If you enlisted, what were some of the reasons that you joined the military? How did you choose your branch of service? I initially was enlisted with the Illinois Army National Guard in order to both continue my family tradition and also earn money and tuition assistance for college.  I later did ROTC, then the Army Reserve, and then came on Active Duty in 1988. How did you imagine military life before you joined? How did your perceptions

If you enlisted, what were some of the reasons that you joined the military? How did you choose your branch of service? Honestly I didn’t even put much consideration. I was contacted by a Marine Corps recruiter and it seemed like a good opportunity to better myself. How did you imagine military life before you joined? How did your perceptions change after serving? I imagined a group of people with a sort of no nonsense mentality. Where a

If you enlisted, what were some of the reasons that you joined the military? How did you choose your branch of service? I joined up so fast my head was spinning.  I wasn’t ready for college and didn’t have the money or the desire to go at the time and no job.  It was going to be the Army at first with the intention of going into an elite unit like the Rangers or Green Berets.  I went

Can you describe a funny moment from boot camp? My high school buddy Rudy Tessnow and I pulled up to boot camp in a commercial bus.  The boot camp Cadre with their shiny black boots and menacing looks jumped aboard the bus and began yelling loudly at us all with no regard for the civilian driver, "Basic, why are you still on this bus?  [Expletive Expletive].  Get your [expletive] and your gear off this bus NOW!"  Though now