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My Army Experience
October 18, 2010
The Army is an experience, but it can become more of a way of life. I enlisted at 19 years of age because I did not know exactly what I wanted to do with my life, but had always felt a pull toward the military. I attended basic training at Fort Benning, GA and graduated an infantryman. I was assigned to a battalion of the 4th Brigade, 4th ID and stood it up as one of the first 12 members of my company. I would remain a part of that company through a deployment to Iraq a little over a year after my arrival. I deployed as part of OIF 05-07 and served a year at FOB Rustimiyah.
During my time overseas I was able to view the best and the worst of humanity. I realized the true bonds of brotherhood and found that family did not just mean the people I had blood ties to. The brothers to the right and left of me became closer family than many of the people that I left at home. I spent an invaluable year interacting with the Iraqi people and learned more about the middle east than I could have from any book. We were thrown into a complex situation without a whole lot of background training, and with some assumptions that turned out to not be true. I truly enjoyed and felt blessed to have been accorded the chance to interact with the civilian populace on a regular basis and find out how many of my views of the Iraqis were misconceptions.
Toward the end of my deployment I began realizing what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and that included working toward my college degree and becoming an officer. I applied to the United States Military Academy West Point and was accepted. I thought I would be happy there and be able to accomplish my goal. Unfortunately right before I was to attend I suffered from a kidney stone attack and was unable to join my class. I was at this point going to be too old to attend the next year, and was offered the opportunity to go to school at a civilian university with a four year Green to Gold ROTC scholarship. I took the opportunity in a heart beat and decided to attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Tx. I am finishing my degree this year and comissioning. This has been a great experience so far and has really become a way of life. I do not know any longer how well I would get along outside the bounds of a military life. It is how I live and view the world. I am a Soldier first and foremost.
submitted by Cadet Jonathan Sheehan on Oct 18 2010
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Hello im Jessica and im a senior in high school. when i graduate i plan on going in the army because im like you in what you said about you didnt know what to do with your life and that you were always pulled towards the military. many of my family members were and are in the military and i just think that i should keep the tradition going and i've always thought about going in the army since middle school, but sometimes i have doubts about it. Like will i like the military, and if ill be good at being a soldier. so i wanted to ask you how you like being in the Army and if you think that its the best way to go?
thanks
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Jonathan Sheehan
Jan 10, 2011 12:25 PMHi Jessica,
I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you on your post. The end of this year was extremely hectic and I am just getting everything back under control. I understand your position and you sound a lot like I did at that point in my life. I will tell you everyone goes into the military for some reason. The question is will your reasons see you through the training? The people who enlist for someone else usually have a hard time. I think if you find the reason that you want to enlist for and hang on to that you will do well. There are always going to be doubts about what you choose, but I found that after training my doubts lost their strength. There are plenty of good reasons to joing the Army, just find what it is that drives this desire and hang onto that.
As far as questions of will you like it or be good at it, honestly the best thing I can tell you is it is all dependent on your outlook going into it. All life is an experience and how you choose to look at it will shape whether it is good or bad. Some of the worst times of my life have taught me the most and I therefore see them as good experiences whether I liked it at the time or not. The willingness to learn with an open mind is what will make you a good soldier. Half of being enlisted is showing up at the right place, at the right time and in the right uniform. The other half is listening to what your non-commisioned officers tell you and teach you and absorbing it. You don't go into the Army being a good soldier, you go into the Army being a good learneer and they will MAKE you a good soldier.
I love the Army, if I had it all to do over again I wouldn't change a thing about what I've done. I am not you however, I can't say if it will be the right choice for you. What I can tell you is that the Army took what I was and gave me the skills I needed to truly be succesful in life. I learned a lot in the time I have served and seen things I never truly thought I would. I love it dearly and truly enjoy the time I spent enlisted and am looking forward to my commissioning to start a whole new chapter of my journey and my story. I believe the Army is a good way to go, but not knowing you personally I can't tell you if it's the best way for you.
I will be glad to talk to you more and give you any more information you might want. Remember all you have to do is ask and be open to learning.
