As an aside here, recruiters seem to make a hobby of trying to pull people in as they're heading towards the offices of recruiters from other branches (where I was in Utah, they were all in a single strip mall), and when I was headed to talk with the Air Force recruiter, a Marine recruiter stepped in an gave a very masculinity-focused ad…
As an aside here, recruiters seem to make a hobby of trying to pull people in as they're heading towards the offices of recruiters from other branches (where I was in Utah, they were all in a single strip mall), and when I was headed to talk with the Air Force recruiter, a Marine recruiter stepped in an gave a very masculinity-focused advertisement (be tough, get all the girls, etc).
I didn't think of myself as gay back then, but somehow that didn't particularly land for me. I joined so I could learn Chinese in a stable position that would give me time to get my feet under me and figure out what I was actually doing with my life. I imagine "proving" masculinity does hit harder for some people, but at least when it comes to Air Force intel, it's mostly just a bunch of geeks and nerds whose plan A paths fell through somewhere, with all the hobbies you'd expect from that crowd.
Interesting insight. Thanks, Trace. I have a geeky family member (he's into Star Trek, comic books, etc.) who joined the Air Force in the 80s because he was interested in engineering, but couldn't afford to go to college. He definitely falls into the former "shape rotator" category of veteran. I wouldn't say his plan A path fell through, so much as it was never presented as an option to him.
I also went to college with a gay veteran who told me he enlisted because he wanted to get away from the small town he grew up in, and like my family member, he couldn't afford college. He was very normie and conventionally masculine, though.
As an aside here, recruiters seem to make a hobby of trying to pull people in as they're heading towards the offices of recruiters from other branches (where I was in Utah, they were all in a single strip mall), and when I was headed to talk with the Air Force recruiter, a Marine recruiter stepped in an gave a very masculinity-focused advertisement (be tough, get all the girls, etc).
I didn't think of myself as gay back then, but somehow that didn't particularly land for me. I joined so I could learn Chinese in a stable position that would give me time to get my feet under me and figure out what I was actually doing with my life. I imagine "proving" masculinity does hit harder for some people, but at least when it comes to Air Force intel, it's mostly just a bunch of geeks and nerds whose plan A paths fell through somewhere, with all the hobbies you'd expect from that crowd.
Interesting insight. Thanks, Trace. I have a geeky family member (he's into Star Trek, comic books, etc.) who joined the Air Force in the 80s because he was interested in engineering, but couldn't afford to go to college. He definitely falls into the former "shape rotator" category of veteran. I wouldn't say his plan A path fell through, so much as it was never presented as an option to him.
I also went to college with a gay veteran who told me he enlisted because he wanted to get away from the small town he grew up in, and like my family member, he couldn't afford college. He was very normie and conventionally masculine, though.