Chapter 2

The third week of July, Garrett wandered into the local arcade and found a recruiter from the National Guard holding court, trying to convince the teenagers who hung around there to join. Garrett ignored him and his younger audience, moving instead to his favorite machine. It featured a soldier moving through a jungle on patrol. The object was to kill the enemy soldiers as they appeared and not hurt unarmed civilians or your buddies.

After Garrett played a couple of games, he noticed he had an audience. He turned, and the Sergeant said, “You’re pretty good at that game, son. Have you ever considered joining the Guard and learning the skills of patrolling for real? We can offer you a great deal right now. There is a signing bonus available for several specialties if you qualify, and you can earn money while training for any number of careers. After your initial training, you return home and spend the next 6 or 8 years attending meetings one weekend a month, as well as participating in a two-week summer camp every year. You get 4 days’ pay for the weekend meetings and full pay and allowances for the two weeks in the summer.”

“Yeah? And how much is this easy money? And how long do I have to be gone for this basic training I’ve heard you talking about?”

“Well, son, your pay is based on several things. Everyone enters as a Private, E-1, unless they have some civilian education above high school, in which case they can enter as high as a Private First Class (PFC), which is an E-3. Did you finish high school? And if you did, do you have any college credits now?”

“Yeah, I have 60 semester hours of college now. I’ve been attending the local Community College and have just received an Associate’s degree in construction technology. I’ll have to go to the 4-year college next semester if I want to keep going.”

“Great! We can probably get you signed up as a PFC then, and you’ll make some good money right off the bat. You could start at approximately $ 1,700 per month during Basic and Advanced training, plus housing and subsistence allowances. While you lived in the barracks and ate at the mess hall, you wouldn’t receive housing and subsistence. If you lived off-post, you would get them in addition to your base pay.

“After you come back home, you will receive about $258.00 a month for each weekend and $903.00 for your two weeks in the summer. That’s pretty good pay for hanging with a bunch of great guys and serving your country.”

Something about the sales pitch got to Garrett. Or maybe he was just pissed enough at his mother he decided to get away for a while. Whatever caused him to make the decision is unknown, but he said, “You know, I think I’ll do it. Gramps and I have talked about the army before, and he thinks it’s a good deal.”

“Great. I have my papers in the car outside, if you’d like to come with me. We can get started today, then. When I have your appointments made for the tests and physical, I’ll take you to them. If you pass, we’ll get you a report date and you’ll be all set. Until you report for Basic, you’ll join your unit for the monthly meetings, but won’t be eligible to deploy if they are called up.”

Garrett’s test (ASVAB—a test to determine his ability to perform various jobs in the military, which helps place him in a Military Occupational Specialty or MOS) went exceedingly well. He was a prime physical specimen, so the physical detected no problems either.

After he obtained the results of the physical and ASVAB test, the recruiter was very upbeat. He called Garrett and said, “Garrett, you can almost write your own ticket in the Guard. You have a great score on the test, and I can place you in almost any MOS we have available. I have units that need aircraft mechanics, wheeled vehicle mechanics, supply clerks, and even medics. You tell me what you are interested in, and I can probably find you a position.”

“I just want to be a soldier. You got any infantry positions open?”

“Well, yeah, but you don’t want to do that. You can have a great job. Hey, I need to fill a medic position in one of the infantry battalions, how about that? You can be in an infantry unit and still receive some excellent training. You could even find a job in your civilian life as an EMT pretty easily after you finish the medical course at Ft Sam Houston. You’d probably need a little extra training to work on a civilian ambulance, but it would be easy peasy after finishing school at Ft. Sam.”

“I don’t know. I never really thought about something like that.”

“Look, try it. If you don’t like it, maybe they’ll let you change your job to something else, but with a score like yours, this is a no-brainer for you. Hell, it even comes with a small enlistment bonus because they need medics.”

“Ok, let’s do it. Where do I sign?”

Garrett signed the papers and reported for his Basic Training the last week of August. He was a natural. He had been tromping through the woods since he was a small boy, so he could move quietly and knew how to camouflage himself so the wild animals he hunted didn’t see him. He could camp and navigate well, and he shot like the legendary Daniel Boone.

Perhaps the only problem Garrett had in Basic Training was that it came too easily for him. He didn’t make a lot of friends when he told his fellow trainee’s, “Man, you guys need to stop your bitching. This is the easiest money I’ve ever made. Where else can you get paid to tromp around in the woods and shoot rifles and blow things up? I thought the PT (Physical Training) would be tough at the very least, but this stuff is a piece of cake.

Garrett learned his skills well and graduated, albeit not too high in the standings because of his penchant to slough off every chance he got. He didn’t mind the work, but why exert yourself if you don’t have to?

After Basic, he was sent straight to his Advanced Individual Training as a medic. Once again, he passed with no problem academically, but was mired in the middle of the pack score-wise because he tended to slough off. He excelled in both the field portion of the training and the classroom work. Unfortunately, he was not what is known as a self-starter. Someone always had to tell him what to do and when to do it. After he was given the job, he did it to the best of his ability and as quickly as possible. Of course, he did the job fast so he could—you guessed it—slough off.

After the training was completed, Garrett returned home and began his new life as a part-time soldier. He got back in time to enjoy the summer with his grandfather again. He even got his old job back at the construction company. Now, he felt as if he was set. He had a great part-time military job and another great part-time civilian job. He could hunt and fish whenever he wanted, almost, and had more money than he had ever had before. Life was good. The old saying “It don’t get no better than this” could have been written for Garrett in his opinion.