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Jessica Burnett
Jan 12, 2011 5:09 PMJonathan Sheehan,
Thank you for replying and i can understand how the year would be hectic. I appriciate what you have told me and it helps me understand a little better about the choices i have. You see i really want to go into the army, i really do but some people around me believe its not for me, like my principle,counsler at school and some friends. But i dont know if that's just them telling me that they want me to go to college and not the military. My family on the other hand is very supportive of my choice to go into the army and well im just confused because i have people saying that it is for me and then some that says its not. I grew up around the military life style and when i was younger i thought and still think thats its just great that people will risk their life for others and fight for something they believe and love. Which is why i want to join. i want to join because i want to fight and defend my country because i love it and i would hate to see anything happen to it or anyone in it. I have always been the type of person who willl help anyone who needs help and i enjoy helping others. I love to learn new things and i learn fast. im just afraid that i wont pass the physical parts in BCT because i dont really have good strength in my arms. which you have to have that, right? i wanted to ask you, if you dont mind telling, what job u do in the military? do u like it? and is knowing that you could get deployed scary?
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Jonathan Sheehan
Jan 14, 2011 12:34 AMMs. Burnett,
I have to say that I am very glad that you got my message I was afraid you might have given up on me after the long wait. I'll try to take your concerns item by item to make it easier to follow as I tend to ramble.
I am not going to tell you that some people have ulterior motives, because that is unfair to those people. Guidance counselors usually want their students to go to college if at all possible and principals as well. Honestly my high school counselor told me none of her students would enlist and wouldn't let recruiters into the school. I don't agree with this, because college is not for everyone and sometimes college right out of high school is not right for everyone. I was the latter as shown by having enlisted and now about to graduate college. I don't know your friends but I can imagine them just being concerned and caring for you. Some may fear for your safety and some might believe if you enlist you won't go to school later on and worry for you after a military career. Some may worry for you if you want to have a family down the line. I can't say what their worries are exactly, but remember they can't make your decisions for you, only you can. Keep the initiative.
I'm glad your family is supportive, mine was very hesitant at first, but eventually came to accpet it and universally agree that it was a great experience for me. They all agree that I gained a lot of skills and maturity that I really needed at that time in my life.
The question of whether it is "for you" or not is a hard one. I have seen some of the machoest girls bite the dust and quit after a two year contract, and I've seen some of the girliest barby girls make a decade or more in. There is no exact model for a soldier. I was an athelete, but hated truly camping out and getting dirty on a regular basis, but I went through the most hard core basic training in the Army got filthy and loved every moment of it. I spent a year in the desert getting sand into places I didn't know existed and some I'm still finding years later (ok that might be a slight exagerration, but not much) and think it was part of the best experience of my life besides marrying my wife. So is it for you? I don't know, but I think sometimes those who doubt it might be there surprise themselves when they get into it. I'd say if it's a toss up give it a chance, there are two year contracts available which give you just enough of a chance to get a feel for it and then if you decide it's not for you, you don't reenlist and say thanks for the experience with money for college (if you pay into the GI bill which I say DO IT, best investment I ever made) and set of skills that employers love.
Growing up around a military lifestyle is helpful, but not the overall measure of success. I think you have a great appreciation for what service to the country means and that is a great building block of a soldier. I study military history and knew my grandfather was a Marine in WW II and Korea and the more I read and understood the more it meant to me what he had sacrificed. I had friends deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan some came back and some did not. That cemented it into my head. I was no better than them, it was a good enough reason to go in my mind. I did no go to avenge them, but to follow in a noble traditon. The debt we owe for our freedom is one that we can never repay, but I determined if there was anything I could do protect it I would including laying down my life. Like Toby Keith said in American Soldier, I wanted to be able to tell my loved ones, "I'm out here on the front lines, sleep in peace tonight." and there will be hell to pay for anyone who threatens that promise. You sound like you have the right reasons which will get you a long way.
