Good for you! Thank you for your service. I think the one thing that will help you as you get thru boot and into the swing of things is a good attitude. It's easy to cop a poor attitude in the service. The reasons are many, but include a big bureaucracy that often seems inept and a "hurry up and wait" mindset that can get very irritating. Then there are your fellow soldiers, many of whom have a bad attitude themselves. This can be very addictive because to be "one of the guys" you have to act like them.

But if you pull the right strings you can do just about anythimng, includig getting the Army to pay for college and graduate school. If you've got the moxie for it, get a degree, then go to OCS. You can make a great career of this....

....or you can screw it up and be one of those who "can't wait to get out."

Good luck to you.

Originally posted by IkNOwSTuff


To the OP, apologies if I came across as rude.

No worries, no apology necessary.

Thank you also for clarifying the meaning of the future soldiers thing.

Stay safe.

You are quite welcome and I hope to stay safe. As for the parts of your post that i cut out of the quote, it is a totally understandable point of view. I take no offense to any of what you say. I half expected many here on ATS to express the same exact sentiments, and some have, but some have been supportive as well so far. Not every here agrees on the issues and this is one where I am sure if we have 100 different comments we are likely to get close to that many differing opinions. This is something very personal to me and I respect your point of view. Thank you for your comments!

Man I said it once, imma say it twice, I just love the phenomenon of synchronicity. Earlier today I made the conscious decision that I will be joining the Army Reserve, and this was way before I discovered your post. Great minds think alike? (;
But yeah, I am already a veteran of the armed forces, I was AF for 3 years before I got out in 2010. Since then, my life has been tumultuous, yet in a motivational kind of fashion. I am now faced with homelessness and am staying with relatives until I get back on my feet. I have been on a powerful spiritual journey of self realization as well, prompted by my activities and semi-illegal way of living, which brought me on that journey. Basically I realized the streets are not where I want to be lol.
At the end of the day, Everyman joins for his or her own personal reasons, and the military Does take good care of their own, it is essentially one big worldwide family! You are doing good thing for yourself and your family. Keep your attitude the way it is and you will succeed far in the mil. I also plan on going into the medical field, since the first job I had wasn't what I truely wanted, you picked the right field to be in trust me...
Just do you...can't go wrong with that right?

Welcome to the family,

---1love

Thank you for your sacrifice and commitment.

We are lucky to have individuals such as your self to stand up and protect our freedom.

Do you know where you will take basic at?

My father and I both did basic at Fort Leonardwood, and actually....even in the same company (just many years apart however)

Originally posted by vogon42
Thank you for your sacrifice and commitment.

We are lucky to have individuals such as your self to stand up and protect our freedom.

Do you know where you will take basic at?

My father and I both did basic at Fort Leonardwood, and actually....even in the same company (just many years apart however)

Ft Leonard Wood for me too,
what years were you there?

Originally posted by youdidntseeme

Ft Leonard Wood for me too,
what years were you there?

Cool what a coincidence (Leonardwood in the past was specifically combat engineers, MP's and NBC)

National Guard, so not stationed there, but graduated basic in 1988.

Yes (1988), we drove jeeps, wore steel pots, fired the M60 and the M16A1....ahhh, the good old days

BTW: the food is not as bad as they make it sound (at least not in 1988), the Drill Sgts eat in the same chow hall.....so they are not going to put up with nasty food.

Leonardwood is a pretty cool place over all, your in the Ozark mountains....nice scenery....on those rare occasions when you get the chance to slow down and look.

Originally posted by youdidntseeme
I am 32 and have a life that I have built. This is just going to become another part of it.

.

Holy Hell Bro, you're my age! (Actually I'm 31) Kudo's to you man. I went in the Corps at 18 and came out in my early 20's ... It's a young mans game brother, I couldn't imagine going in right now , no so much because of the physicality (I'm a firefighter and in better shape now) but because I'm just in a different headspace than I was 13 years ago (Can't believe it's been that long!)

In any event , congrats to you bro... be safe and get what you can out of it!

Originally posted by EyesWideShut

Holy Hell Bro, you're my age! (Actually I'm 31) Kudo's to you man. I went in the Corps at 18 and came out in my early 20's ... It's a young mans game brother, I couldn't imagine going in right now , no so much because of the physicality (I'm a firefighter and in better shape now) but because I'm just in a different headspace than I was 13 years ago (Can't believe it's been that long!)

In any event , congrats to you bro... be safe and get what you can out of it!

Thats the one thing that I keep thinking about. I went to a practice pt sessions the other day, and i was the only ne over the age of 19...I was even older than the Sgt running the session.

I felt better when the teenage kids couldnt keep up, and it was just a slight workout for me.
But its weird thinking that by the time i grad AIT, there will be 17 year old signing up who are just about half my age!