Did you have a long-term plan when you joined the military?

I enlisted in '67 right after high school. I knew I would be drafted so decided to join up and see what happened. I spent 4 years in the Army Security Agency and then returned to civilian life. Just about 3 years later I finally figured out there was no civilian job that was as important and fulfilling as the military. So I re-enlisted and never looked back again. I loved the job I had and the people I served with. There are none better. Did 22 years total and then retired. When I think back over my life, my years in the Army were the best of it. I would do it all over again.

Joined ASA in 1961 to get away from home. Broke my back in pole lineman school so I became a Teletype Operator. Went to Okinawa, great duty, re-used. Went to Ft Carson and then to Vietnam. I had been sick for 2 years and they were trying to find out what was wrong when the Vietnam orders came in. I let the Army after 5 years. I didn’t want to but needed medical help. Turns out I had Crohn’s Disease a d over 7 year was in the hospital 18 months. Still wish I could have stayed in.

No. I didn't have any plan after I joined the Army. My first 3 years was me having fun in Germany. I didn't make up my mind until, I had to raise my GT score in 1992 so that I could re-enlist.

Nope, I ended up joining after I went with my brother to speak to a recruiter. I sat down waiting for him and just looked at all the posters. After a few minutes of waiting and thinking, I let the recruiter know, I wanted to join too. Plus I was unemployed at the time too...why not, I couldn't do any worse. I ended up making the military a career. Loved it...I would do it again!

I grew up a service (Air Force) brat, I remember arguing with my first grade teacher when she told me there was no 13 o'clock and when she/he (I had three first grade teachers) told me that dates are written Month, day then Year. As strange as it sounds, the idea of not joining the service at some point never occurred to me. I and all of my sisters were born on various Air Force Bases, over the course of our lives all three of us served. Two in the US Army, one managed to retire from the US Navy (I am so proud of her).
I had to fight to get in the military because I had always been heavy for my height with no apparent medical reason. It was a long fight during which time I tried college first (a huge mistake for me) but I got bored and was unable to focus on it, I guess that was caused by falling in love, getting married and watching my first kid be born. I joined the National Guard as a Calvary Scout (19D), got into a unit with an inept supply SGT. With my platoon SGT's permission I approached the unit's commander and convinced him that I should be allowed to try to take over supply functions during drills (not bad for an E2). so I took over his job and passed my SQT test after three months to be awarded 76Y and promoted to E4, then I was able to go Active Duty.
For me; the service was a way of life that I wanted and that I wanted for my kids. After about ten years my wife left shortly after the Gulf War started. The idea that I wanted to go and support (I had dual MOSs: 76Y & 19D) the troops out in the desert caused her a lot of sleepless nights.

no my plan was to do three years and already was accepted to police academy but chose to reenlist back into the army then decided to make a career out of it stayed for 21 years

Not at first but soon after used it to make E8 helps you to keep focused

stay alive

I joined advanced Air Force ROTC in 1966 because when I was in junior high school I was a phenomenal basketball player...the next Bob Cousey or something. I was born in August 1945 so always the youngest kid in the class. Ergo, I was held back a year to "mature" and prepare myself better. When I hit college in 1964, I was already 19 years old. By 1966, I was a year older than the sophomore cohort and the only way to avoid the draft was advanced ROTC. And I was pilot qualified. In 1968, LBJ announced the partial bombing halt. I had excellent grades and figured a year in grad school, then I'd go to pilot-training in 1969. Out of UPT in 1970, six months RTU, survival training, jungle training, it would be 1971 before I ever made it to a combat squadron and the war could be over. I petitioned for an academic delay and got it. When I did get to pilot training I had an MA and bad eyesight. Off to Intelligence School in Denver. I managed to cram a six months course into ten months then was sent to Thailand to brief the general in charge of air ops in Laos. My plan: four years and back to graduate school for a PhD in Russian History, my first love. By 1974, the earliest possible "exit date" from the USAF for grad school, the history profession was overwhelemed by draft-dogging males who stayed in graduate school. It would be 1977 or 1978 at the earliest before I had a doctorate in hand. Opportunities would be limited at best. I was offered a job with Colgate Palmolive marketing toothpaste but by then I was doing nuclear targeting at HQ SAC...I figured planning to "toast" Sverdlovsk and Novosibirsk was more meaningful than marketing mouthwash and toothpaste.
I stayed. "Fortuna" herself intervened and I had a chance to go to Washington, DC to work on the 14 volume offical history of US Air Force operations in the wars of Southeast Asia. I selected the most positive story possible, Air Force Search and Rescue. I also used the assignment to complete all the coursework for a PhD in American and European Military History, Soviet East European Affairs at George Washington University. I then used my research on air operations in the Vietnam War as a basis for my doctoral dissertation. A short stint teaching at the Air Force Academy was followed by 13 years at Air Univresity teaching at Air Command and Staff College, Air War College and writing a history of air operations titled "Crosswinds: The Air Force's Setup in Vietnam" followed. I then retired to become Director of Research for the US Army's Strategic Studies Institute. In 2001, I left Government service to spend seven wonderful years teaching at Grove City College. It was a great life with national security at its core. Three books on the Vietnam War and a book on the University of Alabama during the turbulent 1960s. I owe a lot of that to the opportunity to serve. When people say "thank you for your service," my response is always, "It was a privilege to serve."

I did.....until they brought in Zumwault. That ended it for me.