A1000YrdStare03
05-21-2012, 07:22
When I was 19 years old I went to Parris Island, SC to see my best friend graduate from boot camp. I remember being extemely impressed. You can see the pride he felt, and the sense of accomplishment after completing boot camp. The whole ride home he told me what boot camp was like.
After that I thought maybe the military was something I should look into. I was an insecure kid, not knowing if I could even make it through boot camp. So, I started going to recruiters for some information. I had no shot at getting into the Airforce because of bad grades in high school. The Coast Guard didn't interest me, so I started with the Navy. The recruiters office was a building that had two offices on the 1st floor. One was the Navy recruiter, the other was the Marine recruiter. I went to the Navy first. Met with the recruiter one day, and he had me come back with some information the next day. When I went to see him the next day I walked in his office, and he told me to get out, then come back and bang on the "hatch", and request permission to come aboard, as if we were on a ship. I remember saying, we weren't on a ship!! I walked right out his office, and into the Marine recruiters office. That was that! I was joining the Marines. I never even made it to the Army recruiter.
Now that I'm older I realize what that Navy recruiter was trying to do. He was just trying to weed out kids that were not serious about joining by giving a little taste of boot camp. But I knew nothing about the Navy at that time, I didn't even know what a "hatch" was. I wasn't sure which branch was a good fit for me. By embarrassing me he made my decision easy.
Oh, by the way. My friend who's graduation I went to. He was a reservist, with a supply MOS. I still break his balls to this day for choosing a MOS which has you counting cans in a mess hall.
After that I thought maybe the military was something I should look into. I was an insecure kid, not knowing if I could even make it through boot camp. So, I started going to recruiters for some information. I had no shot at getting into the Airforce because of bad grades in high school. The Coast Guard didn't interest me, so I started with the Navy. The recruiters office was a building that had two offices on the 1st floor. One was the Navy recruiter, the other was the Marine recruiter. I went to the Navy first. Met with the recruiter one day, and he had me come back with some information the next day. When I went to see him the next day I walked in his office, and he told me to get out, then come back and bang on the "hatch", and request permission to come aboard, as if we were on a ship. I remember saying, we weren't on a ship!! I walked right out his office, and into the Marine recruiters office. That was that! I was joining the Marines. I never even made it to the Army recruiter.
Now that I'm older I realize what that Navy recruiter was trying to do. He was just trying to weed out kids that were not serious about joining by giving a little taste of boot camp. But I knew nothing about the Navy at that time, I didn't even know what a "hatch" was. I wasn't sure which branch was a good fit for me. By embarrassing me he made my decision easy.
Oh, by the way. My friend who's graduation I went to. He was a reservist, with a supply MOS. I still break his balls to this day for choosing a MOS which has you counting cans in a mess hall.