Why you wanted/want to be in the Military?

[goosegagnon2]

So I sit here getting ready to write my "Why I want to be a Marine Officer" essay for the PLC packet I am putting together for the April board. This isn't a thread about asking what I should write, because I already know what I am going write. I was just wondering why everyone else on this forum decided to serve their country. Another question I want to ask the NFOs and Pilots on this forum is well if you weren't a NFO or Pilot, and your job was less exciting than it is now...would you still serve your country? and would you preform the same if you weren't able to be an officer and became an NCO? Also for the retired folks on the forum, if you don't mind if I ask.. why did you join the miltary back then? Draft? or more personal reasons? It was obviously a different military back then, I just want to know if our motivations are the same. Just one of those random questions I thought of

 

[fighterpfeif]

9/11

I still remember.

Iraq

I feel guilty for letting some other kid go over there and do his part and me just sitting around watching it on TV. As a Naval Aviator I know I will probably not be on the ground, but hopefully I will do my fair share.

College

Going through college I realized that I don't want to follow the same track that other students take, expecting that I will get a job right out of college and make a amount of money. I want to work and earn my job and be challenged along the way, plus I can't stand popped collars, jeans that come with holes in them, other preppy crap, and being surrounded by anti-war types. Being a Flight Operations major as well I don't want to sit around as a flight instructor, ***** about my life, get paid nothing, treat students like crap (like how I have been treated), then maybe get a job flying air cargo and start the whole process over again.

 

[RockyMtnNFO]

I always wanted to fly and my Uncle filled my head with all these great stories about fishing all over the world and all the great stuff he did.

I did actually get out when they took away my flight status in '99. I researched Supply and SWO and just decided they were not for me. Working for a SWO now, I think I was right; more of a bust on me than the Surface Warfare community; I hate admin and I am not good at it; those communities are admin intensive.

Girls dig the uniform.

 

[Raptor2216]

I guess I was always into airplanes and such but it wasn't until my first flying experience at the age of 12 when things were set in stone. At first, I just wanted to fly for the airlines but as I got older, my interest in the military grew against the wishes of my parents. I went from wanting to go to the AF academy and flying for the AF to wanting to fly for the Navy to where I am now, TBS'er with a flight contract.

I actually wasn't even aware that the MC flew anything until I took some flying lessons in 2001. My instructor just happened to be an ex-PLC'er and told me all about the contract. A few weeks later I had put my paperwork though and here I am today. I suppose there are much easier ways to get to pensacola or its equivalent but I can't imagine doing it any other way. Being a military pilot would be one thing but being a Marine pilot would simply out do all else.

 

[TheBubba]

Why did I join the Navy? I always say jokingly "I wanted to be a Marine pilot... then I figured out that I didn't want to be a Marine." (nothing against the Marine Corps... )

But there is some truth to that... My mom is a retired HMC (FMF/AW), so I grew up around Marine aviation. I figured when I was like 6 that I was going to be a Marine aviator.

So when the time came, I applied to USNA, and somehow, got accepted and went. Sometime during my 4 years by the bay, I came to the realization that the Marine Corps wasn't really the avenue I wanted to travel, but I still wanted to fly. So here I am an SNFO...

Basically, it came down to seeing how much fun my mom had when she was in. Yeah, I saw some of the bad times. But hearing my mom and her friends talk, the good seemed to out weigh the bad... and so far that's been my experience.

What keeps me motivated now? Looking back at the kid I used to be sittin under the pattern in Rosy Roads with my eyes closed trying to see if I could distiguish aircraft just by the sound (I was pretty good at it) and dreaming of flyin' them one day. Then realizing that I'm sittin in P-cola w/ 4 flight suits and a pair of brown shoes in my closet and knowing that I'm pretty much livin my dream.

If that ain't enough for ya, don't know what is.

 

[Thisguy]

It sounds corny, but 9/11 was a factor. I was one of those guys who didn't see the point of serving in a peacetime military and I'd "leave it to someone else" 9/11 changed my perspective, and I was graduating DEC 2001, so I guess you could say the timing lined up (I am not an aviator, so yes, I wanted to serve).

Other factors was how the economy went to total sh!t as recruiters were coming to our campus to do as many interviews as they were before, but were only looking for 1 or 2 people. One that jumps out in my mind was Frito-lay. They came to campus and took 400 resumes at the career fair, of those 400, 16 were invited for an on-site interview in upstate NY. Those 16 were interviewing for one job.

And finally, one thing I really like about the military is the milestones. You know how in college you were looking forward to Thanksgiving, semester break, spring break, then the summer? Well that ends once you get a real job. I like that I can switch jobs and locations to keep things fresh, while staying with the same organization.

 

[feddoc]

Retired.....draft? Hey some of us of that age are still in.

My number was 225. I joined in early 74; just put in for a senior TAPS class last week.

I joined because I felt...and still feel...a sense of duty. My family has served in some capacity for many years. A nephew and niece in Iraq. A nephew in Desert Storm. Vietnam: My brother (and two brothers in law), 4 uncles and 3 cousins. My dad and two of my uncles in WWII, my grandfather in WWI and some of my mom's family in the Indian wars....although not with the US Army. :icon_smil

I will leave for a different reason....quite honestly my number is up, physically, and there are younger guys who do a better job than I do.

Besides, I gotta build a magazine to house all my toys at our new place outside of Reno.

 

[AllAmerican75]

What keeps me motivated now? Looking back at the kid I used to be sittin under the pattern in Rosy Roads with my eyes closed trying to see if I could distiguish aircraft just by the sound (I was pretty good at it) and dreaming of flyin' them one day.

