My Army Journey

Hey, I’m Dakota. As y’all might be able to tell, I’m new to Army Wife Network. I’d like to tell you a bit about my journey into the United States Army. 

Joining the military wasn’t something I planned on doing—actually, it was the last thing on Earth I thought I would ever do. No one in my family is associated with the military, and up until I joined I knew next to nothing about the Army. Serving in the military had never even crossed my mind until one day, during the last few months of my senior year of high school, I was talking to a friend who was joining the Army, and they said, “Have you ever thought about joining?” 

My initial thought was, no way on this earth will I ever do that because I’m just not cut out for that sort of lifestyle. I pretty much laughed at them and their suggestion.

So, I pushed their suggestion to the back of my mind, and that’s where I left that thought for about a month. However, my friend was persistent. They continued to suggest that I talk to a recruiter. Eventually, I gave in and decided to do so.

I was still uncertain if I wanted to join through the whole conversation. I did, however, give it some more thought. At this point in my life I was still uncertain about what I wanted to do when I graduated high school. On top of that, I am also the oldest of seven kids. Life was definitely interesting growing up in such a big family, and I knew that I would have to financially support myself through college. Both of those factors majorly played into my decision when I went back to the recruiter and decided to join the Army Reserve. 

The only issue after I decided to join was that I had yet to tell my family. I knew that this was the last thing they expected me to tell them. I’ll be honest with you, telling them was the roughest part for me. I dragged my feet holding off as long as possible because I knew that they would have plenty of questions. When I told them, I was met with much disagreement, and at one point, several of my family members tried to talk me out of joining since I knew so little about the military. I listened to all of their concerns but ultimately I stuck by my decision to join.

I can now say that joining the Army has been one of the best things that I have done so far in life. It has been challenging at times and there have been many bumps in my journey. However, the lessons I’ve learned, the experiences I’ve had, and the connections I’ve made have been worth it.

My family has shown me so much support after they recovered from the initial shock I gave them when I decided to join. So far, the Army has sent me to Fort Bliss, Texas, and I’m currently at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. I have always had a love for travel, and now I look forward to seeing where my journey takes me next.

I still have a lot to learn about the Army way of life, and I’m always eager to learn more and share what I’ve learned so far in my journey.