Growing Up Fast - US Special Forces

Before I begin my story of Growing Up Fast - US Special Forces, I just want to thank my beautiful wife of six years for helping me through some very rough times. Without her, I could not even begin to write my memoirs to share with you.

I have changed the names of people I've been acquainted with to protect their identity and my own identity for that matter. But my story is true to what I remember.

With that being said, I hope you learn and get what you need out of my story for I have seen and done things that most people never will or ever want to do.

I grew up in your average middle class family in a Midwestern suburbanite town in the latter part of the 80's. The town's population was around 8,000 or so. I'm not sure because at the time I didn't really care.

My father was, and still is, a mechanic in a shipping facility. My mother worked at a small hardware store as a bookkeeper. I have a sister 1 year older than me. I guess you could say we are were the average blue collar family.

I was the quiet, well mannered, straight "A" student until I turned 14 years old. I was very shy around people. I was basically the kid that blended into the crowd of children so I didn't get noticed.

It wasn't until I turned 14 when I finally broke out of my shell, hormones I guess. My dad and mom didn't know what hit them. Talk about Jekyll and Hyde! I didn't give a crap about school, my grades dropped to a "C" average and one quarter of the time I didn't even go to school.

It didn't stop there. I was a walking hormone. I met this Mexican girl. She had a body that would make any man melt like putty and she knew it. Later on I found out that she cheated on me every chance she had. But she had such a hold on my second brain that I didn't care.

I'd sneak out of the house nearly every night so I could hang out with my buddies and get shit faced on beer and pot. We'd go out to the lake near the house with a bunch of girls and go skinny dipping. I remember one time I swam across the cove, blitz out of my mind, with a case of beer under my arm to get to the party. Man, I could have drowned. That was my first of many near death's by dumbass.

I was constantly being grounded because I just didn't listen to a single thing my parents said to me. Parents don't understand, their assholes right? Although later on I'd find myself thinking back and kicking myself in the ass for not listening to my dad.

So my senior year was pretty much the same, constantly in trouble. I was kicked out of school for a week for skipping too much school. I never did understand that logic.

I did, however, understand that being suspended from school was a lot less fun than skipping school. My dad took my phone, t.v. and Nintendo out of my room. He also gave me a list of chores to do everyday that had to be done before he came home from work. Not just the regular chores, but enough chores that literally kept me busy from the time he left to the time he came home. When he got home, we had dinner and after dinner it was straight to my room. I was also grounded for a month after I went back to school.

I had to ride the bus for that month too...no car. Not that I really cared that much because the car I drove was a piece of shit. It was a 1980 Plymouth Champ. If you are unfamiliar, it's a hatch back similar to a Horizon. I couldn't get laid in that thing even if the world relied on me to pro-create.

The middle of my senior year came and it was time for career counseling. My counselor looked at me from across his desk and said "You will never amount to anything. You're a slacker, a waste of space. Do you want my suggestion? Join the military. The ASVAB is next week, I suggest you be there. Oh, and by the way, since you failed English, you need to go to night class to make it up or you won't graduate." So I left his office feeling like a pile of dog shit.

I went home and told my parents the wonderful news. Of course my dad about put his fist through my chest. Once he calmed down, we had a two hour discussion about why I shouldn't throw my life away and that I'm heading down the wrong path. "Son" my dad said, "You mother and I only want the best for you. We have tried and tried to steer you in the right direction but it's just no use. You can't go to college because we can't afford it and you need to at least graduate high school".

Afterward, I decided to go see my girlfriend. I told her what happened at school and the lecture I received at home. She felt bad for me but that didn't stop her from pushing the steel spike even deeper into my chest.

"Jay, we need to talk".

"About what"?

"Sean called me today." - That's her ex-boyfriend

"What the f^$% for"?

"Well, he wanted to see me, so I went".

"What"? - Face is getting red

"He asked me to marry him".

"WHAT"! - Now blood is boiling

"I said yes".

Explosion of tears and rage

"What, why...how could you do this? I thought you loved me? Where is he? I'm going to kick the ever lovin' shit out him!"

"Jay, he loves me and I still love him. You need to be happy for me. I love you but I'm not in love with you."

"F^$% off. I'm outta here."

I left crying that night. My heart was broken. It was broken for a long time after that. She played me so many times that I swore I would never love any other girl again. From that day forward, I told my self that a girl only gets one chance to screw up and that's it. This began what would be the start of my endless one night stands.

Do you have children that act like the way I used to act? I have 2 children now and I didn't want them to grow up this way. I found that a lot of this behavior can be solved just by how the parents react or pro-act. The websites that I found very useful are just below.

So my heart was broken and my anger toward the way my life was heading was unbearable. I needed to get out of this hell hole little town. I decided to take the ASVAB. After three hours of test taking, and trust me, it's not the easiest test to take, I left school and went home to get ready for night school.

Night school, the only reason I really wanted to go was because of Stephanie. She was a beautiful blond girl that I had a crush on since the 7th grade but never had the balls to talk to. Who'd have thought that she would be in there too.

I figured this would be a good chance to try and get close to her. So the second night of class I sat next to her. My chest was pounding when I looked over at her to say hello. I was amazed and relieved when she smiled at me and said hello back. So we talked a little about how sucky it was to be in class and I tried to be as funny as I could so she would laugh. She had a very nice laugh.

At the end of class, I was walking out to my piece of crap car and Stephanie stopped me. "Jay, do you think I could get a ride home?", she asked. "My boyfriend called me and can't picked me up." Crap, she has a boyfriend. Wait, did she just ask me for a ride? Awesome! I said, "Sure, no problem, come on". See how I played it cool? I think she likes me. So I took her home and we talked and laughed some more on the way.

The next couple of weeks I had totally forgot about taking the ASVAB. Stephanie and I were having a good time at night class and she even asked if I could pick her up and drop her off. I figured it would be a good time to let her know how I felt about her. So I told her that I really liked her, I've always had a crush on her, that we have had a great time together these past few weeks and that I thought we would be a good couple. The I asked her to "go out" with me. Man was I nervous! She told me that she liked me too, that I was really cute and a great friend but she had a boyfriend. Shot down. "Can we still be friends, because I really do like you?", she asked. I said "Oh yeah, of course we can!" I wasn't going to stop trying after one let down, are you kidding! She's gorgeous!

I finally made it through night class and graduation was in a month. My ASVAB scores came back. My scores were good but not good enough for officer training, not that I cared I just wanted to get the hell outta dodge! After school that day I went to the recruiting station in town. You have never met a group of leeches until you walk into a recruiting station. Picture this: Two guys from each of the four branches, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines all coming up to you at the same time wanting to shake your hand first and lure you into their web of lies and false promises. Which one do you choose? Well in one second, looking past the leeches, I saw a very cute girl in a Navy uniform standing in the doorway. Guess what? I choose the Navy. What? I told you I was a walking hard on earlier didn't I? Okay then.

I signed my pre-enlistment papers that night. I made sure I had a guaranteed job before I did, otherwise I would have gone in as "undesignated", which means that you get all the crappy grunt work that the Navy could dish out, swabbing (mopping) decks, cleaning the galley (kitchen/cafeteria), cleaning the heads (bathrooms) with toothbrushes, etc.

So, I will leave this chapter with one piece of advice. If you join the military, make sure you have a guaranteed job before you sign anything!

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