join the military servise?reason/

[vivian fair]

with my new "in touch" with the military stance, and recently reading several pages of military thoughts, I have started wondering why so many of us actually joined. males and females. I know one of my main reasons for joining was I hoped IT would cure me of my desire to crossdress. It did for 7 weeks,the length of basic. But only because I had nothing feminine with me. After basic I always had access to some femm finery. vivian fair

[Karren H]

I always love a woman in uniform!! I'd would have joind just to have access to some fem military clotes!! But then the draft eneded... Whewwww...

[Debb]

I joined, and stayed in for 12 years, because I wanted to get off the farm, and stay off.

I learned air traffic control and became a combat controller. Unfortunately a training accident gave me enough physical problems that I'll never do control work again; my best bet was to get out and go into the IT field.

As an additional expected benefit of the military, I had hoped it would curtail my gender confusion. It did not.

[Leanne2]

Hi Vivean,
I also thought that joining the military would make a man out of me. The Vietnam war was going on when I enlisted in 1969. Like you my time without feminine clothing lasted only a few months. I volunteered for Vietnam duty but didn't get it. Thank goodness for that. By the time I mustered out four years later I had a closet full of pretty clothes. I guess my plan didn't work out very well. Leanne

[sissystephanie]

I joined so I could get my college paid for! U.S. Navy during the Korean war. I crosssdressed only very rarely while in the service, maybe 5 times in 4 years. Don't regret being in, and kind of wish I had stayed in longer! And yes, I was on ships in battle!

[StaceyJane]

I needed a job and a couple of my friends had just joined.
I have no regrets about my time in the army but I'm glad to be out.

[JulieC]

I joined the military when I was 18, but it wasn't for any reason associated with crossdressing. I never crossdressed while on duty; didn't want to risk being discovered. But, being in the military didn't stop me from crossdressing, just reduced some opportunity.

The women's uniforms in the military are pretty bland stuff. Not very feminine really. That said, I've found myself wishing I had a women's skirt based uniform.

[Jenny Gurl]

Like most enlistees, I joined for personal reasons. I wanted training, and didn't have the money for college. I did feel good about serving my country as well as some benefits for myself. While serving, I gained a lot more appreciation for the opportunity to be part of protecting our country. I gained a lot from the experience. I learned a lot by being exposed to different cultures, beliefs, and some of the best people you could ever hope to know from all 50 of our states here in the U.S.A. I knew of my fem side going in, but it was not an attempt to get rid of it. I didn't understand it at all and just tried to suppress my inner self. I remember the week I got out I shaved my legs. I felt I no longer had to worry about the military finding out and having a bad day. It was such a feeling of freedom to not have to worry about being caught and knowing I was free to do what I wanted in that respect. A year later I decided to join the reserves and finish out my 20. I did not finish my 20, but am thankful for the times I had while enlisted. They will probably always be "the best times of my life"

[Marissa]

Original idea was to come in under the 'buddy system', which is when two buds join, you go through bootcamp together and then they 'try' to station you together for first enlistment. Well even though I came to realize my buddy wasn't going after all, I had already set my mind and joined Delayed Entry during the summer before Senior year. Didn't really see myself going to junior college and yes I wanted to see more then just my home town. So 25 days after graduation, on a plane and the rest is history.

Experienced most of what Jenny said in reference to tasting the world and no regrets, no changes..

I didn't really ever have a desire to dress, not even as a child so most of this stayed dorment until the last 5 yrs..with most of my full dressing in last two years of service since it would have been one of those things that if discovered, I would have just retired early. So after 28 yrs of service, I'm free to be me..well to the extent that life allows me to :)

Well guess I should add that some of my motiviation was each time I went in my mom's bedroom, the first thing you saw was a pic of my dad in an Army uniform. He fell victim to cancer (smoke and painting) when I was 8. Out of 11 children, one girl and ten boys, I was the only one to serve.

[Debglam]

For me, the desire to dress is only a part of who I am. I honestly don't think that it had anything to do with my military service. I got to do a lot of real cool stuff (including blowing stuff up :D ), meet a lot of great people, and have a lot of fun. I didn't dress while in as I don't think that the desire was as strong at the time. I will say that I believe a benefit of my CD was empathy. I had some homosexual sailors who worked for me during DADT and I interpreted that to mean "don't ask me cause I'm not tellin." They were some of my best troops BTW. ;)

[Christy_M]

my need to dress was getting deeper and deeper and my guilt and shame was going in the same linear ascent. I figured the Marines would be able to fix me. I stopped for boot camp and 6 month float. but got more and more brave with dressing and being around the base. The last few months i was in I had shaved legs and never was questioned about it during pt. Needless to say, they didn´t fix me.

