My Military Experience

Growing up the daughter of an Army Basic Training failure was an embarrassment for quite some time. My father went to Army Basic Training straight out of high school, and came back shortly after leaving. He was discharged for injuries of his knees; he was weak. One would not assume a child of someone who failed Basic Training would be eager to go, however I knew it was my time as soon as I received a call from a recruiter asking me to come in. It was my chance to show my dad the person I am without him, as well as fight for my country. I conquered Basic Training the summer in between the summer of my junior and senior year at the age of seventeen. There are four easy steps to Basic Training: two flights, reception, training,

Without a doubt the single most influential experience in my life has been graduating from Marine Corps boot camp at MCRD San Diego. They say less than one percent of United States Citizens serve in the military and a small fraction of them serve as United States Marines. I take great pride in the fact that standing on those famous yellow footprints separates me from more than 99% of people I will meet. Some people claim boot camp was easy for them, that they didn’t struggle or second guess themselves; unfortunately I am not one of those people. I greatly struggled, not physically as that was easy but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Initially I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision in enlisting right out of high school. But then

Going through and graduating Air Force Basic Training changed me both physically and mentally as a person. First, physically the experience taught me how to push my self in ways that I had never before and accomplish tasks that before seemed impossible. Also, my experience changed me mentally by teaching me how to be strong in stressful situations and how to handle situations in a calm and collected manner. My experience of graduating from basic training did not change my perception on society, but instead it gave me a group of people that have been through the same experience and have the same passions to serve our

I served in the United States Army for almost seven years. I loved every minute of it. Well, I might not have enjoyed every minute, but I enjoyed the majority of my time served. The knowledge, insight, training, education and experience

At times the language and environment was harsh but I came to the conclusion that I needed to take a step back and allow someone to help me progress myself as an adult. For me, graduating basic training was one of the proudest moments of my life and whenever I look back at that day, I know that if I hadn’t of been put through that stress, I wouldn’t have the skills I do today to deal with that. The military was a great thing for me to experience, and I will always be thankful for

I would like to share with you some of my experiences. I joined the military in 1996, after high school and I went directly to Marine boot camp. There I learned some of my most important personal values such as pride, perseverance, team work, and attention to detail. Marine Corps boot camp is an experience like no other I have had in the world and one I am immensely proud to have. I rose in the ranks quickly, I started as

Basic and advanced individual training pushed me to give my all in everything I do. The ability to serve my country and travel made me proud. When I was direct commission as a physician assistant in the National Guard it thrust me into a leadership role that I was not trained for, but my life experiences to this point helped me on this path. Training soldiers and maintaining battalion medical readiness was the core of my duties. Amongst the most valuable attributes I developed while serving was time management, extensive preparation and

My mindset was what other way to find out if the army life was for me, than to join as an Active Duty soldier? Being sheltered my whole life, I saw it as an opportunity for me to grow, and get to know the real world. Now, when I look back on my decision and see how much I have changed over the past ten months, I could not be any happier. I have learned so much from my Leadership, and I would not trade the experience I have gained for anything in the world.

Joining the military was astonishing in very many aspects in my life and it truly molded me into who I am today. I will genuinely say that the most important people in my life are my mother and father. I am not a parent myself but I have had years to only imagine how tough parenting can be; especially when raising three stubborn boys. My mother and father are very open minded and kind hearted to everyone regardless of who they are. I will be honest here and say that I may not have been as grateful as I should have been when I was a younger kid, but that’s just life. When you are younger, everything is very simple and do not realize the little things in life. I had no other worries except for, “What’s for dinner?”. The military made me realize how much I appreciated and very much needed my loved ones. Travelling far away to Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, San Diego California and starting my very own journey was one of the toughest decisions at that time to make for myself.

19 August 2003. That was the date on which I joined the military. That was also the year the United States invaded Iraq. I, like many, joined the military to serve my country. I remember arriving at basic training and I felt that I was prepared for the training and punishment I was going to receive. After all, I had watched war movies such as Major Payne, Full Metal Jacket, and Forrest Gump. I honestly believed I would be cleaning floors with a toothbrush, living in an open hut with fifty other soldiers, and being yelled at constantly. What I experienced in my opinion, was an easy basic training. Do what you’re told and be where you needed to be and you would be fine. After basic training, I remember arriving to my unit and standing at parade rest for Specialists and above. I remember doing what I was told, no questions asked. I remember

Military school wasn’t hard. You made your bed real neat, ran, screamed yes sir to anyone that gave you an order. Military school was an escape. It made everything easy. When my father left in my junior year due to substance abuse I made sure to do something that would make up for all the terrible things that he did to our family.The list just went on and on. Stealing from my mom, getting pregnant and then leaving her, being high when Ronnie was born, but the worst of all was when he overdosed and almost killed himself at my little sister’s 3rd birthday party. I could never forget the day. There was no amount of erasing that would do the trick. Him being put into the ambulance, my mother crying so hard she almost fainted. Ronnie grabbing onto

I have wanted to go into the military since i was very young. Most children say that they want to be a firefighter or a doctor, but i said that i wanted to be in the military. I remeber looking at pictures and learning about military officers and i felt called to be one of those men. My decision and dreams never changed, as most childrens do when they realize the work required. But for reasons beyond my comprehension, my desire of a miltary life never wavered. Both of my parents' fathers served in the military, one n the Air Force and one in the Army. They told me stories of their days in the military, bragging of their different branhes and I took what they said and choose a school that woud lead to a career in neither of their branches.

My military service reshaped who I am. My training stripped away any sense of entitlement and I learned more about myself in four months than I’d ever known before. It not only gave me discipline and taught me to perform under pressure, but everything I did wasn’t just for me anymore. I was working hard for the marines next to me in my platoon. The time came when each of us hit a breaking point physically or mentally.

The struggle though basic training changed me by actually realizing that if I try hard enough and am fully dedicated to something I can do anything I want. Before I thought that was something parents told you to keep their kids imaginative. I am also more "disciplined" as the Army says. As well as, I made me realize the effect of family is. In basic you can't call your parents as you like. I may have talked to my mom three times in the eleven weeks on basic training. I didn't realize how good I had it in life until it was "taken" away from me.

I grew up in a military family. My father was an air force officer who trained others in piloting helicopters. As a young boy, I found this to be very fascinating and I thought I was going to follow in his footsteps. Sadly, he died in a helicopter crash in 1998. He was a very important person in my life that I considered as a mentor. Consequently, I gradually started losing interest in serving in the army. It was a major setback.