Marine to Veteran to Entrepreneur.
(This post is brought to you by military veteran, entrepreneur, and startup founder Nick Bradfield.
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Ive always been drawn towards challenges. One day after high school I woke up and decided to look for the biggest challenge I could find. I quit my job and enlisted in the Marine Corps infantry. That night during our family dinner I broke the news like this Mom, I quit my job, joined the Marines, and leave in two weeks. Can you pass the salt?
In hindsight I probably should have softened the blow a bit, but my parents came around after a brief nervous breakdown.
I entered USMC boot camp in the late 90s weighing 115 pounds. This resulted in more than my fair share of quarterdeck time. Fast forward six months (bootcamp + school of infantry) and what seemed like 10 million pushups later, I weighed 165 pounds. The Marine Corps pushed me harder, mentally and physically, during that first six months than I knew I could go. But I liked it. Sure there was a lot of BS but I understood the bigger picture. They were breaking me down to build me up stronger. They were forcing me to rely on others. They were forcing others to rely on me. They were teaching us to rely on each other to move towards common goals.<img data-attachment-id="17303" data-permalink="http://the-military-guide.com/marine-veteran-entrepreneur/marine-corps-eagle-globe-anchor-logo/" data-orig-file="http://the-military-guide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Marine-Corps-Eagle-Globe-Anchor-logo.jpg" data-orig-size="4063,3762" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"7.1","credit":"STEVE_COLLENDER","camera":"Canon EOS 5D Mark III","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1348062246","copyright":"Steve_Collender\r\rForistell Missouri","focal_length":"45","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.016666666666667","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Marine Corps Eagle Globe Anchor logo" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="http://the-military-guide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Marine-Corps-Eagle-Globe-Anchor-logo-300x278.jpg" data-large-file="http://the-military-guide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Marine-Corps-Eagle-Globe-Anchor-logo-1024x948.jpg" class="alignright wp-image-17303 size-medium" title="Many years ago, the recruiting slogan used to be "I never promised you a rose garden"..." src="http://the-military-guide.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Marine-Corps-Eagle-Globe-Anchor-logo-300x278.jpg" alt="Image of U.S. Marine Corps Eagl