What age did you join the Military and why? What motovate you? Any regrets?

[g'nad]

signed my DEP enlistment with the Corps when I was 17... the OSO got hold of my ACTs, (30 composite) and offered me a full ride NROTC scholarship... I'd given up hope ever goin' to college (we were too poor) and had never considered being an Officer, but I took the scholarship and never looked back...

my only regret is getting broke and being medically retired at the 15 year mark... wish I were still with my brothers...

[MikefromOhio]

I was 17 years old.

I didn't really have any interests outside of sports, as in, I didn't really know what kind of career I wanted to have.

So I enlisted in the Army to be a 13-F, which is a Foward Observer (Artillery).

It is kind of ironic, that I started getting Baseball scholarship offers the next week. Had I gotten them a week earlier, I probably wouldn't have enlisted.

But had I not enlisted, I probably wouldn't be married, I know I wouldn't have a house yet and I probably would be just getting started on my career.

[GunnyB]

I joined the Marines at 18 - in 1973. One motivating factor was the fact that my father was a Marine, another was that I wanted to travel and lead an interesting life. I did all that and more. My only regret is that I succumbed to the allure of civilian employment and did not stay till retirement.

In many ways, I wish that I could re-join and participate in some small way in a winnable war - not Vietnam (I was there for the evacuation) so that I could feel a bit better about my contributions to this country.

[LibWhacker]

Joined the Army when I was 18, in 1967. It was either join and have some say in the choice of my MOS, or let them draft me and end up as a grunt in Vietnam.

Would I do it again? Absolutely!

My only regret? Not being a grunt in Vietnam!

You'll make some of the best friends you'll ever make in your entire life in the military. That alone was worth it for me. I also benefitted from the GI Bill, because the Army has a way of opening your eyes and making you say, "Oh crap, man, I've gotta go back to school!" And when you do, you'll study harder than you ever did before, and you'll do great if you concentrate on why you're there.

Dangers? Of course. But you knew that. My advice: Do what you can to serve your country, whether as a typist or a grunt. It really is an obligation. You'll benefit as a man, but there are risks...

[saminfl]

I was nominated for the first class of the AF academy. During an interview with the flight surgeon doing the physicals, I told him my mother said I had fainted when I was about 6 years old. I was rejected.

Someone told me to enlist and try through the military. This someone said they didn't keep the same records. I found out they did keep the same records.

[Gumlegs]

I joined Juneau in 1972 off the coast of Vietnam, IIRC. We took a little trip to Hong Kong, which was great fun, and then went back to work.

After I was commissioned, I went to Athens, GA for Supply Corps training, and spent the last bit of 1973, '74, '75, and the first half of '76 on board USS Chicago (CG-11).

[Wilum]

Tennessee,

That's real thoughtful of you. I would appreciate that.

Happy New Year,

Wilum

[dangerdoc]

The Vancouver was sold to a South American navy 1991. The Juneau (Sp?) was still commissioned and accompanied us to Kuwait during desert storm. I had a friend on that ship.

We couldn't make enough steam to make water or run the AC. Six months on shower hours and sleeping in a 96 degree room with 5 Marine company officers. Smelled like Paris but less snooty.

[Gumlegs]

I'm very surprised. Your post inspired me to do what I should have done in the first place, and I checked the web. Sure enough, Juneau LPD-10), is still in commission. The captain of the ship when I was aboard was only the second captain the ship ever had, so it was quite new at the time. It didn't seem that way then, but what did I know?

[TomasUSMC]

18. USMC. Fight the Communist in Vietnam.

[M Kehoe]

Enlisted at 19 (low draft number). Plus, college was just for sex, drugs, and R&R. After AIT was sent to the 1st ID. (They had just come back from VN). Served 4 yrs active and two reserve. ETS in '79.

I saw the world, got some good training, the GI Bill, and most of all discipline. I went back to college, graduated in 3 yrs on the Dean's list.

I would recommend Uncle Sam's boys club to most 17-21 year old males (some females too). At the time I enlisted I was sure I had made a mistake. In retrospect, the best choice I ever made (except marrying my wife).

