Why Did I Join?

A few people have already asked me what were my reasons for joining the military. I have already discussed a few, but almost everyone joins for their own personal reasons. But, as they were asking me; my reasons; well, here they are:
When I was ten years old, I started working in the fields on my cousins farm. I was ten years old. I moved irrigation pipe, hoe'd peanuts, picked corn, and other stuff. Sometimes I would have to go to the field to move pipe before I went to school, and then again right before dark. As I got bigger, I moved to harvesting watermelons and cantaloupes (100 acre fields). By then I was able to drive all the tractors on the farm, and many times drove them straight through town to go to another field, which is very common where I grew up. It always amazed me that I couldn't legally drive a car, but I could drive a huge tractor that could do much more damage, right through the center of town, when I was fourteen. I did this every summer. Then in high school, like most young people, I had a part time job. I worked at a lumber yard in my home town. I worked a few hours after school each day, and every Saturday; then worked the whole summer. I dealt daily with the local farming and ranching community. I cut pipe, cut wood, sold everything in the store, made keys, built deer blinds, etc... Whatever they needed, I learned how to do. Everybody knew me by name; the advantage of growing up in a small town. Then I worked for a crop dusting outfit. My job was to mix the chemicals for the planes, then drive to the field they were going to spray, get out my red flag, and flag them in when they came. I had to make sure I was in the right place, checking that the wind was blowing away from me. Normally a plane can dust about fourteen to eighteen rows of plants on one pass. If there was just one plane, it was easy. I would "line him up" on the rows, he would tip his wings to show that he was ok. I would then walk off another fourteen to eighteen and wait for him to come around. Many times the plane would come within three feet of me. We would do that same thing for the whole field, regardless of size. But if there were more than one plane, things got interesting. I sometimes flagged three at a time. The first one would line up, then I would have to run, counting off the rows, flag the next plane already coming in, then run again, counting the rows, to flag the third plane. By the time I flagged the third plane, the first plane had already circled and was coming back the other way. I literally "ran" the whole hundred acre field! It was tough and very hot, and I got sprayed by chemicals a few times. I even got knocked out by spray, because the wind will sometimes shift.
After graduation, I worked for a hospital in San Antonio, as a "hot shot" driver. Meaning that if any other hospital in San Antonio needed equipment or "body parts" from our hospital, I would take them, sometimes very quickly, sirens and all, depending on the situation, to the other hospital. I delivered arms, legs, eyes, internal organ, etc.. By then I started to feel like I was going to do that forever, and it wasn't a great thought. So I joined the Air Force at the age of twenty-two.
I realized that I wanted to see more of the world. I wanted better training, and a better career. I wanted to feel like I was accomplishing something and growing at the same time. It sure wasn't about money, because you darn sure don't get rich in the military. But it was a platform that could lead me to better choices and better things. I did not intend to stay in the full twenty years. I was going to do my four years and get out and make money. But, as the time came to make that decision, I looked around and saw that many of my friends were finding it hard to get jobs. Many people I  met, even with advanced degrees, were having a hard time getting employment. Many of them were paying huge medical bills, or had large student loans. So, with all this in mind, I decided to stay in. I had job security. I had free, full medical. And I was travelling to places that I only dreamed before of seeing. And I was doing something professional that I was trained to do, and making a difference. Those were my reasons for joining the military, and for staying in the full twenty. Yes, I did go to some pretty bad places, and saw some pretty bad things.But I also was a part of some pretty good things, too. Overall, things could have been much worse!