82nd, I read Jim Gavin’s book “On to Berlin” when I was still a kid. Later on, I got to know a retired Air Force Lt Col who flew in WWII, Korea and Vietnam and had some truly entertaining stories from his many near-death experiences. Those two things pretty much sold me on being in the military in some form or fashion.
The clincher, though, was the assistant guidance counselor at my school. He had been a PJ in Vietnam, then retired as a Captain when he got his commission and switched over to combat controller. When he heard I was interested in maybe doing ROTC at whatever college I landed in, he dragged me into his office and told me to apply for the Air Force Academy. “It’s full of egg-heads and kiss-asses,” he told me, “but it will guarantee you a slot in pilot training if your eyes stay good.” Being from the western mountains of Western NC, I managed to somehow get an appointment and the rest is history (just retired last year after flying helicopters for 20 years.)
I know my dad went into the Army after seeing the movie The Green Beret’s with John Wayne. Him and his brother bet each other they couldn’t make it, then they both ended up getting through selection. My family has a long history of military service as well though all the way back to the Revolutionary War.
PaveLowJohn-please see my post to LebbenB #29 above. If you don’t mind me asking where, exactly, are you from?
Looks like hillbillies are representing here!
Ironic that you would ask this question a week after his death. I had a lot of influences, including Church and Scouting, but the largest was Tom Clancy. I read Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger when I was 14 years old. His portrayals of the dedicated, patriotic professionals that occupy the Armed Forces made me feel like that is where I needed to be.
My dad had been in the Navy for years in between WW II and Korea. I heard all about the Navy. Being a unwealthy college student in the 80s, I read The Hunt for Red October the same year Top Gun came out. The Navy’s nupoc program looked mighty good ($) and was a good program anyway. Ended up being a submarine officer and did 8 years. Like my old Engineer Officer said, you couldn’t pay a million bucks to take it away from me and you couldn’t pay me a million bucks to do it again. Going back to school after I got out was a frickin’ vacation after so many years of being a nuc.
I guess I’ll show my age here. Although this commercial didn’t get me started in ROTC, it’s probably the thing that made me decide to stay (and I think it’s older than 1981).
Tom–no shit. Finishing college was a joke compared to the nuke pipeline and eight years at sea.
We used to bag on the O-gangers who were studying for their PNEO exams, calling it a two-month vacation, until one of the best/smartest officers I knew came back from DC having FAILED his PNEO board.
Like many of you, had family in WW1, WW2, Korea and Vietnam. Old Man was Navy during the Cuban Missile era – got enough stories about bouncing around hurricanes in a DE to know it wasn’t for me :). Had a cousin that was RA when I graduated from high school and knew where I was going. Family thing still going on – just had 2 cousins return from Kandahar and Helmand.
My indoc started way early. My paternal grand father had to run to China due to his “day job” as a moonshine runner was getting a bit hot. Lucky for him, he’d recently married into a family that was big in Shell Oil, so he had a job waiting for him in China as oilfield security manager and wild cat expedition leader. He (and my grand ma) were in China from 1930 until Pearl Harbor (plus one year for grand pa since the Dpt State sent the men folk to Mao for safe keeping after things got hot. Took geepa a year to get away and make it down the Burma Road to freedom. From there he went 90 day wonder to LtComm USN and took over running the POL stuff for one of the fleets. Geepa and geema had lots and loads of stories about the different type soliders they’d met and worked with in China. Many of geepa’s “officers” were expat USMC “China Hands”. When I was 8, my folks divorced. Ma ended up with us kids and the ol’ home was sold out from under us, so we ended up in a rental on the wrong side of the tracks. Mom was a school teacher so needed a baby sitter for us kids since we got home a few hours before she did every school day. A few houses down the street from us was an older childless couple that went to our church. He was a WW1 Marine Rifleman (and yes, the Rifleman part was cap every time he said it). He still had a mess of Jerry machine gun bullets in his gut. Mom had to leave for work pretty early so we’d go over to The Mister’s house about an hour before school. The Missus would make us a quick breakfast. I still recall The Mister saying to the Missus one morning after The Missus sugared a half a grapefruit for me. “Now, Missus, he’ll never grow up to be a proper Marine if you keep putting sweet on top of everything you feed… Read more »
My father being a Marine in Korea, even though he was drafted. His brother had been an Army QM Officer serving in Korea at the same time. Both lived. My dad had also served in Amphibious Recon after his tour in Korea.
