I was born on April 20, 1971 in Dallas, Texas. I grew up an Army brat without the curse of having to move around. Growing up entirely in Dallas, I attended the three Purple and White schools in Oak Cliff: L.P. Cowart Elementary, L.V. Stockard Jr. High, Sunset High School. I discovered early on that I was a computer geek with a love for reading fantasy, sci-fi and horror. By “early on” I mean high school; that’s where a friend introduced me to The Stand by Stephen King, and my computer teacher introduced me to the Ultima RPG series by Lord British (Richard Garriott).
After high school, I was an Army recruiter’s wet dream… I basically walked into his office and begged to sign up. My ASVAB scores were high enough that almost any career was mine for the asking, except for two problems: One, I was too impatient to wait around for a slot to open up on the careers I really wanted due to my desire to leave home and set out on my own, and Two, well… read number one again. It all comes down to my desire to get out of the house and set off.
I really should have played hardball and gotten what I wanted- lesson learned- but instead walked out of the recruiter’s office without an Enlistment Bonus, and a very boring job as a Patriot Missile Crew Member (16T, at the time). Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Army. Loved it. But I made yet another mistake (three actually) and ended up getting out after about 3 years. I should probably go ahead and list the mistakes for you… knowledge is worthless if not shared.
- While in BASIC training, I was offered the opportunity to attend Westpoint, the Army’s military academy for officers. I should have taken it. Looking back, it wasn’t really a mistake in the grand scheme of things because- just as I correctly ascertained back then- I would have loathed being an officer; it’s just not my personality type. Being an Enlisted Man was much more my style. The mistake was in not figuring out that even though I would have hated my time at Westpoint, and the ensuing years as an officer, it was an opportunity handed to me on a silver platter and I scoffed at it. It did, however, teach me not to scoff at such gifts in the future. Oh, I still turn down opportunities… but I make damn sure it’s because that’s what I really need to do and not just because I wouldn’t enjoy it.
- I allowed a terrible supervisor to turn me off to the military. I spent too much time being pre-occupied with blaming my negative experiences on the military when I should have, instead, been focused on the Present and realizing that the person making my life hell wouldn’t be in my life forever. Oops. Also, I loved serving my country, but I allowed my absolute hatred for that person to control my thoughts and cause me to forget why I was serving in the first place. Big oops.
- When the time came to sign the dotted line and get out, or raise my right hand and reenlist, the Army was in the middle of one of its largest downsizes ever after Desert Storm. The fallout from that was the lack of incentives for reenlisting: no bonuses, no option to transfer to another military base, or option to change career fields. So there I was, bitter about my chip-on-the-shoulder, power-hungry supervisor and no incentives for reenlistment, and I thought to myself, “I’ll show them!”, and signed the dotted line.
The end result was that I was out of the military, and soon to discover just how much I hated civilian life: a lot.
I left the Army after my initial Enlistment was up and set off to become the computer geek I knew I was. This consisted of multiple gigs working as a tech support representative for various companies. During this time, as stated above, I discovered that I missed being in the military. Figuring out that someone doesn’t know what the “Any” key is on their keyboard just didn’t provide me the same fulfillment as defending the country. Go figure. I attempted to return to Service, but it was a slow time for the military and experienced personnel weren’t needed. I even asked about the Coast Guard. (I didn’t know at the time that they were considered a military service. Oops.) Anyhow, no-one wanted me back. After a while, I joined the Army again through the Texas National Guard as a Scout (19D). It wasn’t Active Duty, but it was military. And it was fun, an excellent career choice.
September 11th, 2001 came and I watched in amusement as our towers fell. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t laughing at the deaths of thousands… I just didn’t know it was real. There had been a recent movie where a comet came crashing down on Earth and hit one of our most recognizable buildings in downtown Dallas; my first thought, therefore, was that a similar show must be on. When the realization of the event finally struck home, I was just as shocked as the rest of the country. And there was only one thing I could think to do: I called my Army Unit and reported for duty.
I spent the next few months locked-and-loaded at DFW Airport keeping a vigilant eye against further terrorist acts. This meant leaving my day job and returning to temporary Active Duty. The fallout from the event, however, was that my day job was also temporary- the financial weight of 9/11 caused my office to close up shop and I would be out of a job once I was released from Active Duty. Just before that happened, however, I received a call from an Air Force recruiter and was offered the opportunity to switch from Active Duty Army (even though it was technically a temporary situation) to Active Duty Air Force. I jumped at the opportunity without question. (See, I learned.)
I spent the next 8 (almost 9) years serving in the Air Force. My career field was Radio Operator, though I spent all my time serving at Schriever Air Force Base working in Space Operations. As I type this, I’m in the process of leaving the Air Force on a medical discharge. Not the way I wanted to go out, and certainly I’m bitter about having to leave the military once again, but we don’t always get to choose the road we’re set upon. So here I am, at a fork in a road I didn’t mean, or want, to turn onto, and trying to decide which path to take from here.
The options are endless, even in our current economic slump of foreclosed homes and failed businesses. Do I attempt to continue serving my country as a civilian by pursuing a career with a government contractor, or becoming a politician? Do I return to the computer field and once again become Super Geek, saving dying hard drives one byte at a time? Or do I take my knowledge, experience, and logical mind, and apply it towards doing what I could never do with an M-16 rifle: defending the Rights of Americans through education with my trusty Logitech keyboard.
Perhaps a little of each until the latter actually provides an income.
