Why

My decision to enlist in the United States Navy has been met with surprise and confusion from most of my friends and family, although I’m pleased that once they all came to grips with it they have given me nothing but support. Nevertheless, I think its important for them to have a detailed explanation of why I made the decision, what my motives are and what I hope to accomplish. Not just for them, but for my own benefit as well. 5 years is a long time, and it will certainly be interesting to see if the experience is worth why I went in the first place. So, why did a liberal guy from a loving family with his master’s degree and promising job prospects on the horizon decide to drop it all and enlist in the US Navy? In no particular order…

1.    The challenge. Ever since I started running in college I’ve been driven to push myself, both physically with my exercise and intellectually with my studies. Once I finally finished grad school, it was the first time I didn’t have something on the horizon in my entire life. I was at last confronted with the task of choosing a path in the real world. The challenge the military offers, on every level, seemed much more desirable than a steady 9-5 job. Discipline, physical and mental strength and endurance, courage… these are the traits I desire in life, the challenges I want to meet.

2.    Best use of my abilities. The real trick in life is to find something that maximizes the skill set you have. If I took a sedentary job, it might be intellectually stimulating, but I am much too active to be content with that. I have training in exercise and health care to a limited degree, and the hospital corpsman rating would seem to combine my desire to provide health care with an active lifestyle. The resulting self worth is more valuable to me than money or social status ever could be.

3.    Enlisting vs. Officer. The biggest confusion that my friends/family faced was why I decided to enlist when I have a master’s degree. Simply put, there was no officer position I wanted, and all the health care officer positions require training I don’t have (nurse, PA, MD, etc). I knew for certain that I wanted to be involved in health care in the military, so regardless of my educational background, the HM (Hospital Corpsman) rating was the best fit. I have no regrets going in enlisted. To me it seems to offer a more “down and dirty” lifestyle than the officer path.

4.    The call to duty. This may seem like antiquated idealism, maybe even naive patriotism to some, but I truly felt that enlisting was a responsibility I had to do. My entire life I had been given the best opportunity for everything by a loving, stable family. It is finally time for me to give something back, not just to the family and country that provided me with everything, but to all the families and children that didn’t have the opportunities that I had. I had a choice to join the military, but for some it’s the only way out of a bad situation, whatever that may be. I believe the men and women in our armed forces deserve the best health care and I plan on giving it to them, in any way I can.

5.    The adventure. When I finally come home I want to tell people stories of distant lands, amazing sights, unique people, and even dangerous feats. I don’t even want to see the suburbs until I’m 50 years old, with a lifetime of traveling the world and serving my country under my belt. When I look back on my life, I want to see something I can really be proud of.

I think that does a decent job of summarizing my reasons for joining. Of course, my actual military experience is limited to 2 days worth of processing at MEPS and meeting with my recruiter once a month. Whether or not the goals I’ve laid out here become reality is yet to be seen, but I’m eager to find out. Now if I could only get shipped out to basic…

First Entry

A decidedly uncreative first entry to this new journal. My goal is to use this to record the events/thoughts in my life leading up to and during my service in the United States Navy, both for my record keeping and so that my friends and family can stay at least electronically involved in my life. Obviously I won't be able to update at all times (basic training, etc.), but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

First I hope to really gather my thoughts on what brought me to this point in life and why I'm taking the direction I am. It looks to be an uneventful week ahead so hopefully that update comes sooner rather than later. Another goal is to keep this blog as career related as possible without the "I'm sad the Giants lost today" posts, although completely separating the events from the emotions seems unlikely. Hopefully the emotions and events I can capture here will enhance each other to give a better picture of myself, without one bogging down the other. More to follow