Buff Commander
Unverified
- Joined
- May 24, 2022
- Messages
- 14
Howdy all,
TL/DR: I'm a 31 year old civilian with aspirations of earning an 18X contract.
I've been in corporate health and wellness for almost 7 years now. I've been a telephonic health coach, onsite coach coordinator, and wellness coordinator. I'm currently a specialty health coach, I coach associates and spouses of a single client my corporation has. I also present health and wellbeing webinars, staff biometric screening events, and create educational content.
I have a bachelors in exercise science, a minor in strength and condition, and two certifications (one in nutrition and the other in public physical activity). I've excelled in my career and had the opportunity to travel the United States and live in two polar opposite ends of our country. All this time has gone by, I've helped hundreds if not thousands of people improve their health and wellbeing over the years. Yet, I always felt I wasn't doing what I should have been doing. In 2021 I finally realized I had lost the passion and fulfillment I once had. My job is all about helping others, serving others, and I love that. But the way in which I was doing it was no longer satisfactory.
In the middle of 2021 I began to talk with my best friend about maybe looking into both of us joining the reserves or guard. We talked about it, but he was out due to him having a new baby and being married. I was on my own. It was still a blessing though, because the conversation made me realize that there was a calling being put on my heart. I didn't know what all that entailed, but I was eager to figure it out.
Since the end of 2021 I've been researching our military. The branches, MOSs, reserves, guard, active duty, OCS, and more. If I'm going to do this thing, I need to be prepared and well educated on the subject matter. I took it upon myself to be proactive and learn as much as I could. I've had the pleasure of interviewing several active and retired military men. All across the board from active Army to Army reserves and guard, retired marines, active navy men, and so on.
See, one thing I didn't mention before is I was taking additional college courses in preparation to get a second degree, this time in nursing. Things were going well and I was acing my courses, but after a while it just didn't feel right. Shoot, if I want to really make a difference then I should take more classes and get my masters in becoming a physicians assistant. But if I did all that, I wouldn't want to work in a normal hospital setting. I want to work with veterans. I have military veterans in my family and I can't begin to tell you how much I love and respect them. The amount of adoration I have for anyone military is, well I can't put it into words. And It's been that way ever since high school when my brother shipped off to the Iraq for the first time. I want to help veterans but I wouldn't "know." I wouldn't "know" what it means to be a veteran, and I can't be a true benefit to veterans if I don't know. I'm still constantly looking through MOSs and trying to figure out where I would best fit. I know my "why," the question I kept getting asked every time I spoke with someone military. I want to be hands on with military men and women, a mentor. I want to pass on what knowledge I have and help those who need guidance. I want to serve, I want to "know," I want to help others in a capacity that most could only ever dream of. I don't want to be a desk jockey, I've been that for years, I could just stay corporate and make more money if I want to do that. But after spending the past 6-7 months two things in particular spoke out to me, Army OCS & Army SFAS. The Army SF mission set speaks to me loudly. I decided in March 2022 that I wanted to train and get in shape mentally and physically (again) in order to have a chance at entering SFAS, and being selected.
Of course I kept most of this to myself. The people who I did tell only told me what I already knew, which wasn't helpful. "Bro, you're 31 and out of shape, there's no way." That's the general consensus. Shoot I also know that there's an age limit with going OCS and SFAS, but I also know the Army has a waiver for everything. I can't tell you how many times I've been told I can't do something, whether its rules based, skills based, age based, whatever. But through determination and perseverance I've been able to conquer most if not all of those things. I know it's possible, its just going to take some serious work, determination, and heart.
The biggest help I had was from a former work colleague's fiancé. Her fiancé was a retired ranger officer who had participated in in SFAS to become a SF officer. Unfortunately he didn't make it due to injury and was close enough to his contract ending that he decided not to re-up. I got in touch with him, I took a lot of notes. He gave me the most useful advice I had ever received out of all of my interviews. He really put everything into perspective. He got me started with my running training. He also sent me here, to ShadowSpear.
I'm at a point now where I need more knowledge and guidance. I'm looking forward to scouring the forums here. I even saw there was a possibility of gaining mentorship. I'm all over that if given the opportunity. I'm ecstatic to take advantage of every opportunity I can, while interacting with America's finest.
