National Guard

Lately I have been tossing around the idea of joining a reserve unit of the military, more specifically the National Guard. Joining the military has been something I have been curious about. Back when I was 19, I almost joined the Army, but I did not. I never really thought much about it since then till my sister joined the National Guard. That was quite a shock seeing my sister join the military. That kind of got me thinking but I felt like I had too much going on in a civilian life to up and join. As time went on I started work at Micron and then transferred to IM Flash Technologies where a bunch of ex-military and reserves worked. I saw how they incorporate this into their lives and a lot of the benefits of being a part of the service. Well now my curiosity is in full swing.

I talked with a National Guard recruiter earlier this week and I am pretty sure I will be enlisting, as an officer. A lot of peoples reactions have been, "you are going to get a one-way ticket to Iraq-Afghanistain". Sure that might be true, but in all honesty, I dont think that worries me to much. I think what worries me the most, when I do enlist as an officerand complete the neccessary schooling, I will be in charge of leading men. I will be the boss. That is a little more nerve racking than being deployed.

I also feel like I am at a point in my life where things have kind of stagnated. I go to work, I go home, the weekend comes, I do whatever on the weekend and then back to work. I almost feel like I need to get out of my comfort zone. Sure I have big plans coming up in the near future. My girlfriend Amy and I are planning on getting married, that will change the comfort zone a bit. I guess its this feeling of "what if" that I dont want nagging me. Plus there are other benefits; extra money, discounts, insurance, excitment, partiotism, help pay off student loans, and more. I think the big thing is I get to keep my job now and get additional training from the military.

So lots to think about. Something that I have been contemplating for a little while now. Will keep this updated if it acutally happens.