You are a special young lady and I think you would do just fine in the Army. I enjoy helping others and getting to know new people in new cultures and that was the greatest part of my experience in Iraq. I love the people and their outlook on life. It is a wonderful experience that I would never trade. You have some good skills for the Army if you learn fast and like to learn new things, because you will learn plenty in a short amount of time.
The Physical portions of BCT, well that can be a problem, but you have time. I can tell you there are a plethora of ways to get yourself into shape for BCT without doing anything totally insane. Look I'm no physical freak but this past summer I scored a 297 on a PT test out of 300. You only need 180 with 60% in each event to pass. In case you don't have it here are the standards http://www.apft-standards.com/ . It might seem a little daunting at first, but you can work from nothing into shape before you go to basic. Sets of ten pushups, followed by twenty situps without resting for 5 sets, 5 days a week will have you in perfect shape for it in no time flat. Running three miles or more a day 4-5 days a week will get into shape for the run. Upper body strength can be gained a number of ways and this one just happened to work for me, (I do my 5 sets of twenty pushups and twenty situps, but the idea is the same). Don't let a lack of strength now discourage you for the future, believe in yourself, work hard, eat right and you'll be in shape.
I don't mind telling you at all. I was an 11B Infantryman, I have done a number of different jobs within that specialty while deployed. I was a rifleman, grenadier, light machine gunner, driver, mounted gunner, designated marksman detailed as a countersniper, team leader and have held a squad leader position as an E4 when undermanned. I loved it at the time and did very well. I will commission this may as a Field Artillery Officer, which I hope I enjoy very much and believe I will. Having deployed before, the fear of it if it was ever there is very small. I worry about leaving my family without me, but it is a risk we run. I do not fear for myself. By the time you deploy usually you are so well trained that fear does not usually enter the picture. I often found a strange sense of peace and calm in the heart of battle. I would say the lords prayer as we rolled out the gate and several times was spared inexplicably in the worst of situations. I think there is a peace that comes with doing your duty. Also, the skills you train endlessly before deploying will make the actions you have to take automatic when you are under fire. I never had to think what am I supposed to be doing, it was just as natural as breathing, so fear never came and I was in some pretty bad spots. You just trust the brothers and sisters to your left and your right to do their job and do yours. If everyone does their job, we go home at the end of the day to BS about what happened.
I am not going to tell you everything is perfect and works out all the time and sometimes bad things inexplicably happen, but I believe it is a worthwhile expereince and profession and I will serve for twenty years or more and probably until they kick me out. I wish I could really express how much I love the Army, but I guess the best way to say it is that it's a part of my identity, when I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror I remember that I am first and foremost a soldier in the greatest Army the world has ever seen. It is something that makes me proud and stand a little straighter and puts a little swagger in my step and confidence in my dealings with others. Noone can ever make me feel small. Lastly and I promise to get off my soapbox, my Army buddies from my enlisted days and now are not only best friends and the ones I spend time with the most but they are family members who I will do anything for. The Army is a special family that those outside don't always understand.
I hope it helps and I am glad to keep up correspondence with you. So feel free to keep writing with questions or concerns or just to shoot the bull. Young soldiers are my passion, it's why I'm becoming an officer. I remember what it was like and want to help make their lives better.
