canyoneer posted:
I met a dude 10 years who had just wrapped up AIT in the Army at age 40.

His story was that he was enlisted in the Air Force at 18 and got out as soon as possible, hating every minute. He went on to become a truck driver in civilian life, and discovered that was crappy in it's own way.
When his daughter turned 18, she was considering the National Guard to help pay for college. He came along with her to the recruiter as a prior service dude who knew the ropes (20 years ago). Chatting with the recruiter, he mentioned that he wished he had put in a full 20 with the Air Force, and that leaving was his biggest regret in life. The recruiter's eyes sparked and he told him he might be able to get him back in the Army.
He enlisted. He was now a truck driver in the army, working with kids half his age. No idea how he physically made it through boot camp. His wife had a couple of hand surgeries that they had put off for years because they didn't have good insurance. He joins his unit, and they're getting deployed to Iraq in ~6 months. But first, truck driver and his unit are going for 3 months to another state to learn how to run a prison. That's what they'd be doing in Iraq, operating a prison.

His daughter didn't end up joining the guard anyway :D