As the family gathered for a big dinner together, the youngest son announced that he had just signed up at an army recruiter's
office.

There were audible gasps around the table, then some laughter, as his older brothers shared their disbelief that he could handle
this new situation. "Oh, come on, quit joking," snickered one. "You didn't really do that, did you?"

"You would never get through basic training," scoffed another.

A new soldier was on sentry duty at the main gate. His orders were clear. No car
was to enter unless it had a special sticker on the windshield. A big Army car came up with a general seated in the back. The sentry said, “Halt, who goes there?”

The chauffeur, a corporal, says, “General Wheeler.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t let you through. You’ve got to have a sticker on the windshield.”
The general said, “Drive on!”

The sentry said, “Hold it! You really can’t come through. I have orders to shoot if you
try driving in without a sticker.”

The Captain called the Sergeant in. "Sarge, I just got a telegram that Private Jones' mother died yesterday. Better go tell him and send him in to see me."

So the Sergeant calls for his morning formation and lines up all the troops. "Listen up, men," says the Sergeant. "Johnson, report to the mess hall for KP. Smith, report to Personnel to sign some papers. The rest of you men report to the Motor Pool for maintenance. Oh by the way, Jones, your mother died, report to the commander."

One of my husband's duties as a novice drill instructor at Fort Jackson, S.C., was to escort new recruits to the mess hall. After everyone had made it through the chow line, he sat them down and told them, "There are three rules in this mess hall: Shut up! Eat up! Get up!"

Checking to see that he had everyone's attention, he asked, "What is the first rule?" Much to the amusement of the other instructors, 60 privates yelled in unison, "Shut up, Drill Sergeant!"

Just before our first long deployment, two Navy buddies and I were
talking about the stress of leaving our families. A senior officer, a
veteran of many deployments, overheard our conversation and offered
the following advice: "You must be sensitive to your wives' emotional
needs," he said. "Never, ever, whistle while you pack!"

The chief of staff of the US Air Force decided that he would
personally intervene in the recruiting crisis affecting all of our
armed services.

So, he directed that a nearby Air Force base be opened and that all
eligible young men and women be invited. As he and his staff were
standing near an brand new F-15 Fighter, a pair of twin brothers who
looked like they had just stepped off a Marine Corps recruiting poster
walked up to them.

The chief of staff walked up to them, stuck out his hand and
introduced himself. He looked at the first young man and asked,