For everyone....

[squatrrs]

Hello,

Just a quick question for everyone. I am curious to know how you became interested in the military? Also, were your parents or grandparents in the service?

My father was in the Coast Guard, and both grandparents were in the military, one in the Navy and the other in the Army. I have always been drawn to the armed forces and have become serious about joining the Navy in the last two years. I will turn in my application at the end of this year.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[Brooklyn]

Good question Josh. I have been interested in the military, specifically military aviation, for as long as I can remember. My father is a Vietnam Vet who by the grace of God made it back alive after having been shot through both legs by a sniper. The sniper aimed for his chest but he stood up at that exact moment!! I'm very proud of his service (he doesn't like to talk too much about it) and am proud of this country which I have been so tremendously blessed to live in.

 

[Gabe2surf]

Love my country. Want to have a kickass job, do my twenty, and then get a little beach hut somewhere in the Bahamas. Oh wait, resposibilities!!! Okay, I'll do my twenty and reitire, but no beach hut. Darn!! Yeah, my dad was in the AF.

 

[JTP]

I've been fascinated w/ flight for as long as can remember. Some of my earliest childhood memories were trips to THE MUSEUM at NAS P-Cola and then that other one (THE SMITHSONIAN) in D.C.

My Father served 20 and flew A-4's, A-7's, and S-3's during Vietnam for the Navy. My Grandfather was in the Army Air Core during WWII.

Thanks to PRK, I can keep my dream alive and keep the family in the services and in the air!

YEAH COME ON!!

 

[spidrwmn]

I've always been interested in the military and am a huge military history buff. Beyond that, I want to serve my country and well, lets face it, there aren't many jobs that let you do the things you can do in the Navy! And I'm sure all those trips to the ship yards in San Diego had something to do with it...

Oh yeah, almost forgot - both my grandparents were in the military (WWII), both Navy.

- spider

Edited by - spidrwmn on 05/20/2002 18:49:15

Edited by - spidrwmn on 05/20/2002 18:50:01

 

[Agent00JP]

My dad was a combat engineer in the 82nd Airborne. One day I watched TOP GUN and he showed me a motivational speech by Montell Williams (when he was a Blue Angel) and told me that that is what I want to do. He was right.

JP

 

[vballindaytona]

getting blue angels and thunderbird pilots autographs at age 6. father in AF.

jonathan

 

[kmac]

Top Gun.... nuff said.
The 16th aniv. of its release was a few days ago, and I've been pursuing the same dream since. Fly Navy!

 

[RotorResQ]

For me it was going to March AFB in So CA every other weekend with my grandfather. We would get a hair cut, some breakfast, and then take a walk along the security fence near the flight line. Well he walked while I sat on his shoulders. All I really remember seeing were the F-4s lined up on the flight line.

I chose Navy over AF because anyone can land a plane on an airstrip in the dessert. Try landing on an airstrip in the middle of the ocean.

Both my grandparents served. One did 30+ in the AF and the other did time in Korea with the army, and My dad was airborne in the army.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Top Gun for me, my dad's a CFO at an independent hardware supplier and my mom works an office at the local sheriff's dept. In highschool I was checking out the NAVY and AF academies, but the more I read about the vision requirements at the time the more I gave up on it, NFO's couldn't be worse than 20/150 and I was 20/200, and decided to major in photojournalism. By some wierd coincidence I was photographing a career fair for my school paper (San Jose State University) and I decided to talk w/ the NAVY recruiter. Thanx to him and PRK I'm two weeks away from the vision waiver and sending in my packet.

Kris


Edited by - Spaceman Spiff on 06/05/2002 01:16:36

 

[F18wannabe]

quote:
For me it was going to March AFB in So CA every other weekend with my grandfather.

I live 10 minutes from there. I'm too young to remember when it was an air force base and not the air reserve base it is today. It's pretty cool though, I drive up and down the 215 everyday and I always see the C-141's and KC-135's taking off and landing at pretty close range, they maintain four F-16's there as well. I was with my cousins when they went to see the grave of their grandfather at the cemetery (a pearl harbor survivor) when the F-16's took off and flew directly over at heads, that was awesome.

 

[Hartman]

Lot's of Navy people in my family...several enlisted and a few officers. My grandfather was actually a Naval Aviator in WWII and flew with Jim Lovell.

I knew I wanted to fly Navy but my eyes weren't good enough, so I went to college with the understanding that I was always going to be a civilian. I worked hard to get a good education and start a good career, but PRK has opened new doors for me.

 

[krocdawg]

My dad is retired Air Force EOD, grew up in a military family and worked for Navsea as a gov't employee. My grandfather was also in the Navy and worked aboard the landing crafts in WWII, his boat was sunk during DDay and he and most of his crew still managed to escape and wait for hours for a rescue crew to arrive.

 

[tingley]

My motivation for becoming a naval aviator are far different from most of yours. No one in my immediate family has been in the military, in fact my father dodged the draft for the vietnam war! Needless to say my family isnt the biggest fan of me joining the navy. What makes my decision strong is the fact that nobody pushed this upon me. I have searched for the type of job that would fit my personality for as long as I can remember, and in my mind naval aviation fits the profile to the T.
My first strong desire to fly was while working as an emt where we rendezvoued with a medi-vac helo. The sound, smell of fuel, and the fact that they flew away while we drove away in an slow grounded ambulance conjured up some serious jealousy. Then seeing and hearing the F-18's fly over head while doing standby at Sears Point Raceway finalized it. I then realized what a privilage flying military aircrafts is. So hear I am scheduled for ocs with a pilot slot and it seems too good to be true.

 

[Shepherd]

Really good stuff on here. The more I think about how I got interested in the military, I always come to the conclusion that it has to be a Southern thing. Maybe all that Scotch-Irish blood. I don't know, but I grew up playing "war" in my pastures with my brother and our friends. You know, picking up sticks and "bang,you're dead!" kind of stuff. Ramping our bikes off of a hill and pretending we were Corsairs, busting up some Japanese airplane. Then there was a park dedicated to Clair Chennault in Monroe, LA and after I saw that I was hooked on flying. And you know what..all of my friends I grew up with are in the military except one, and only because he had a low platelett count or something. One's heading to law school to be a JAG attorney in the Army. One graduated from Ranger school a week or so ago. One's on a Submarine somewhere. One's 82 airborne and trying to go Ranger. There's also 3 that just got sent to Afghanistan with the National Guard. And my brother is going in as an Air Force flight surgeon. Pretty much everyone in my family was Army or Marines. Uncles, cousins, grandfathers, you name it. I even have an uncle that is a retired rocket scientist for NASA..no kidding. For me, its what I've always wanted to do. I couldn't think of anything better than serving my country. God's honest truth.

A posteriori