Jajomurphy
Unverified
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2015
- Messages
- 7
Hello everyone, my name is James, I am 22 years old and from New Jersey. I'm here hopefully to find out more about the special operations community, and what I can do to be a part of it. I speak English natively and fluently, I speak Bosnian(Serbo-Croatian) at a conversational level, my girlfriend's family immigrated in 1996 after the Yugoslav wars and I've been learning from them over the last 3 years. I speak Russian at an elementary level, having taken a course in college, and augmenting it with conversations and online resources. I speak Spanish at a slightly more than elementary level, growing up in New Jersey you don't have much choice, as it's mandated in public education from second grade through high school. And I took an Arabic course in college, while I did not have the opportunity to expand upon it further, and I've since let my knowledge lapse, I could easily get back into the rhythm of speaking, reading and writing it.
A little background about myself, and I hope I don't end up rambling:
My senior year of high school I was going to enlist in the Marine Corps, nothing special, not even Infantry to be honest, it was a flight mechanic contract. I entered the DEP in October of 2010, and the week before Thanksgiving I ended up hurting my shoulder during a PT event. It was just a case of tendinitis so I attempted to push through it. By February it was still acting up, so I went back to the doctor and to make a long story short, in June of 2011 I had to back out of the DEP as a result of my injury. I was set to ship in August, and looking back I consider it one of the best things to have happened to me.
I went to community college for a few semesters, but I found that college wasn't for me. Not the workload, or the studying, that's always come easy to me, but the careers that follow. I've never in my life envisioned myself working in an office. When I was five or so I wanted to be a Firefighter, and then it was a Police Officer, and by the time I hit high school I just knew I wanted to be in public service in some regard. As of right now I am in EMT school, I ride with the local volunteer ambulance, and I work a crappy job. But it all puts things into perspective.
About 2 years ago I made the decision that I wanted to join the military, I was in the best shape of my life, I was motivated, and I was foolish. I let my mother talk me into giving college another semester, and I'm going to be entirely honest, I slacked off on my fitness. I gained a fair bit of weight over the last 2 years, and college just didn't sit with me. But the idea of serving in the military has been a constant, nagging presence in the back of my mind, and I know full well that if I don't do it, I will regret it for the rest of my life.
I believe adamantly in public service. I believe that those of us physically and mentally capable have a duty to serve our communities and country to the best of our ability, and to me, the military is the best place to do that. And while I spend the next few months getting myself back into shape, I hope that I can learn from the members of this community what it means to serve, and hopefully figure out just what direction I want to go in.
So, why special operations? Because when I do something, I want to be the best at it. I like to give it my all, and I like to know that the people I'm working with give it their all too, that I can rely on them no matter what. So why not regular army/marines/navy/air force? I know a lot of people out of high school who went into the military. They're not the kind of people that I would want to serve with, and to be honest, they're a pretty big deterrent as to why I didn't enlist shortly after my shoulder healed into Infantry or Medic. I absolutely do not want to take away from what our soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen do, I sincerely mean that, and I hope that that didn't come across as condescending towards the majority.
One thing I hope to learn from this community is what direction I want to go in. What branch of the military, what group of special operations I want to be a part of, or rather, what one would I feel the most at home in. I've researched every aspect of the military, and it leaves me a little lost because I don't know where to direct my focus, which skills to work on more than others, or even what it is I truly want to do just yet. I hope that from reading the forums here, and by asking questions that I might be able to find the answers I'm looking for, and to get the guidance from members of the community. I aspire to be someone that some of you would call a brother in arms.
Thank you for reading, and thank you in advance for all of the advice and guidance I hope to receive here. If anyone has any advice to offer me, or criticism please do not hesitate, I do not get offended easily, if at all, and I certainly cannot take offense to someone in special operations telling me that I need to get my s--t together.
A little background about myself, and I hope I don't end up rambling:
My senior year of high school I was going to enlist in the Marine Corps, nothing special, not even Infantry to be honest, it was a flight mechanic contract. I entered the DEP in October of 2010, and the week before Thanksgiving I ended up hurting my shoulder during a PT event. It was just a case of tendinitis so I attempted to push through it. By February it was still acting up, so I went back to the doctor and to make a long story short, in June of 2011 I had to back out of the DEP as a result of my injury. I was set to ship in August, and looking back I consider it one of the best things to have happened to me.
I went to community college for a few semesters, but I found that college wasn't for me. Not the workload, or the studying, that's always come easy to me, but the careers that follow. I've never in my life envisioned myself working in an office. When I was five or so I wanted to be a Firefighter, and then it was a Police Officer, and by the time I hit high school I just knew I wanted to be in public service in some regard. As of right now I am in EMT school, I ride with the local volunteer ambulance, and I work a crappy job. But it all puts things into perspective.
About 2 years ago I made the decision that I wanted to join the military, I was in the best shape of my life, I was motivated, and I was foolish. I let my mother talk me into giving college another semester, and I'm going to be entirely honest, I slacked off on my fitness. I gained a fair bit of weight over the last 2 years, and college just didn't sit with me. But the idea of serving in the military has been a constant, nagging presence in the back of my mind, and I know full well that if I don't do it, I will regret it for the rest of my life.
I believe adamantly in public service. I believe that those of us physically and mentally capable have a duty to serve our communities and country to the best of our ability, and to me, the military is the best place to do that. And while I spend the next few months getting myself back into shape, I hope that I can learn from the members of this community what it means to serve, and hopefully figure out just what direction I want to go in.
So, why special operations? Because when I do something, I want to be the best at it. I like to give it my all, and I like to know that the people I'm working with give it their all too, that I can rely on them no matter what. So why not regular army/marines/navy/air force? I know a lot of people out of high school who went into the military. They're not the kind of people that I would want to serve with, and to be honest, they're a pretty big deterrent as to why I didn't enlist shortly after my shoulder healed into Infantry or Medic. I absolutely do not want to take away from what our soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen do, I sincerely mean that, and I hope that that didn't come across as condescending towards the majority.
One thing I hope to learn from this community is what direction I want to go in. What branch of the military, what group of special operations I want to be a part of, or rather, what one would I feel the most at home in. I've researched every aspect of the military, and it leaves me a little lost because I don't know where to direct my focus, which skills to work on more than others, or even what it is I truly want to do just yet. I hope that from reading the forums here, and by asking questions that I might be able to find the answers I'm looking for, and to get the guidance from members of the community. I aspire to be someone that some of you would call a brother in arms.
Thank you for reading, and thank you in advance for all of the advice and guidance I hope to receive here. If anyone has any advice to offer me, or criticism please do not hesitate, I do not get offended easily, if at all, and I certainly cannot take offense to someone in special operations telling me that I need to get my s--t together.