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Jessica Burnett
Jan 14, 2011 6:49 PMMr. Sheehan,
Thank you for taking the time to tell me all this, i know you are very busy all the time. I greatly appreciate everything, it has made me see clearer and made me understand what i really want to do and what i really dont. if that makes since. :D Im sorry sir that im not saying your rank before your last name, like your suppose to because its more respectful, i just dont know what your rank is so im sorry. you are right about it being my choice and no one's elses, i just didnt see or i guess want to notice that before. I guess im the type of person that likes to please everyboday :D yea i dont understand why some counselors are like that, i mean arn't they suppose to be supportive of they're students decisions and help them with what they plan on doing. i plan on waiting till im eighteen to enlist because ill still only be seventeen when i graduate cause my birthday falls late in the year, but i want to wait until then cause i want to build up my strength. which thank you for the website and the ideas on what i can do. thank you for sharing what you have done, i have always loved hearing stories of soilders. its just enteresting hearing what they've, you've been through. wow you've done alot but i bet all those jobs was enteresting and you learned new things everyday! i want to be a combat nurse and then later on a EOD. which i know is a pretty dangerous job, but like they say somebody's gotta do it. :D thanks agian for all the information and telling me about your experience. like i said i greatly appreciate it and i would love to stay in contact with you :D
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Jonathan Sheehan
Jan 16, 2011 1:33 AMI am glad to do it Ms. Burnett and I do understand. Mr. is correct for now until I commission and I appreciate your concern. I think you sound well set up for a career and I am just glad to help you out. I think I have been blessed with an interesting career and hope it continues in the same vein. I commend you on wanting to be a nurse, it's a difficult position. Talk to a recruiter about your options when you feel ready to and let them help guide you to your goals. Sounds like you're aiming to start as a 68 Whiskey, I am sure you will be great. My best friend when I was enlisted was a combat medic and he's doing great things for the Army still while I'm stuck in school. Do us proud and keep me posted on how you're doing.
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Jessica Burnett
Jan 18, 2011 6:34 PMMr.Sheehan,
i'm sorry my last comment was short. i had more to say but since i dont have a computer at home i have to go to the library and well they were closing when i got there :D i was very supprised that my family was supportive, well supprised that my mom is supportive because i'm the youngest out of my siblings so that means im the last one still at home, i was just shocked because i didnt think she would be cause i didnt know if she wanted me to. you know what i mean? like i said my whole family has or is in the military, in every branch. well on my moms side, i dont know about my dad's side. so i guess that's maybe why she is so supportive? My brother is going to go into the marines when he graduates. He wants to be a MP. i told him thats great and i hope he makes it, but he's kinda nervous that he's not gonna make the asvab score cause he hasn't yet, but i told him not to give up. so hopefully he doesn't. My sister was going to go into the Navy but gave up after she didnt make the score the first time. Now she's wishing she didnt give up. which i told her she can still join. I dont know if she will though. I have been doing those excercise's you gave me and i was shocked that i could do that many push-ups and sit-ups. i was like wow i can do that many, that's exciting! cause i've always doubted myself. but they do make your muscles hurt if you haven't worked out in awhile. i've been studying for the asvab and i didnt realize how hard it is? do you have any ideas on how i can make learning and studying for it alot better? My recruiter has asked me what military base i would like to go to and well i really don't know. do you have any that you liked or like, that would be good to go to? and are the drill instructor's as mean as they show them as in movies? some told me yes and some told me no. do they treat women in the military differently than they treat men? or do they treat them the same? I hope im as brave as you are when i join. but i believe that everyone gets scared and nervous when they first join. i just hope that, that goes away after awhile. i know this is a personal question and if you dont want to answer thats fine but how long have you and your wife been married? did you two meet in the military?
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Jonathan Sheehan
Jan 20, 2011 9:53 AMNo need to apologize for anything Ms. Burnett, I'm here to help you remember. I can appreciate the surprise that your family decided to be supportive, but after the initial shock most usually do. The fact that you have such a rich family tradition of service gives you a great foundation for a career. I would pick family members minds for information as well. Many of them may have even more experience than I do, or at least different experiences to draw from.
The ASVAB is a standardized test like any other. The best things you can do for it, is study a practice book and try to take some practice tests. I believe they now sell study guides and practice books for the ASVAB make sure to try and procure one. My belief is that your brother can make his goal if he puts enough effort into it. I have seen very few people in the Army fail when they put their full effort into it. Absolutely encourage your sister if she still wants to I know the cut off age for the Army is 35 and I don’t imagine the Navy to be much different so there is likely a chance she could still make it.
As far as working out I am happy to hear that you have surprised yourself at your ability and know you can keep getting better. The one thing I encourage you to do is make sure your form is perfect. Remember upper arms parallel to the ground at the lowest point with chest breaking the plane of your elbows and fully extend your arms when returning to the starting position; move your body as a whole unit from head to toes. I have seen a number of cadets in my time at school who thought they knew how to do pushups and could not pass a pt test because of bad form I don’t want you to build bad habits with that now, so make sure your form is good. There are videos on the web I believe showing correct form if you have a question.
