The Bird Show So John here, 37 years old I mean he's got it made, dude Things are going great He just wasn't feeling fulfilled Taking a look at his life And something's not right here So he sort of felt like You know what I think I can find some fulfillment Some more meaning If I join the military At 37 years old Hey John Hey how you doing Hey, how are you doing? Good, how are you?

Not bad.

I heard that comment about being almost 40.

Who said that? Only people that are 40 say that people are that in their mid-30s are almost 40. I'm a young spy at 37. I'll have you know. So tell us your story here, man, because I mean, at least in your email, it sounds like, I mean, you're on easy street, dude.

Well, I had, at least in your email, it sounds like, I mean, you're on easy street, dude.

Well, I had a pretty good career. It was still up and coming. I started in the trenches and worked my way up to a pretty lucrative career. Had the house in the suburbs that just bought the BMW, and it just really wasn't feeling it. I mean, I was going and sitting in a cubicle all day long doing my job and just feeling

like I was working for the paycheck and nothing else and it just it just wasn't satisfying to me i really wanted to do something like i felt like i was making a bigger contribution so uh... actually was watching a show on tv called carrier which is about you know the united states navy i was looking a lot of people talk about what they do their jobs and i thought hey you know i've wanted to be in

the military ever since i was a young child but when i got to be about 22 years old and wanted to go in

the cold war ended the military downside so there really weren't any opportunities so i

chose a to the in career instead well this show maybe start think well, maybe I should try one more time to get into the military. So I wanted to talk to the Air Force. The Air Force found out I was over 35 and they had no more interest in me. And I said, well, go talk to the Army. So I walked Redors down to the Army recruiter and said, hey, I'm 37 years old. I want to come into the military and be an officer.

And they started filling out the paperwork.

And it took about two months to get the whole process done.

There was paperwork, testing, physical, physical fitness test, which I thought was going to kill me.

I'm an officer's candidate board. And since then, got through all of it and got my class dates. And Monday night, I ship out to Fort Benning. Wow. Congratulations. That's cool. Thank you. That's neat. That's huge. That is pretty impressive right there. So the Army didn't, when you walked in after the Air Force said, now you're too old, the Army didn't have any reservations at your age? No, the Army is the only branch of the service that will commission people up to age 40.

Okay. When you told your family and friends about this, what was their reaction initially? Well, most of my friends knew that I was doing this while the process was going on. I actually did not tell my family until after I swore in, because I knew my family would probably have a very negative reaction to it, and they did. They did. The night that my mom found out, she said that she was about ready to call without a bond cry. Yeah, well, I think any mother is a little nervous about their kid going into the military. And that's it no matter what age. Right. So how did you comfort her? What did you say to her? Well, I think my mom and dad are both concerned that, you know, I'm going to be killed by the Iraqis on my way to boot camp. I just try to allay their fears that that, you know, it's not as dangerous a job as it seems. And, you know, if I wind up having to give my life in the service of my nephew, that's okay. And, you know, my dad is ex-Navy himself, so I was kind of surprised that he took it as hard as he did, because I thought he would be probably the more supportive of the two parents. Was that just competition because he was a Navy man? It's possible. He's always wanted me to go in the Navy anyway.

It's possible. probably the more supportive of the two parents. Was that just competition because he was a Navy man?

It's possible. He's always wanted me to go in the Navy anyway. It's possible. And you said you've always had like this little burning desire to be in the military? Yeah, when I was about 10 years old, I wanted to be an Air Force pilot. And when I was 14, I joined the United States Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol because they had a cadet leadership program.

And I was in that for six and a half years, started at the bottom, worked my way all the way to the top. I was one of the few cadets that made it always through the program and earned the capstone award. And about the time that I earned that award, like I was coming out of college and was looking to be an Air Force officer. the air force downsized along with the other branches because of the Cold War ending. And that's when I kind of took a look at the situation. I said, well, maybe there's a reason for this. And, you know, I pursued a civilian career instead. And even though I've been very successful in my civilian career, there's always been this burning desire to serve in the military and give back to my country. I thought about it again,

right after September 11th, like a lot of people who joined the military, but the Air Force still really wasn't too receptive to me going in. And then this last opportunity was like,

you know, this is my last opportunity to go in. The Air Force said they didn't want me because

I was over 35. The Army

said, you know, welcome, welcome to your family. And I was like, okay, well, the only opportunity

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