(April 4, 2003) — Walking through the hallways past crowds of students wearing collared shirts, it’s easy to spot a man in uniform. These are the students that chose to go into the armed forces after graduation. When considering the armed forces students have three fields to choose from whether it’s the army, the navy, or the air force. These three major fields branch off and provide other individual career options ranging from sonar technicians to strategic air command. Students have many reasons for wanting to join the armed forces. Some join because they want to fight for their country, while others join for financial reasons. For example, young men and women that are enlisted in the armed forces are provided with all of their necessities. This which may include a monthly salary as well as scholarships and tuitions to schools and plenty of job opportunities. Usually students sign up for the forces when they are 18 years old. Most already know beforehand that they want to enlist so they do their own research to find out more about it. Others find out information from friends and family that are already enlisted. Sometimes, the army or navy will send people down to schools to answer any questions that students might have. Junior Blake Ackerman a student in the ROTC program at CV has hopes of being in the air force. He commented, “Usually the air force is the last branch to recruit because they aren’t looking for just your average guy. Air force is hard to get into. The competition is very tough.” Alex Medina, a graduate from Clark, enlisted in the Navy and is on active duty. Medina is currently a sonar technician. His task is to practice targeting submarines and send depth charges down to destroy them. Others that attend boot camp for several weeks can attend school as well. They may be in boot camp, or training for missions both physically as well as mentally. Most in active duty are constantly on call and can be sent to many different parts of the country. Being in the armed forces is not for everyone. It is something that requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Competition is becoming greater and greater so people really do need to be all that they can be.