Why did you join the military? Why did you leave?

I knew early on that I wanted to serve my country as a soldier. (The Green Berets with John Wayne was a big motivator) I got to do what I always wanted travel, personal challenge, and serve my country.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>Just last night as I was getting ready to train in Aikido a student from another program came up to me and thanked me for my service. He was born in Panama and had to endure the Noriega regime as a child and was living in Colon when the invasion went down. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Never had that happen before, felt good to this old soldier.</div>

War movies on sat after cartoons

I did not have any intentions of joining the Army.&nbsp; I was confident I would receive a baseball scholarship and that would be where I would go.&nbsp; My Mother came home after I completed my junior year of high school with the parental consent form signed and basically told me if I went to college I would flunk out because I had pushed myself so hard in high school.&nbsp; I talked to the recruiter and enlisted within a week.&nbsp; I left because I had hit 23 years and to me I had done what most NCOs would love to do - be a 1SG taking a 205 man unit to a combat environment with 5 maneuver platoons and bringing them all back.&nbsp; My CSM (CSM Mike Watkins - one of the best senior NCOs I had the pleasure of working for and with!) talked to me about staying in as he was confident I would make SGM or CSM.&nbsp; I told him I respected him as a CSM but to me 1SG was the greatest enlisted rank to achieve because once you make CSM there is no where else to go and technically you don't really have Soldiers.&nbsp; You get to move up with an officer who goes from LTC to COL to MG to General while you stay at CSM.&nbsp; Please don't take offense to this if you are a CSM.&nbsp; It did take a lot of soul searching for me to push forward to go with retirement and there are times now I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed in.&nbsp; Sadly my branch helped with the decision because they wanted to force me into something I didn't want to do - move again - and call it&nbsp;a "reward" for doing 3 deployments.&nbsp;

Sir,

I grew up in the military and always knew I was going to join. Signed up when I was 17 and retired when I was 39. Best thing I ever did.

The war in Vietnam was ramping up when I graduated from law school in 1965. I was offered employment by a man who claimed he could get me out of the draft. Maybe he could, but I enlisted because I wanted to fight the godless communists, for truth, justice, and the American way. I tried to enlist in the Navy because I had skills that I thought they could use in the Brown Water Navy. I was skilled in navigation and small boat handling in confused inland waterways. The Navy agreed but couldn't get their administrative processes straight so I enlisted in the Army. I never regretted my decision because I knew the right of the war regardless of what the leaders of the "peace" movement espoused. I still believe in it.

Honestly, I joined up because I thought I had two options: (1) local work, probably in a mill/factory or (2) the military. College seemed too far out of reach because of my family's financial situation. I am SO glad I chose the military! The rest is history, as it were.

I went to the recruiters office for a Buddy of mine that had just Graduated Marine Corps Boot Camp, in order for him to extend his Boot Leave, well when i got in there the Recruiter started Showing me Videos of Marines Blowing Shit up, and Spreading all kinds of hate and discontent, Then i got all excited and said "Sign me UP!!" Sorry, its not all Patriotic Like some people, but that is the Damn Truth. I had no Intention of Serving until SGT. Sherwood Got me all Stoked About being a Marine, and from that Day On, nothing was going to stop me from becoming a Marine!, Semper Fi

I did it for the money.

I've had family serving on and off since the Revolution, there has been at least one member of my family serving during every war we have been involved in. It doesn't exactly skip generations, for example while my father expressed interest in joining the Air Force (his father had been in the Army Reserves as an Air Corps Pilot in WWII) he never did. His brother was in the National Guard. Then today both of his sons are in the National Guard. This goes on throughout all the family branches, an Uncle joins but the Cousin does not but the Cousin's Brother and Son does.

So that's part of it, continue the weird tradition but also so I could experience something different. I enjoy a lot of things about military structure (not the power points). I also did it as a way to improve myself.