The Army In 2004, I joined the United States Army. At the time that I joined that Army, the country was still dealing with the aftermath of 9/11. All throughout high school, all that my friends and I talked about was joining the Army to help protect our country, get revenge and make a difference. I also did not feel as though college was for me or an option finically. The first step in joining the Army is that you need to talk to a recruiter and go through MEPS. Then after that you, you are told which base you will go to for your basic training. After basic training you are then assigned a unit. Finally when your ready, you retire from the Army. I will not talk about war that’s a whole story on its own which is not something I care to share with anyone. Before the end I hope that I can give you a view of what the military is really like. The first step that every solider takes is talking to a recruiter. You can only believe about 10% of what a recruiter tells you. They will tell you that basic training will be fun. Which it can be, but it will also be some of the hardest days of your life. All you are to them is just another number. A number that is going to help their promotional packet. The recruiter gets you set up for Military Entrance Processing Station or MEPS. At MEPS their main goal is to test you to see if you are mentally and physically eligible to join the military. With doctors constantly poking at you bring up all of your medical history you really just feel like a rat in a maze . Some of the things you will do, include but are not limited too: undressing, bending over, wiggling your toes, fingers, hopping, touching your toes, being touch all over, and sitting in a room with an old man who stares at you for the first five minutes then wants to talk about your personal life and your feelings. They will pick at your mind trying to see if there could be some mental disability that would make you ineligible for duty. When all is said and done, if you pass all the tests, you pick your military occupational standard or MOS, sign your contract, find out where you’ll go for basic training, and swear in. The start of basic training is much like MEPS. They have an entry process at each basic training site. This process takes about a week to complete and its usually when the most suicides happen. Suicides and suicide attempts usually happen when a person realizes that they really didn’t want to be in the army or they become too scared. The army will put them on suicide watch. While on suicide watch they are not allowed knives, bootlaces or bed sheets among other things. they are put on a 24 hour watch by two soldiers at a time. After that week, you meet your drill instructors in the shark attack. Which is a really nice way of saying they line you up to go through a gauntlet of drill instructors who beat you up while smoking you. Smoking is a term that means working a person out far past the point of muscle failure. This is done throughout basic training. Basic training is three months of: workout, eat, learn valuable skills such as first aid and combat skills, eat, work out, eat clean your weapon or shine your boots, workout, shower maybe sleep then repeat the process. There are fun things you will do such as repelling, obstacle courses, and firing different weapons. And then there are not so fun things like going into a gas chamber with CX gas. It feels like millions of needles stabbing you while you breath razor blades. Then you get to work out in the sand. I never met anyone in basic who didn’t cry at least once at night in their bunks whether it be from missing your family and loved ones, or the pressure you feel mentally no matter what everyone breaks. Hell week is one week of torture towards the end of your training. This is designed to weed out the weak. It’s a week of combat scenarios, sleep deprivation, and some of the most psychical and mentally demanding tasks. The only shower you get is from the rain (which eventually will make the smell worse) or a form of wet wipes. Shortly after comes graduation, which is bitter sweet. Its bitter in the fact that some of the people that you’ve become closest too, you’ll likely never see again. Sweet in the fact, that you’ve accomplished what most people can’t . After basic is AIT or advanced individual training. This is like basic with a college twist and more lenient. Afterwards you will be assigned a unit. In my experience it was a shock. The people there are somewhat like the people you would meet anywhere. Its unexplainable the feeling. You become a trained machine that will follow every detail of the rules while everyone else seems like they’re just working a job to you. However you can always see the difference in mannerisms between civilian and military. It makes you kind of angry at first to see some of what you worked so hard to achieve to be lost in others. Your unit will train and do menial tasks that we refer to as the dog and pony show these are brought on by the politics of the army. The whole time you’re at your unit you become one of two types of people. You are either wishing you would be sent into war or not caring either way. You will make the closest bonds with the people you meet in the military some are life long however long theirs or yours might be. There are several ways to leave the military. You could be medically discharged for mental or physical issues. Most of the people I’ve met are usually the happiest this way. You could also be dishonorably discharged I’ve only met one person who was dishonorably discharged. I met him in AIT and found out later he had committed suicide. And then there is honorable discharge. This in my opinion is the hardest decision to make in the military, because its your decision. You never come to realize if leaving the military was the best decision. People will ask me why did I leave, I only tell them that it was time for me to leave. I never tell them of the mental toll its taken, just that it was time. In the military you will do thing you never thought possible both good and bad. The horror that you will see will scar you for life. Although the family that you create will as well if theyre still alive. In the end a true soldier will never want to go back and change joining. A true soldier will only wish he didn’t have to do the thing he did to protect his brothers. However it’s a constant battle with yourself because even though you leave the military it never really leaves you.