A few weeks ago, Kylie shared with Angie and I that she was considering the military. I don’t remember what my first reaction to her was, but I remember feeling a combination of concern for her physical (and emotional) safety, questions as to how committed she is to the idea, and pride that she would be one of the many men and women who serve our country and protect our freedoms. I still struggle with those same feelings today. We’ve talked a number of times since then, and today I went with her to visit the Air Force and Army recruiters. She had visited each already and collected a lot of information. She had also taken her ASVAB so she was able to discuss what jobs in each branch she qualifies for.

Going into the meetings today, I had been told that her experience with the Army recruiter was very positive, but that her meeting with the Air Force recruiter did not go as well. It sounded like they generally didn’t get off on a good note, and the meeting never recovered. I was curious about what the interaction would be like today. I should also add here that after talking to various friends and family who either have experience in the military or know someone who has, the overwhelming response was to lean toward the Air Force. The justification seemed primarily to center around quality of life, in that the housing, food, and facilities on Air Force bases was higher quality. This was followed by the generalization that she would be less likely to find herself in or around combat with the Air Force. If you see my concerns above, you’ll understand me when I say as proud as I will be for her service, I’ll be just as proud (and will probably sleep better) if that service is here in the states or in an area not currently experiencing conflict.

The meetings with both recruiters went well. Both men did a good job of explaining the benefits of their given branches, and their feedback seemed to confirm the comments around quality, though it sounds like the Army is making progress in this area. After hearing from both and asking them a number of questions, my thoughts to Kylie were that it may very well come down to the job she wants to do, so her next step is to determine the top 10 jobs in each branch that she qualifies for, and see where there are similarities and differences. Her eyes lit up when the Army recruiter mentioned a female special ops group that the Army now has, but it sounded like it was only available to enlisted soldiers.

As she narrows down the list of jobs, she’ll meet with each of them again to determine what’s available, complete her physical (which may refine the list further) and choose a branch and a job. I guess realistically, she could be signing up in the next couple weeks. That seems way too fast, but I guess there aren’t too may steps that can be inserted at this point. In both cases, it would be at least 6 months before she shipped out to basic training.

She still has the opportunity to change her mind, and we’ll support her decision either way. I think the military would bring some discipline and structure that Kylie could excel in and who knows, she may find that she wants to make a career out of it. Apparently 20 years is all it takes to reach retirement, so she might very well beat me if that is the case. For now, we’ll continue to pray for her and her decision and support her in any way we can. If you would also be willing to pray for her, Angie and I would appreciate it greatly. As things progress, I’ll try to remember to post an update.