Airman Daniel Payne: The biggest misconception I've seen personally is I'm in the Air Force so I fly [00:00:05] planes, or I fix planes, or refuel planes; and I actually have nothing to do with planes at all [00:00:10] unless there's maybe a fighter tries to drop a bomb and it doesn't go.
Sgt. Jeremiah Workman: I know for me, when I [00:00:15] joined, I thought I was going to be stripped of everything, like be a robot, [00:00:20] and I was going to be waking up at three in the morning, run fifteen miles every day, and that was going to [00:00:25] be it.
SSgt. See Yong Cheow: Like the discipline, people think from day one, you've got to be "yes, sir, no, sir" all the way [00:00:30] through to your retirement.
Senior Airman Jennifer Gayheart: How do you handle somebody telling you all the time [00:00:35] what you can and can't do?
Sgt. Wayne Erickson: The accommodations might be bad or they, you know, a little bit run down, [00:00:40] or anything like that.
Sgt. Jeremiah Workman: You know, sink and toilet, I guess—I guess kind of like a jail. [00:00:45] You live a normal lifestyle, you go to work, you come home, unless you're training, of course. [00:00:50] But just that you don't have a life. I think a lot of people [00:01:00] think if you join the military you're life's over and you belong to the government, [00:01:00] but it's not really like that.
Senior Airman Jennifer Gayheart: They work with you; a lot of times if you have personal [00:01:05] issues, family issues, if you need any advice on anything, they help you. [00:01:10] They're very flexible with our schedules, if we have a graduation, [00:01:15] or a wedding, or something friend-wise that we would need to attend.
Sgt. Wayne Erickson: And the truth of the matter, [00:01:20] they just renovated all the Air Force barracks for us, so it's really nice.
Sgt. Jeremiah Workman: Just like living in a dorm room, [00:01:25] carpeted floors, refrigerators, microwaves, TVs.
MST2 Anicia Hokanson: One of the misconceptions [00:01:30] about the Coast Guard is they thing we're only here at home. [00:01:35] But we have ships that are out and are protecting other U.S. assets [00:01:40] overseas and we don't just work at the homeland, we're also out with [00:01:45] everyone else.
Sgt. Jeremiah Workman: The food in the military is good. [00:01:50] You know, before I came into the military that you hear that from some of the old-timers, [00:01:55] you know, how bad the food was and this and that. But chow halls now are [00:02:00] good food.
Lt. Dennis Wischmeier: I guess a hindrance in people joining [00:02:05] now is probably a different view of the military than what it is today. [00:02:10] They're probably getting historical views from parents and grandparents that the military just isn't [00:02:15] that way now.
[00:02:17]
[End of Recording]
