Looking for direction

Some who enlist in the military do so with the idea that they might acquire a career.

Back in the early 1960s, I was a high school graduate and was looking for direction in my life. My older brother was in the Air Force and that appealed to me in some ways. I took the exam and physical to become qualified for the pilot training program and enlisted with that in mind.

Well, guidelines change and the Air Force decided to knock down that idea. I was given a choice of language school or weather school, both good opportunities. I chose weather school, and this started me on a career that lasted almost 40 years.

After I had been a weather observer at a Strategic Air Command base in Texas, I applied to be a weather instructor in Illinois. I was accepted and spent my last two years training young airmen to be weather observers, a very enjoyable time.

Upon my discharge, my family and I traveled back to Illinois so that I could attend Northern Illinois University. My background and experience in the Air Force helped me get scholarships and run the campus weather station. After 3½ years, I received my bachelor of science in earth sciences, focus on meteorology. After getting my degree, I obtained a position with the National Weather Service, and the rest is history.

So, if you are looking for direction in your life, the military may be your answer. GEORGE WILKEN Little Rock