Thank you for your time and much brotherly love to you.
TL/DR: I'm a 31 year old civilian with aspirations of earning an 18X contract.
I've been in corporate health and wellness for almost 7 years now. I've been a telephonic health coach, onsite coach coordinator, and wellness coordinator. I'm currently a specialty health coach, I coach associates and spouses of a single client my corporation has. I also present health and wellbeing webinars, staff biometric screening events, and create educational content.
I have a bachelors in exercise science, a minor in strength and condition, and two certifications (one in nutrition and the other in public physical activity). I've excelled in my career and had the opportunity to travel the United States and live in two polar opposite ends of our country. All this time has gone by, I've helped hundreds if not thousands of people improve their health and wellbeing over the years. Yet, I always felt I wasn't doing what I should have been doing. In 2021 I finally realized I had lost the passion and fulfillment I once had. My job is all about helping others, serving others, and I love that. But the way in which I was doing it was no longer satisfactory.
In the middle of 2021 I began to talk with my best friend about maybe looking into both of us joining the reserves or guard. We talked about it, but he was out due to him having a new baby and being married. I was on my own. It was still a blessing though, because the conversation made me realize that there was a calling being put on my heart. I didn't know what all that entailed, but I was eager to figure it out.
Since the end of 2021 I've been researching our military. The branches, MOSs, reserves, guard, active duty, OCS, and more. If I'm going to do this thing, I need to be prepared and well educated on the subject matter. I took it upon myself to be proactive and learn as much as I could. I've had the pleasure of interviewing several active and retired military men. All across the board from active Army to Army reserves and guard, retired marines, active navy men, and so on.
See, one thing I didn't mention before is I was taking additional college courses in preparation to get a second degree, this time in nursing. Things were going well and I was acing my courses, but after a while it just didn't feel right. Shoot, if I want to really make a difference then I should take more classes and get my masters in becoming a physicians assistant. But if I did all that, I wouldn't want to work in a normal hospital setting. I want to work with veterans. I have military veterans in my family and I can't begin to tell you how much I love and respect them. The amount of adoration I have for anyone military is, well I can't put it into words. And It's been that way ever since high school when my brother shipped off to the Iraq for the first time. I want to help veterans but I wouldn't "know." I wouldn't "know" what it means to be a veteran, and I can't be a true benefit to veterans if I don't know. I'm still constantly looking through MOSs and trying to figure out where I would best fit. I know my "why," the question I kept getting asked every time I spoke with someone military. I want to be hands on with military men and women, a mentor. I want to pass on what knowledge I have and help those who need guidance. I want to serve, I want to "know," I want to help others in a capacity that most could only ever dream of. I don't want to be a desk jockey, I've been that for years, I could just stay corporate and make more money if I want to do that. But after spending the past 6-7 months two things in particular spoke out to me, Army OCS & Army SFAS. The Army SF mission set speaks to me loudly. I decided in March 2022 that I wanted to train and get in shape mentally and physically (again) in order to have a chance at entering SFAS, and being selected.
Of course I kept most of this to myself. The people who I did tell only told me what I already knew, which wasn't helpful. "Bro, you're 31 and out of shape, there's no way." That's the general consensus. Shoot I also know that there's an age limit with going OCS and SFAS, but I also know the Army has a waiver for everything. I can't tell you how many times I've been told I can't do something, whether its rules based, skills based, age based, whatever. But through determination and perseverance I've been able to conquer most if not all of those things. I know it's possible, its just going to take some serious work, determination, and heart.
The biggest help I had was from a former work colleague's fiancé. Her fiancé was a retired ranger officer who had participated in in SFAS to become a SF officer. Unfortunately he didn't make it due to injury and was close enough to his contract ending that he decided not to re-up. I got in touch with him, I took a lot of notes. He gave me the most useful advice I had ever received out of all of my interviews. He really put everything into perspective. He got me started with my running training. He also sent me here, to ShadowSpear.
I'm at a point now where I need more knowledge and guidance. I'm looking forward to scouring the forums here. I even saw there was a possibility of gaining mentorship. I'm all over that if given the opportunity. I'm ecstatic to take advantage of every opportunity I can, while interacting with America's finest.
Thank you for your time and much brotherly love to you.