5.56mm

[Submariner]

Joined the US Navy at age 18. Spent the next 23 years in the Submarine Force (USS Blackfin, USS Francis Scott Key,USS Nathan Hale, and the USS Flying Fish). My main motivation was a military family and love of country. I do not regret a minute of my service. I am currently a zone manager with a global insurance company and I have two well adjusted grown children. Everything I am today I owe to the United States Navy Submarine Force.

[celtic gal]

In my junior year of college I started becoming interested in the military..talked to all but the Navy...they kept wanting me to go enlisted and I wanted the officer program. Then in my senior year of college, and following the two years of student teaching that my degree required, I decided the teaching thing was NOT for me...and the military looked really rewarding..so behind my parents back I went to Ft Des Moines and signed up....for the Marines! Two weeks after college graduation I was off to Quantico....and the rest is history...11 years of active duty and when my husband retired from the Marine Corps with his 30 years, I finished my 30 in the Reserve side of the house..and would I do it again? YOU BETCHA...IN A HEARTBEAT.... got to do lots of things I would not have had the opportunity to do and go places I otherwise would not have been able to see..and this was from 1969 to 1999!
Semper Fi!

[Supernatural]

I was 24 when I joined the USAF. Figured I owed my country something and it was time to pay them or lose the chance.

[Supernatural]

I forgot to say that my father is a shellback, having served aboard the U.S.S. Oglethorp transport and was on his way to Japan to invaded the Japanese mainland when the war ended. He was to drive an assault boat during the invasion.

My father was younger that my uncle, who was in the USAAF and was crew chief on a C47 that dropped paratroopers on D-Day behind Normandy and also at the invasion of Holland (A Bridge Too Far). Uncle also saw action in North Africa and Italy.

So I wanted to serve too, just like they did.

[Bear_Slayer]

Had my heart broke at 20. I was wasting life in a small town.

By coincidence I saw a documentary about a man who quit corporate america, sold everything, bought a sail boat and sailed all over the world. I knew that this was the life for me.

However, living in a small town in the desert, I knew that I would have to get near water to begin this life, so I joined the navy. All my duty stations were near the beach, but I never set foot on a single Navy Ship. I spent all my time with the USMC.

I have no regrets joining the Navy and definitely no regrets serving with the Marines. -Devil Doc

[Tarantulas]

At age 20 during the Vietnam war I ended up with a low draft number (106 as I recall). My Uncle, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines, recommended I join the Air Force or the Navy so I wouldn't have to sleep in a foxhole. He also recommended I pick a program where the military would give me as much training as I could get (Uncle John was one smart cookie). The Navy had an Electronics program and a Nuclear Power program, so I became a nuke. Had to enlist for 6 years active duty but became an E-4 right out of Boot Camp and got 2 years 3 months of training before reporting to my submarine. That training and experience translated into a lucrative career in civilian Nuclear Power.

I recommend exactly the same for any young person considering a military career. Pick a military career where you can get the most training possible and that will get you a good job in civilian life. The country is about to start building more nuclear power plants, and they will need radiation protection technicians and chemists and reactor operators and shift supervisors and plant managers. Traditionally, those plants are staffed by graduates from the Navy Nuclear Power program. The current crop of employees at nuclear power plants is aging and will be retiring, needing to be replaced by young fresh nukes. It's a guaranteed good career at relatively high salary/pay.

[RunningWolf]

In 1971 I was a hairs-breadth away from completing the enlistment process into a combat arms MOS for the US Army.

I was a seventeen year old in a small Michigan town with an iron works & some other small industries. That my home and school life were going poorly would be a huge understatement so I was ready to do anything to get out.

In any event I backed off then, but did enter the service in early 1975 for the US Army.

No regrets at all, save for my own errors and lost opportunities. I cant say that all should do it and among those, they might be better used in other forms of service. But for me and many it is an enriching experience and I am glad I did it.

W.

[Godebert]

Joined at age 17. Thought I was gonna kill commies in Nicaragua. Ended up patroling near the dmz in Korea with the 25th Inf. and guarding the Hannover corridor in Northern Germany with the 2nd AD(fwd). '82-'88.

[Sci Fi Guy]

19, Army, I was station in Germany, Ft Bragg, and Turkey. Only regret is that I did not push myself more.

If I was 18 again. I would work for a year (it helps mature you.) Then I would join and try to find the most challenging job I could.