That sounds like good times. Out of curiousity, how good were you? win:loss ratio.

 

[redmariner97]

Wanted to see the places my dad and grandparents always talked about. Also didn't want to rely on mom and dad to pay for college (in 1997). I'll be in until they make me retire.

Never been happier since I joined. Has always given me a sense of accomplishment.

 

[FlyingBeagle]

Call me naive or cowardly, but I always saw dying in the line of duty as one of the least desireable outcomes of military service.

Ghost, if you're in such a generous mood. . . would you send me some cash?

 

[AllAmerican75]

Military service has always been a calling for me. You see, I've always wanted to fly, every since I was a small child. Some of my first distinct memories of my grandfather are of him telling stories of his time flying C-47s in WWII and Korea. He instilled in me a love of service, country, and flight. I can also credit my uncle with the flight thing since he flew F-4s for the USAF for a couple decades. He has some cool stories, too.

And because I wanted to fly, and with some "counseling" from my uncle and grandfather, I figured the military, specifically the Air Force, was right for me. But when I saw the movie Top Gun and found out that the Navy flew my favorite aircraft(yes, you guessed it: the F-14 Tomcat), I knew that the Navy was the life for me. Much to the chagrin of my uncle and grandfather, who were hoping to raise a third generation zoomie.

Up until recently(past couple of years or so), I had never given serious thought to whether or not I would serve if I couldn't be a pilot. I had wanted to be a pilot and that was the only thing I saw myself doing. But, life being unpredictable, I looked deep down inside to figure out whether or not I was serious about serving my country. The answer I found was yes. You see, I come from a family with a rich military tradition. I had relatives fight for American Independence and I had ancestors fight on both sides of the Civil War, so it has always seemed that I have a family legacy to uphold. Also, I love this country for all it has given me, and defending her and what she stands for is my way of giving back. Also, it seems that the military is one of the few things that I am actually good at and fully enjoy, no matter how much it might suck at times. It is the only institution that has what I'm looking for. Personally, I could never work a normal desk job, going in 9-5 everyday until I'm too old and the company fires me. I would much rather confront life head-on, be it by commanding a destroyer, or driving an F/A-18, or leading a SEAL on some mission in the heart of indian country, or even something as seemingly mundane as working supply or maintenance, because I know whatever it is, I'll be making an impact on the world and the people around me.

Also, as Ghost said, I would much rather die in the line of duty while defending freedom, democracy, mom, and apple pie, than to live my life as a coward.

 

[scotty008]

The proud product of a Navy family, I always knew that I wanted to fly. My Dad flew F-4s, F-14s, A-4s and F-5s, which planted the seed early. Some of my oldest memories involve the Blue Angels over Miramar, or sitting in the cockpit of a Tomcat on class field trips. Its been a process to get this far due to persistant height issues, but I'm finally here waiting for API as a Marine SNA and I can't wait to kick things off. Needless to say, stoke level is high...

 

[BurghGuy]

Military service had always been a big thing for all the men in my family. I think the seed was initially planted growing up. Listening to my grandfather and his brother go on about WWII (my grandfather was army, his brother navy, so there was alot for them to say), my uncle telling me his stories about his time in Vietnam, cousins about Desert Storm, and all of them about military experiences and the call of duty all together. My dad was also a Coastie for a short time before I was born, and most of our vacations were road trips that included alot of historic battlefields like Gettysburg and Antietem, aviation and space museums, and numerous airshows. So, I knew well before most kids that I wanted to serve my country. While in ROTC, 9/11 happened. My sister had moved to downtown New York just a few days prior, and relayed stories to me in the ensuing months. That helped to seal the fact that no matter how hard it got, and no matter how much I wanted to, I wouldn't quit. No matter how nice civilian life seemed, it just wouldn't be worth it.

 

[TheBubba]

That sounds like good times. Out of curiousity, how good were you? win:loss ratio.

I'd get about 8 or 9 out of 10 right... some of the AF heavies were hard to tell apart by sound. I'm not so good at it any more...

 

[FlyingBeagle]

Beagle, it's real simple, just be courteous and a gentleman. A simple phrase that summarizes what I said in the previous post is,

"I would rather die a soldier/Marine, than live a coward."

Are you revoking my credentials as a gentleman because my last post wasn't courteous enough for you, or just calling me a coward because I'm a Sailor?

I wasn't trying to twist your words around or get you all worked up, just to bust on you a bit for being too melodramatic. Seriously though, it isn't simple. Being a civilian doesn't make you any more of a coward than going to the recruiter makes you brave.

I'm not saying you meant this, but a lot of immature people, both those who look up to and despise the military, put too much emphasis in "the glory of laying down one's life," and not enough to the way they conduct their lives. It isn't risk taken, enemies killed, or death itself, but one's committment to ideals that makes him brave and a hero. Lack of fear is stupidity, not bravery. If two men take the same risk and one dies, he isn't any more heroic than the living, just less fortunate. Giving your life is a sacrifice specifically because you don't want to do it. Finally, just because you don't take risks doesn't make you any less of a hero. The nurse who will never be shot at and cries herself to sleep over her dead patients is no less a hero than the Soldier who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Admire someone for how they live, not how they die.

We aren't a bunch of thugs eager to die for glory. If anything, I'd say the risks we take (not that I've taken any) make us fear death more, and appreciate what we have more. I have too much I love and too much to live for to be dreaming about a glorious death on the battlefield. I'd much rather serve my time with honor and die an old man with my wife at my side.