Future Soldier Alex Buckley

Alex Buckley a photo by Official Army Future Soldier Center on Flickr.

Hello Future Soldiers, my name is Alex Buckley and I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about my decision to enlist in the United States Army. At 28 years old, I am a little older than most people who enter the Army. The thought of serving in the military started at a young age for me. On my mother’s side, my grandfather served as an officer in the Marine Corps and my grandfather from my father’s family served in the Army during World War II. In addition, many of my other relatives served in the military. Instead of enlisting in the military after graduating high school in Fairfax, VA in 2002, I decided to move to Germany for a year as an exchange student. After returning back to the states in 2003, I enrolled in a community college where I struggled to complete my Associate’s Degree. I finally completed my two year degree in 2007 and transferred to Schiller International University in Heidelberg Germany. In Heidelberg there was a large American military presence so many of my friends were either veterans of the Army or had parents serving in the Army. It was during my time at university where I became more interested in joining the Army.

In 2009 I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and returned back to Virginia. Similar to many graduates, I had a difficult time trying to find employment relevant to my degree. I was interested in pursuing a career in the intelligence community since I lived in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Unfortunately, the majority of the agencies I applied to required previous experience or higher education. Eventually I had to accept a position in retail as a sales associate. For almost two years I worked as a sales associate and despite a few interviews with different agencies, I was still working in retail. After seeing the changes occurring inside of the company I worked for, I decided to leave for personal reasons and concentrate on finding a career which I was passionate about. In early July, I spoke with a recruiter for the Army. After I told him my weight, he asked that I come into the recruiting station for a body mass index before we discussed career opportunities. I was surprised to learn that I was 258 pounds and had a body mass of 30%. My recruiter explained to me that for my age group the maximum body fat percentage was a strict 26%. At first I felt discouraged, but my disappointment quickly turned into motivation. For two months I worked out every day at a boxing gym and made changes to my diet. All of the recruiters kept encouraging me to stay focused and never quit.

In September, my determination paid off and I reached 26% body fat. I was then handed to another recruiter in the same office who handled all of my paper work for MEPS and helped me find my MOS. Since my intentions were to make a career in the Army, my recruiter stressed the importance of choosing an MOS I felt comfortable with. The day I left for MEPS, my recruiter was waiting for me in the parking lot and insisted I go inside immediately. The MOS which I had my heart set on, 35F Intelligence Analyst came into the system literally minutes before I had to leave for MEPS. Since September, I have been in the delayed entry program and will ship out to basic training in March at Fort Jackson. Currently, I am 217 pounds and have a body mass of 20%. I still exercise on a regular basis and am very careful about what I eat. I hope to score well on Army Physical Fitness Test to improve my chances to make a possible career in the Army. I hope to use my experience to inspire other future Soldiers who are considering enlisting in the Army at an older age as well. It is never too late to make a change in yourself or start your career. I am very excited to begin my new journey and look forward to all of the new challenges and opportunities I will be faced with!