Most of my dads slightly older friends had served in WW2. His dive buddy had been a POW in Germany. So, I was surrounded by adults who were vets growing up.
I read lots of books about WW2 as a teen. “Currahee!” and “Helmet for my Pillow” being the most influential. Used to cut class in High School to hang out in the library and read all the history books on WW2 and Korea.
I got my GED and tried to do college and Army ROTC, but I was burnt out on school and dropped out.
Later after having moved out and being sorta on my own and floundering, I enlisted in the Guard as a part timer to get some cash in my pocket. I loved it so much that when the Reagan military was flush with cash and beefing up the Reserves, I applied for an AGR position as an E-2, made it to the Hiring Board, which was very much like a Promotion or NCO of the Year Board and beat out 10 other guys applying and got hired. I stayed until they tossed me out after 26 total years.
I enlisted in the Army at age 22 in 1972. Enlistment options: Infantry MOS, Airborne training and duty and unit of choice 101st Airborne (the 101st’s 3rd Brigade was still on jump status then).
Reason? Same as today
There’s a war on and by God, Uncle Sam needs fighten’ men!!
p.s.
The month after I got my 11B MOS the Paris Peace Accords were signed.
I can’t remember when I DIDN’T want to join the service. I was running around with a stick for a gun ever since I could walk. The thought of doing anything else literally never crossed my mind.
My graddad built B-29’s. My dad and uncles were in the service. But for me it was working a low paying job as my boss was worth $1 million. I asked my girlfriend “Should I keep looking for work to make another man rich or should I do something with my life?”
We talked and decided that since the Army (this was 2007) was hiring I should sign up. The Army values sealed the deal. I’ve reupped and enjoyed it ever since.
As a kid, I thought of it as something one did on the way to becoming a man.
Pretty simple for me… I got a beautiful chick knocked up and figgered out that my career choice of being a Rock and Roll drummer wasn’t going to work for having a family…
Best thing that ever happened to me save for the three beautiful daughters I have !!!
I am third generation Army. As many said above, it wasn’t “if”, it was “when”.
I’ve wanted to serve since childhood (GI Joe sure did glamorize things). My older brother joined when I was 7 and my dad had served in the late-50s; they were merely carrying on the tradition of service my family has had since we were still English subjects. Having made a few poor choices like dropping out of school and getting a (fairly minor) criminal conviction, I was ineligible to enlist until my early-20s. By that time I had started a family and career and decided to “compromise” by joining the VA National Guard. I spent 1999-2001 waiting on the Guard to process a waiver for blood pressure (went through at least three Recruiters who would insist they had submitted it; every few months, my Recruiter would move elsewhere and the new guy would tell me no waiver was submitted–so I’d take more time off of work to get updated readings only for the process to repeat). On 10 September 2001 my life was turned upside down when I lost my job; on 11 September the entire world was turned upside down. Suddenly, even someone like me was worthy of serving his country, and I no longer had much reason to serve part-time. The VARNG recruiting station was on Defense Supply Center Richmond and locked down, but a Regular Army station was around the corner. I walked in, retook the ASVAB and physical screening, and enlisted a short time later. As a Recruiter I made it my goal to do everything in my power to assist someone who truly wanted to serve but needed a little assistance–whether it was a waiver or repeated attempts at the ASVAB. I watched Louisiana National Guard Recruiters “pocket” people the way their VA counterparts had done me–leading them around in circles for months or years. Twelve years after the fact I still want to walk up to a VA Guard Recruiter in dress uniform and ask about my “waiver”. All that aside, I sometimes have to take a step back and put my career in perspective. It hasn’t been all I thought it would be,… Read more »
Read Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers”. Best political philosophy I’d read before Barry Goldwater’s “Conscience of a Conservative”.
Went Infantry because of “Rico’s Roughnecks”.
Still think I made the right choice. I’ll forever be an 11Bravo10!!! Nothing may be achieved without good infantry (Field Marshal Montgomery).
I joined to beat the boredom, do cool shit and blow shit up.