What Things Did You Learn About Yourself That Were Unexpected or Surprising During Your Military Service? Login & Share to Win!

Some challenges and surprises I have encountered is that I knew I had to do more to make myself more competitive and promotable. Had to take some college courses and self-development courses to increase my promotion points but also to better myself as a person and a leader.

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I seemed to be a "natural" at soldiering, advanced quicker than anticipated, sought out opportunities to lead others , had more confidence in myself than I realized, I enjoyed a challenge , pressure and competition

That I had a determination inside of me to always finish no matter what.

I learned that the only limits I have are in my head. Once I put that aside there were no limits.

I learned that most people get the wrong impressions of me until they know me better.
My boss at the MPS in Little Rock decided she was going to swap duties for me and the other Captain in the unit. After announcing the change, she called me to the office to share that she had two lines of people coming to her. One line, my people asking her to keep me in my job. The second line, the people from the other department asking her not to send me to the other office. When I left the unit, the people that didn’t want me to go to their department were crying on my farewell! Needless to say this was troublesome at times. I had similar situations in civilian life!

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How I responded to favorably to discipline.

I would say it was surprising to learn how much I could endure, and what I could accomplish. I never really did much to push / challenge myself before joining.

I learned that I am more resilient than I ever thought.

When I came back home from leave after Recruit Training from MCRD Parris Island and realized I was a change man. My girlfriend at the time found “JODY” and she was banging all my so called friends. I could not wait to go back to my unit where I actually felt at home.