[JuliaKay]

Joined the US Air Force day after graduation to 1) escape the coal mines and steel mills; and, 2) GI Bill

[KylieQ]

I joined mostly because I was flunking out of college and I knew Subway wasn't exactly a prime career choice. I got some good training, got to see a lot of the world, and now they're paying for me to get my degree. I'm sure there was some patriotic reason in there somewhere, but for the most part it was the money.

[MAJESTYK]

It may sound "hokey" to some I guess but I joined the Marines because I wanted to be a Marine and serve my country. Never though about it "curing" me. I am TS and it cant so.. I come from a very long line of warriors and it was my duty to be one as well. I did not serve for long, 4 years but in that time I got my C.A.R. and I am very proud to have been a part of the Corps history.

[juno]

I did it mainly for college money and the honor of serving my country, and learn to be more disciplined. I didn't do it to "man up", but I thought getting in better physical shape wouldn't hurt. I could carry a heavy pack all night, but I never could get good upper body strength.

My dad suggested Air Force ROTC. I ended up going Army infantry, because it had the best college funding. Army grunt jobs get more college money because they don't expect them to actually use it.

[VtVicky]

After a lousy first semester of Jr. College, my father gave me a watch for Christmas that had military time inscribed on the face. I got tossed out of school after the second semester, and was in the USAF by the Fall. (I was smart enough to not go to basic training in San Antonio in the summer.)

An odd thing happened in Basic. And, I didnt find out about it until well after I retired. Apparently, while I was in Basic, my family got a package of womens clothes allegedly from me. It was the practice back then to have all the basic trainees send home some of the excess clothes they had brought from home when they enlisted. Apparently someone used my home address to unload their stash. For some reason no one in my family told me about it for over 20 years. I'm not sure what was stranger---the package of clothes, or no one asking me about it. No one in my family has a clue about my "hobby". And, no, I didn't bring any womens clothes with me.

Any of you at Lackland AFB in '64?

[KellyCD]

I joined when we went to War in Iraq because I was homeless at the time. It was either join or kill myself. I still regret that decision to this day.

[Stephanie47]

I volunteered for the draft because it was either my brother or myself. All it did was move my induction up one month. I did not expect to get assigned to the infantry, get sent to Nam and get two purple hearts. During the 1960's there was no Internet or printed material available about cross-dressing. I thought cross-dressing meant a person was gay. While I was in the army I had absolutely no desire to cross-dress. After getting out and getting married, I started to wear stockings, garter belts and nightgowns. My wife was supportive, but, now has done a 180. I dress more and more, and, I have found it relieves PTSD. Maybe some shrink needs to do a study on cross-dressing and PTSD.

[Rachel Mari]

I joined the Navy because I needed a job and for the GI Bill (which I ended up never using). I didn't start dressing again until after I got an apartment with my wife about a year after boot camp and A & C schools. I only time I didn't crossdress was when we were out to sea. I stayed in for about 10 1/2 years.
Sometimes I regret not doing more. I think I would have liked to have been on a Destroyer or Cruiser but spent all my sea time on Tenders. My NEC only allowed me on Nuke Cruisers, Carriers or a Sub Tender. I did get to see different countries (saw Sinapore from about 6 miles away as the ship drove by) from probably some of the dirtiest port of entries. Lots of interesting people. And I learned a trade.
I finished with 14 years in the Reserves. It was fun at times. The Santa Barbara Reserve Center was right in the middle of the big marina and had some prime real estate. Portland Reserve Center sucked. VERY boring with nothing much to do.
Still get together with a bunch of people from the Navy, didn't serve with them, but worked with them after we were all out. In the Commerical Nuclear business, there's a lot of ex-Navy and mostly all are Nukes.

[GeorgieMacD]

My decision was made for me. The draft. As with most if not all here it was two years I've never regretted. No dressing during that two years because of intense fear of discovery. As soon as I got out I decided to go to college on the GI Bill and of course the fear was gone.

[Michelle Crossfire]

I joined mostly for the GI bill and college. was in college at the time, which enabled me to start one rank higher than everyone else. did 4 years and spent it all overseas except for training and discharge. Met one of my best friends in the service (non cd, not gay). never cd'd in service. It eventually paid for most of my schooling, but i no longer work in the field i studied. Go figure. had some good experiences though.

BTW, i am a heterosexual (not gay) married person, and have no desire to live as a woman.

[Carroll]

I joined the USAF because I had no interest in going to collage, I had no direction in my life, and did want to serve my country

[Kate Simmons]

At the height of the Viet Nam war, I was classified as 1A after I graduated Tech School. I didn't want to go into combat so I signed up for 4 years for Army Intel. I ended up in that job having two tours in Nam anyway. Go figure! You know FTA stands for fun, travel and adventure, right?:battingeyelashes::heehee:

[robyn1114]

I joined because I needed a job and there wasn't allot of options around home. I don't regret joining, but I do kind of regret reenlisting 3 times

[Wendy W]

I joined the CG Reserve because I was bored. Got married, bought a house and just mowed the lawn every weekend. 12 years later and Active Duty for nearly 6 yrs, it was one of the best choices of my life. It slowed the dressing down a little, but it also helped it along. One of these days, I'll wear my female uniform for the Forum. Probably next Vets Day.