Take the same tactics that I stated earlier for passing the ASVAB and doing well. Also take some of the subjects you don’t test so well on the first time and study them outside of test prep.
Well I can only say that I have been stationed at Fort Hood, TX and West Point, NY. I spent a month at Fort Lewis, WA this past summer and it is a beautiful post. I think it depends on where you call home and if you want to stay close to it. Not knowing any of that information it is hard for me to say. I think Fort Lewis and Fort Carson are both beautiful posts in the US. OCONUS postings like Germany and Vincenza, Italy are supposed to be pretty incredible experiences especially for a young soldier. I would argue that you might want to stay away from Fort Bliss, TX and Korea for a first duty station. Like I said though I don’t know where you’re from or if there’s anything you want to see so it’s hard for me to tell you one way or the other. I have known people at a lot of different posts and each had particular feelings from their experiences.
Drill Instructors may seem mean, but remember the better majority of them are playing a role and are really normal people of out their character. Basic Training is a game, if you play by the rules and don’t get too emotionally involved you will do fine. Drill’s may yell and berate you, but they can’t kill you and most don’t really hate you, they are just trying to train you to be a better soldier. I attended Infantry basic which is one of the ones that tends to be thought of as “meaner”, but I loved the experience and would be glad to do it again.
Women are supposed to be treated no different than men in the military whether that is the truth or not I really don’t know. Infantry is an all-male MOS so we did not spend time working with females. I would love to give you a better answer, but it isn’t an answer I am qualified to give and I don’t want to tell you the wrong thing.
Everyone gets scared, but how we deal with our fear that shows the depth of our character. Don’t worry if you are afraid going into basic, but DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT let it show, my drills fed off those instincts and those that showed fear got it worse than those who hid it.
I don’t mind answering the question. My wife and I were married three months ago. No we didn’t meet in the military, but she comes from a military family so she knew what she was getting into. Not an easy life, but I think she wouldn’t trade it for anything.
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Jessica Burnett
Mar 25, 2011 4:24 PMMr. Sheehan,
Sorry i haven't wrote you in awhile. I haven't been on in well awhile. First off i just want to thank you for answering all my questions, you have made everything alot easier and i greatly appreciate how u take the time out of your day to answer my messages. Thank you for the informaton for the ASVAB. i greatly appreciate that. My best friend and her mom is going to help me study for the ASVAB because im around them alot, so they said they would help me. which is really great! i will watch those videos and will learn how to correctly do push ups and everything else. agian i really appreciate everything. I think i have decided where i would like to be stationed, since im wanting to be a nurse i think they usually station those at Fort Sam Houston, TX. it seems like a good place so thats probably where ill choose to go. i really like Fort Bragg though, so i dont really know yet. I live in South Dakota , i have been here for a year almost two, but im originally from Kentucky so i have family here and family in kentucky so i wanted something close to both. But if i can't thats fine too. :D I think that im not as afraid as i was when i first decided that i wanted to be in the army. I have calmed down alot and im just ready to go. i know i'll be nervous when it comes time for me to leave and i'll try as much as i can not to show it. At first i was an emotional person, like i hated people yelling at me but my stepdad has gotten me outta that, so i can handle people yelling at me. i guess that'll be a good thing since that's what drill instructors do. Not meaning that in a disrespectful way! i'm just ready to go :D i graduate from school in thirty days and i can't wait! uhh well i dont know if my brother is still going in the marines, he goes back and forth alot and im like Josh make up your mind, you have to know if this is something you want to do and if it is stick with it. I think that he does want to go in, its just that he isn't sure. I mean really sure if that's what he wants. As for my sister i dont know if she'll want to go into the Navy now that she has a child but deep down i think she does, but i dont know because we dont talk much. She has always wanted to be in the military like me and my brother so there's still a chance that she might want to. But agian thank you for answering my questions and congradualtions on your wedding to u and your wife.
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Jessica
Nov 2, 2010 9:56 PM