On May ninth of two thousand eleven I began a journey that changed my entire life. This journey was becoming an active duty soldier in the United States army. I learned many things in my time as an enlisted soldier. Many of the skills I continue to use in everyday life. I met many people from many cultures. learning their meaning of family each being different than my own. That day was the first step of many that would show me self-awareness, pride, humility and, most of all, the strength one gains from family. It was shortly after high school that I decided to enlist in the army. I never mentioned it to anyone, I was sure of what I wanted to do. Acquiescing was never a trait I had, my decisions were mine alone and I knew so were the consequences. Over the course of six weeks I trained and studied rigorously. I had Prepare for the entry test at times in the dark. At that time it was April of two thousand eleven and tornadoes had done horrific damage to the city. Amongst the chaos my house was damaged and we lost our power for about a week. …show more content…
From her response i could tell she thought I was trying to antagonize her for one thing or another. I let her know I would be at the Maxwell Air Force base for the next twenty four hours to sign the required documents to enlist in the army. She then bereted me asking why would i do such a thing. I explained best i could before simply telling her it’s something I have to do for me. Feeling I wasn’t being completely honest she interrogated me until she was sure. We spoke about a few more thing including my goals and aspirations what things I could accomplish by joining the armed forces. We also spoke about the negative aspects also such as beneficiaries to my will incase the worse should occur. She also asked a simple question that made me feel guilty almost ashamed I had not told her until
Can you single out just one day from your past that you can honestly say changed your life forever? I know I can. It was a typical January day, with one exception; it was the day the Pope came to St. Louis. My brother and I had tickets to the youth rally, and we were both very excited. It was destined to be an awesome day- or so we thought. The glory and euphoria of the Papal visit quickly faded into a time of incredible pain and sorrow, a time from which I am still emerging.
Although I grew up in a military family, I never saw myself going into a military career. Up until I was about fourteen years old, I planned on being a marine biologist in Hawaii. Sounds nice, right? Well, at the end of my eighth grade year I decided that I might as well join NJROTC, because all of my friends were doing it and it seemed okay. I have to say, looking back, I was quite naive. Joining NJROTC was the smartest and most valuable decision I have made to this day.
Thesis: The war overseas, but there are millions of veterans still fighting the war at home.
My initial reason to enter the Air Force was a great way to pay for college which turned into a call of duty and a service commitment which has actively allowed me to contribute to the Air Force mission. Thus far I have led a joint force search and rescue effort and a multinational exercise to preserve freedom. As an F-15E instructor WSO and combat mission ready WSO I actively contribute to ensure our freedoms are preserved and the attacks of September 11, 2001 will never happen again.
Every day of my life I have woken up to the sound of Reveille, and gone to bed listening to Taps. I have moved nine different times, know the feeling of having my dad deploy more than four times, and eating Thanksgiving dinner in a DEFAC is second-nature to me. Being an army child is a huge part of my life, however it does not define who I am; it has shaped how I view the world. Because of my life as a military child, I have determined that I am compelled to positively influence how others view life.
I was at Fort Benning Georgia in August 1988 to attend jump school. I had done my basic training here four years earlier with Sgt. Smith who would be my black hat true instructor for airborne school. I was standing in formation at five in the morning. It was cold now, but Georgia has hot, humid daytime temperatures that were draining mentally and physically for a student from Northern California. I knew I wanted to be here even though there would be physical and mental stresses, challenges and the possibility of serious Injury. The students would be weeded out at every point. I did not want it to happen to me. During my four years in the Army, I learned that I like to be an independent, resourceful, goal oriented problem solver. In the infantry, I had to obey the orders and not think for myself. Uniformity in everything was demanded.
Growing up in Southern California prevailed its beauty yet, growing up in a military family is something I'll forever gratify. For 20+ years my father was a marine and out of those years, I experienced 13 of them. Let me tell you those were the best years of my life. However, I will only tell you the story that has made me who I am.
It has been years, decades maybe since the war started, then ended with flaming spheres of fire and destruction raining from the sky. The war was fought on many sides and we don't know who started it but what does it matter now. Cities turned to wastelands completely uninhabitable, our capital is now rubble and our leader is gone, our whole system is gone. There are some survivors who have worked together to set up new settlements and then those who have taken control of the people threatening them if they don't comply. The people are now starving and the water is drying up; we ask for aid, but with no hope in sight and were tired of waiting. A tyrant has risen up and now she must be stopped.
Today when I woke, I was expecting my son to be asleep. That wasn't the case. Today was his first race. Now here we were, at the track, race about to start, everyone was lined up ready to run. *bang* The starting gun went off. Like a bolt of lightning, everything came flashing back to me.
I don’t want to die. I’ve been sitting here for eight hours in total silence in the humid jungle, sweating, itching, and waiting. I know the enemies out there, I can feel their presence. It’s only a matter of time before someone blows their cover and all hell breaks loose. It’s already been a year and three months since I volunteered. I came here so sure of who the enemy was, but after a year of being in the war, I realize I regret my decision of joining the war. I remember the ride to basic training.
The day that changed my life. It was 7am that morning I woke up and got my black dress on with white lace at the top. I waited for my dad and brother to get ready as I waited I sat and thought to myself “how am I going to get through this today?” I never did find an answer to that question and I probably never will. I walked into the funeral home that morning, and with my family we entered the room this was the very last time I will ever get to see my grandma. She laid there as I stood there looking at her, granddaughter to grandma. She looked completely like herself mostly other than the makeup which wasn’t her at all. My grandma was apostolic which if you knew my grandma you would know she never wore make up. Not in her entire life all 94 years of it. But it was kind of relieving to see her look so peaceful she looked like herself in her handmade rose colored blouse and
It wasn't until 2005 when I decided to join the United States Army, and this when all my concerns and questions were answered during recruitment. My Recruiter explained and guided me through the whole process of entering and prepping for the Army. It was my confidence and the motivation of my Recruiter that made it possible for me to join the Military as I proudly wear this uniform today.
When I first got to college I needed a way to pay for school, so I enlisted in the Army Reserves and was shipped out to basic combat training. At basic combat training I learned of the differences between an officer and an enlisted soldier. I had a phenomenal company commander who was a ROTC cadet who told me all about the program and the responsibilities of an officer. Once I returned from basic combat training I got in contact with the recruiter for UAB ROTC and joined the program. These decisions helped me pay for college, a big reason I initialed joined the Army.
Army life can be very challenging and a life changing experience. It was very challenging and life changing for me. I was raised by my Grandparents they did everything for me so this was a wakeup call for me on life. An independent person was not I, so I had problems with the changes about to come. Army life is constantly demanding and constantly changing without notice. Although the travel was exciting, army life for me was very challenging because I had to learn to adapt to a new system, to share my life with other soldiers, and to give up many of the comforts of home.
[Actually,] I had so many reasons for wanting to do this. The first was for money. The military was willing to train me, feed me, house me, and when I was back home give me cash for college, "up to" forty thousand dollars. At that time I thought that was an incredible deal. Where else in the world could I find an opportunity like this one? [Yet t]he price I would pay wouldn't be worth "up to" forty thousand. Another great reason for joining the Army was to get in shape. I had visions about this ultra lean and strong body I would get from running five miles a day. I was also looking forward to the overall experience of inner strength, confidence, and pride in my country. As much as I was excited about doing something different and brave, I was also full of fear.