WW

[MiraM]

It may sound "hokey" to some I guess but I joined the Marines because I wanted to be a Marine and serve my country.

Nothing "hokey" about that that. That's why I joined the military....To serve my country. Now as for joining the branch I did, that was a different story. My father was career Marine Corps, so I joined the Navy knowing it would just chap his a**. I also come from a long line of Warriors. On my father's side of the family, we have traced our military history back to the Vikings. My mother's families military history goes back to border raiders in old world Scotland. As far back as we could trace things, military service has not skipped a generation.

[Tess]

Like most enlistees, I joined for personal reasons. I wanted training, and didn't have the money for college. I did feel good about serving my country as well as some benefits for myself. While serving, I gained a lot more appreciation for the opportunity to be part of protecting our country. I gained a lot from the experience. I learned a lot by being exposed to different cultures, beliefs, and some of the best people you could ever hope to know from all 50 of our states here in the U.S.A. I knew of my fem side going in, but it was not an attempt to get rid of it..... They will probably always be "the best times of my life"

I couldn't have said it better. The difference for me was I enlisted during the era of the draft so I probably wouldn't have joined the Air Force if the draft wasn't hanging over my head. The training I received led to a civilian career that was beyond my wildest dreams. While serving in Europe I spent weekends in Paris, leaves in London, Copenhagen, and skiing in the Alps. What a grand time for a kid who hadn't been more than 100 miles from home before joining up.

[Dana]

I intially enlisted in the Marines because?

"Ask not what you country can do for you? But what YOU can do for your country?"

Yes, I figured I had a patrotic chore do and debt to pay to all of those that had gone before me? To include three uncles that served four long hard years during WWII

And there were selfish reasons?

I figured I'd enlist for four years, party my azz off for the first two years, travel, see the world (and I did)

And then settle down and use the Corps most generous education/training benefits while I was in the Corps without even using my GI Bill.

I got out and attempted to going to college, but trying to come back home and work and live off subsistence pay (just enough to rent a shack, buy some beans and wennies etc) drove me back into the Corps.

I ended up doing my twenty and retiring ~ and THANK ALMIGHTY GOD I DID

Smartest thing this old poor boy ever did!

[joanna marie]

Originally Posted by MAJESTYK
It may sound "hokey" to some I guess but I joined the Marines because I wanted to be a Marine and serve my country.

Same with me

My father landed on Omaha Beach with the 29th Div during WWII
Older brother fought in Korea
another brother in the Cold War Army

I figured that vietnam was my turn to serve my country
Enlisted in the Army after High school in 1968,signed up for the Infantry and volunteered for Vietnam.Got there in 1969 and served with the 1st Cav. as a grunt.

My desire to serve didn't have anything to do with my CDing,
Three years in the Sevice did put it on hold but sure didn't stop it

[TxKimberly]

I joined and stayed for 12 years for a variety of reasons, and believe it or not, the hope that they would "cure" me was not one of them.
I Joined to get out of the Mojave desert, and because I wanted a future. I stayed because I was terribly proud of what I was doing and wanted to serve my country. I suspect that never again in my life will I feel so much pride as when I used to say "I defend the United States of America". What can possibly compete with that?

For anyone thinking of joining I will tell you this. It will be the hardest thing you ever do in your life.
There will be moments when you think to yourself "Oh my God, what have I done?!"
There will be moments when you think that you have made a terrible mistake.
The good news is that the vast majority of the time, you will feel that you are at last doing something worth doing.
You are doing something that you can be proud of.
You will be doing something that you can tell your Children and Grand Children about with pride ringing from your voice.
Serve your country so that you can feel that you have earned the right to enjoy it's freedoms.
Serve your country so that you can hold your head high when you speak to your descendants.
Serve your country so that you can know that you took your turn standing at the wall keeping the barbarians out.
Serve your country so that you know you helped make and keep your country a place where a cross dresser is free to express themselves.
It's a hard thing to do, but it's a thing worth the doing . . .

[VtVicky]

TxKimberly. As well put as anything I have ever read on this subject! Thank you. An outstanding post.

[Renee_E]

Because the poster said the Marine Corps buils men. So it lied. The only thing it changed was the size of my sholders.

[PretzelGirl]

I didn't do it to hide anything and I didn't do it to become a man. Simply put, I needed a paycheck. Did the buddy system like Marissa and did end up with my best friend for 1 1/2 years. Then I did 18 1/2 more without him.

[LitaKelley]

I enlisted back when we had the first Iraq war, but got kicked right out while being processed at the MEPS :(