The Day I Joined the Air Force

There are several days in my life that I am very proud of, and also some that I deeply regret. October 7th of 2003 is one day that I will never forget; the choice I made that day would affect the next six years of my life. It was that Tuesday morning that I made the choice to enlist in the United States Air Force.

For the previous three weeks leading up to that day, I had been putting much thought into what I was going to do with the rest of my life. At the time, I was living with my aunt and uncle due to the fact that my stepfather and I did not get along whatsoever. Also, my uncle was starting to hassle me about finding a job as I also hadn't been working for a month or so. And, last but not least, I did not have a girlfriend or anyone special that I just could not leave behind. I had tried going to college, on two separate occasions, but just did not have the discipline to go to class everyday or do my homework on time. I knew that without a college education I would not find a job making the kind of money I wanted so I started putting some thought into the military. One day after talking to my best friend, who had already been in the Air Force for two years and had nothing but good things to say about it, I thought that maybe it might be a smart career move after all. The following day I found myself sitting face to face with an Air Force recruiter at his office a few miles from my house. We spent a couple hours going over jobs that I might be interested in, watching a video of Basic Training, and finally taking a practice Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test to get an idea of what jobs I may qualify for. I ended up scoring fairly well on the practice test and decided to take the official version. The very next day my recruiter dropped me off to take the ASVAB test. I received the results immediately following the test and then went back to the recruiter's office to discuss possible job options. To my disappointment, there were no available slots for any of the jobs I wanted. I decided to sign up for the General Electronics career field option which meant that I had to pick five jobs working with electronics. Then, a job would get selected for me based on the needs of the Air Force. This option also meant that I was entitled to a $2,000 enlistment bonus, which I would receive upon completion of Technical Training School. After finishing up my enlistment paperwork and receiving my free Air Force t-shirt, I decided to go home and tell my family the news. They were a little surprised at first but considering the fact that I had other family members whom also served in the military, I was told that I made a good decision. My next step in the enlistment process was to go to a Military Entrance Processing