My Heroes

I enlisted in the Air Force shortly after I turned 17. I was told that I was the youngest in the military for nine days. I had dropped out of school and nothing was really happening for me back home, so when I was 16 I decided I would enlist and took all of my tests. I was fortunate (I will explain in a minute) to score high enough to be accepted into the Air Force. This was at the height of the Viet Nam “Conflict”, and I was looking for something a little more technical oriented than being a bullet-stopper or a door-gunner. Since I was under 18 and hadn’t finished high school, I was required to hit a 40% or better on the Armed Force Battery Exam to be accepted into the Army or Marines, a 60% for the Navy, and an 80% for the Air Force. My Air Force recruiter told me I did not have a prayer and would not escort me on test day. He pretty much told me I was wasting his and my time.

When I started the test, I knew I was in way over my head and did a lot of guessing. As luck would have it, I scored a 92%. It could never happen that way again. The examiner immediately called my recruiter who ran down there (thinking I was Einstein) and walked me through the rest of the tests and my physical. He did not want anything to change my mind. I did legitimately score very high on the mechanical aptitude test. This gave me many career choices, but I told the recruiter that I wanted to work in the motor pool driving trucks. He was shocked and did everything he could to talk me into becoming a jet engine mechanic.

In the military, I learn responsibility, self-respect, discipline and team work. I took advantage of going back to school on my off time to finish high school, which became a requirement after the Viet Nam War ended. When I finished my military contract, I used my GI Bill to go to college.

Thirty plus years ago, we had the draft. This forced a complete cross section of life to be enlisted in the armed forces. The Air Force got the cream of the crop because it was the most technical branch. It is much different now, as there is no longer a cross section of America in the ranks. Although I strongly feel that, the military was a very positive influence on me - I think things are too different now for me to want my kids to enlist - unless they were to become an officer. I personally would be in favor of the return of the draft.