I joined the military when I was 17.

I’d easily have at least one felony had I not been locked in the military during my early adult years

I used to attribute the transformation I underwent from age 17 to 24 in the military to high-minded reasons like discipline, mentorship, camaraderie, etc.

No doubt all of these were factors. But there’s something else too: Time

In a more low-minded way, simply being locked on a military base with suffocating constraints and regulations kept me out of trouble

The military presses the “fast forward” button on perhaps the worst, most aggressive, and impulsive periods of a young man’s life.

The time when a guy is most likely to do something catastrophically stupid

In high school for example I drove blackout drunk multiple times.

I remember being on the freeway, barely conscious in the driver’s seat reclined all the way back, with my foot on the gas pedal while my friend controlled the steering wheel

With little supervision and no accountability, my high school friends and I were beyond stupid.

We should all be dead or in jail. Some of them are

Military life is daily physical training, room inspections, uniform inspections, every aspect of existence tightly regulated.

It isn’t really your life

Just being in a place where getting into trouble wasn’t really allowed.

Minor infractions like being late for work were met with swift punishment

Not showing up for work or getting a positive drug test is literally results in jail time

Not saying young guys should join the military. Simply pointing out the difference between the absence versus the presence of external pressure and consequences.

How young males act in absolute freedom and no accountability versus rigid constraints and expectations

In short, even if a young man learns absolutely nothing in the military, it’s still 4 to 6 years he spent simply staying out of trouble

And when he gets out he is slightly more mature and slightly less impulsive

Less likely to do something dumb

people have asked me to share more about my early life

I’ll share the full story, every mistake I made

every foolish and fun adventure I managed to survive

Sign up here to learn more

http://eepurl.com/gNOyq5 

"Men who grew up on deprived circumstances could break the cycle of disadvantage by entering the service, especially by doing so at a relatively young age...'knifing off' of past experience'...separation from immediate influence of family and community" https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15327965pli0404_1