Trent Ruble's Blog: The Other Way It Is - Posts Tagged "barracks"

When the students were moving in this year at the university where I work, it caused me to think back to my own "freshman year." It wasn't a college where I spent my first year away from home. Instead, I moved into a barracks at Charleston Air Force Base.

Me in 1980, my "freshman year."

Generally, enlisted airmen shared rooms with at least one roommate, but aircrew at Charleston were to get single rooms due to their irregular schedules. However, in my barracks, there weren't enough rooms so the two newest residents had to share and, of course, that initially included me. My new roommate was an airman from Miami who'd been living alone and wasn't too excited to see me. But, it wasn't long before another room opened and he moved out. It was then that I lived alone for the very first time.

In looking back on those days, I find that there are some similarities between life in a military barracks and life at a college dormitory. I lived in a building with dozens of other young people, one of whom is still my friend today. Some of them would do stupid things like smoke marijuana and lose their aircrew status, or get drunk and run around outside in their underwear. But, we also had to learn to get along with each other, keep our rooms clean, study and go to class just like college students.

But there are some pretty significant differences. Our primary function was to go to work. As you can imagine, the military is very strict about arriving to work on time and in a sober condition. This curtailed the partying in many (but not all) barracks. And, most work performed by young military men and women is at a significantly higher level than that performed by civilians of a similar young age. I was an aircraft loadmaster. But, some of the high level jobs performed by young military members include Nuclear Electronics Technician, Scientific Applications Specialist, Cryptologic Technician, Satellite Communication Systems Operator and many, many more. In addition, we were required to maintain ourselves (hygiene, uniforms, fitness, etc...) But, the biggest differences between students and airmen, soldiers, sailors and marines were the mission and team doctrines under which we lived. Nothing is more important to members of the military than our mission and our teammates. Many military lives have been lost in trying to complete a mission or save our comrade.

I don't intend to diminish the importance of higher education. In fact, I must acknowledge here that, although college students aren't pressed into service as quickly as members of the military, I am aware that their education can take them much further than what most enlisted people can hope for and can result in a rewarding occupation that can benefit all of society.

For some it's tough being away from home at such a young age but, for me, it was rewarding as well. I quickly learned to take responsibility seriously and to take care of myself. In the military I grew up rapidly, but not completely. Never completely.