The how and the why

I wrote this about 3 weeks ago, and I have been editing it since. Finally is ready for posting.


Before we joined the military, I would wonder what possessed these people to join?? Why would people choose to go through boot camp? How do people live like that?


I thought I would share the how and the why for us. How we came to the decision and why we did. Although you'll need lots of background information. Just stay with me, and we'll get there I promise.


Matt had always had a hard time choosing a career. First he wanted to be a choir director, but then thought that wouldn't be a good choice for someone who wanted to have a family. It's hard to find good paying jobs for a choir director. Next, he thought about being a fireman, and even took some classes. Then, he wanted to go into business. In the meantime, he was working doing drafting for a guy from church. He was good at it, and made a good amount of money for a guy going to school and working. When we got married, he wasn't working anymore, and I worked and taught piano lessons after work.

By the time we joined the army two years later, he had worked as a shoe salesman at Nordstrom, a door to door ADT (security systems) salesman, drafted for a pool company, a Craftmatic Bed salesman, and Insurance salesman. I even might have skipped a few. We had also bought a house, and I had stopped working full time, and I had about 30 piano students and I was pregnant. I was making a good amount of money teaching, but neither one of us had health insurance. We were having a hard time making the payments on our mortgage. Matt (and a little bit me, but some of it I didn't fully know about or understand) had gotten us way over our heads financially.

Matt's dad has never been very good financially either. He is almost 60, (if not already) and is still living in a tiny house with his two daughters and his wife. He is renting it. He is an insurance salesman, and does pretty darn well. But he has two new cars, and buys things that really aren't that important. I come from a family that doesn't take risks, and sticks to one job as best they can, and does their best to stay out of debt. We come from very different financial backgrounds, and that can cause a few problems.....

I should have been more aware of what was going on. Matt didn't keep it from me, but I just never really asked. There was a lot more with our money that was going on too. He began looking into other things that he could do. Mostly, he was worried about our hospital bills once I had Andrew.

One night, we were laying in bed talking, and he said, "I've been thinking about joining the military". I said "You must be crazy. No way." He then went on to explain as he was praying about what we should do, and been thinking about it a lot, he said it just kind of came to him. So, after that, before he had told me about his little epiphany, he went to each of the recruiting stations and talked to the Marines, Navy, Air Force and the Army. I don't think he went to the Coast Guard. The Marines and the Navy were no ways. No offense against Marines, but you have to be a special kind of person to be a Marine. They are good soldiers, but they are always the first ones in, last ones out, and are really hardcore soldiers. The Navy was a no way too. He would have had to be on a boat six months of the year, on average, and the boy gets seasick. So, he was down to the Air Force or the Army. We could have joined the Air Force, but there wasn't an open spot for several months. So, if we were going to do it, it was going to have to be the Army. We talked and talked and talked about it. He told me all about the stuff he had learned from the recruiters (which really isn't much, and they don't always tell you the whole truth....) and we prayed about it. He took the asvab, which is a test they give you to see what you qualify for. He scored pretty high on the test. He felt really good about joining the military. I still wasn't 100% sure, but wasn't getting any bad feelings about it. And we needed the health insurance. So, we did it. He signed up. He signed up to be trained as a 25 Foxtrot, which means nothing to me, but it was in communications and computers and that sort of thing.

We joined because we needed a consistent paycheck. We joined because we needed the health insurance. I wanted to join because he signed up for four years, and he wouldn't be able to change his job for four years!! It isn't easy when you are constantly changing jobs. The Army hasn't been an easy life. We lived apart for 10 months that first year. Matt wasn't there when Andrew was born. It is difficult when he would have to work on the weekends, and when he had to be at formation at 0400.

The blessings have been enormous. Andrew got his surgery done for free. We got to live in Germany for two and a half years. Matt found what he really wants to do, which to be a PA (which we found out about this school because of Andrew's surgery and all the time we spent at Walter Reed.) Matt is getting to go to school for free, and we're getting paid. We've gotten to live in different places and have met many great people. We have a consistent paycheck, albeit a small one. Joining the military was the best decision we made. Yeah, he might be deployed. We know that, that is part of the job. We knew that when we joined. Constantly moving around is hard on all of us, especially my kids. I never imagined that we would ever live in Texas. Or North Carolina. I didn't even want to go and visit those places. Yet, here we are.

Joining the military is not for everyone. And sometimes they don't find that out until after they join, which is sad. It works for us. We're doing really good. We have benefited from the Soldier Sailor Relief Act. When we got orders for Germany, I was able to turn in our leased vehicle without any fees. We've been able to cut our debt down by way more than half since we've joined, and we haven't increased it. The Army has been good to us.

We still have five years left. (This year he will be in school, and then only four more) And he will be deployed at least once in those five years, maybe more. That will help us determine whether or not to stay in the military for the 20 years and retire. We might get out and Matt will get a job as a PA somewhere. (hopefully not too close to family, but close enough I can get my In-n-out fix when I need it) Another positive thing about Matt doing this schooling, is that as a PA, he will not be out doing any sort of fighting. He will be at an aid station, or a hospital when he is deployed. He will be saving lives. And when I think about that, I really get a good feeling inside.

So, that is why we joined the army.