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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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?
Second star to the right and straight on till morning
