How I Ended Up In the Army
The Beginning
In 2012, I enlisted as a truck driver in the National Guard, not knowing what my future in the military would hold. I knew the job sucked, but my recruiter said tough crap and signed me up for it anyway.I was about to enter my third year of college and life was not going well. My mom and dad were having a tough time helping me with school and I knew that I would end up drowning in college debt soon enough if I didn't get things together. My grades were crap and my home life sucked. I didn't have a lot of friends and I had never been more of a jerk. I enlisted and thought that maybe I would be able to turn things around and I did.
I went to basic training and learned to discipline my mind and body. I got into great shape, made some great friends and learned a lot about how people come from all different backgrounds in life. I gained new perspective on life and how much I had to be grateful for, so when I returned to school in the fall I really had so much more to focus on and be thankful for. My grades improved, I was one of the fittest cadets in my ROTC battalion and school was taken care of.
When it came time to decide on if I wanted to be an officer or not, there was a lot to take into consideration. My life would change forever and I would have so much more responsibility as an officer. It would be my duty to take care of dozens and maybe even hundreds of soldiers with minimal experience and the inability to handle even my own small problems. I'd be ordering around soldiers old enough to be my dad and have them think I was an incompetent child. I wasn't totally sold on the idea of officership until one day, something changed.
I was at drill in my National Guard unit and at the time we had a really crappy NCO that no one liked. He was cruel and really put down soldiers to the point where they were transferring out of the unit or not reenlisting just to get away from him. It was bad. I remember talking with a few of the other soldiers and having them say that they wish they had the power to change things and make this jerk stop and that's what inspired me. Knowing I had the opportunity to be an officer and effect some kind of change so that leaders like that would not exist in the Army, and more soldiers would want to stay.
Today
Now, I'm a leader. I have close to 70 soldiers that rely on me to help them progress and grow. Their families rely on me to look out for them and keep them safe. The pressure is sometimes unreal but other times, I barely think about it. To think that I have the ability to influence change at the age of 22 is kind of amazing when I think about it and now at 26 there is so much more I have learned and applied to what I try to teach my soldiers.
When I first wanted to commission, women were not allowed in combat arms roles. Just before I was eligible, they lifted the ban and I had the opportunity to be a Field Artillery Officer, the coolest job in my opinion. I remember one of the Captains from the BOLC officer course at Fort Sill coming to visit us and show the cool video blowing things up. They failed to mention the 6-month intensive course that was one of the hardest schools to pass in the Army.
Despite struggling to find a unit that would take me and then struggling some more through the course, I made it and here I am today. A branch-qualified officer leading soldiers. I went on to be a Fire Direction Officer and my section won Best Fire Direction Center during our annual training exercise out at Fort Drum, NY. I was so proud of my guys and myself for what we did. It felt good to prove that I belonged in combat arms and to this day, I continue to try to prove it.
The table that most men are reserved a seat at, I need to be invited to after meeting so many requirements. It's okay because I honestly like it that way, I like knowing I earned my place - sure it sucks sometimes, but I earned it and there is no question about it.
Any of my readers out there struggle with overcoming adversity? Let me know what you experienced and how you braved through it.
No comments
Post a Comment