What moment ultimately defined your decision to join the military?

When I was in my mid-teens I always saw military vehicles on the interstate a mile from where I lived, thought it would be really cool to drive one of them, so I enlisted in '76, stayed in for 24 yrs. living my dream.

That I was willing to fight up front with the soldiers.

Born and raised in a military family during the "Cold War", I suppose it was inevitable - just wasn't sure what field - until my dad brought home a July 1967 copy of Aviation Digest just as I was going onto my Senior year of HS in Taipei Taiwan (Republic of China). It had a Cobra on the front cover, and an article about WOC school "solidified" it for me. After graduation, My dad gave me the "Oath of Enlistment" while we were still in Taiwan. My dad fought in WWII and Korea (Infantry, Artillery, Air Defense), My brothers and sisters served in Air Defense/Radar, Artillery/Infantry, the USAF, and two sisters married into USN and USMC.