You're+In+The+Army+Now

You’re in the Army Now By   Robert Brown Allow me to first suggest to everyone that it is wise to take advantage or cease the moment because life has taught me that sometimes we don’t get second chances. So, with that said, the first time I was approached by a military recruiter was my senior year at Furman High School. The army recruiter came to my science class and talked about all the advantages of joining the US army. He told us about how much money we could make, life insurance, the opportunity to travel and even how good the food was. When he allowed time for questions, I raised my hand and asked what were my chances of dying in combat if I joined up. His answer was that not everyone goes into combat and those that do are never put in harm’s way unless it is one hundred percent necessary. His answer did not set well with me because I had been told some very negative accounts of army life and war by numerous family members that served during war time. So, I decided to not join up but rather attend college. While a college senior at Morris College our campus was visited by a group of military recruiters. They were set up in the student union building. The navy, marine, army and air force were all present. As I looked at some of the information that was being handed out, I guess I caught the eye of the marine recruiter. His uniform was very well pressed and it looked like everything was in its right place. I was very impressed. I asked a few questions about marine life but no, I did not want to be a marine. When I walked past the army’s table, the recruiter spoke up and said are you ready to join the army and be all you can be. I smiled and thought to myself, I have heard this song and dance all before but I did listen to all he had to say. However I walked away from yet another opportunity to join the army and did not look back. Finally school was winding down and I was rapidly approaching the completion of my degree program and found myself working odd jobs just to make ends meet. In other words, the years of school had taken its toll and I was broke. At this point, I decided to visit the local army recruitment office. When I walked in I was greeted by a young officer who seemed to be about my age. We shook hands and we started to talk about life in general, school, family and so on. I told him that I was about to complete my degree and was in need of money. He told me how he found himself years ago in the same position as I was. He explained how he left college before graduating and completed his degree years later while in the army. He told me that with just a little paper work and a weekend, I could be in the army and earning a paycheck. I asked about the physical training during the hot summer months. He mentioned that because I was from the south and appeared to be in good physical shape the training would not be a problem for me. He mentioned that it was getting harder to get into the army because they had become more selective with so many more males wanting to enter the army instead of the air force, marines or navy. I was excited about the whole deal. We shook hands and I returned to campus to tell my advisor that I was going to withdraw to school immediately. My advisor said that it was obvious that I was excited because I was out of breath while talking to her. She asked me to come to her office and calmly sit down and discuss this before rushing into a decision that could affect the rest of my life. She pulled by records and found that I was only nineteen hours from completing my degree. She added that it was her opinion that someone like myself who enjoyed reading and researching would profit more so in the long run by continuing my education. As a result, of our conversation my heels were cooled down quite a bit and I started to consider the amount of hard work that I had already invested in pursuing my degree. So, what did I finally do? I completed my degree at Morris College in December of that year and entered graduate school at Bowling Green State University in August. I earned my Master’s Degree in one year and returned home to South Carolina. I never considered military service again.