I was 20 years old when I asked my father if he thought I should enlist in the Army National Guard. My old man’s word was still law, so I was stunned to hear, “I never served, so I can’t really advise you on that. It’s a man’s decision, one that you must make yourself.”

Recently, I’ve been bothered by those who seem to wish they could make that decision for others.

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I signed up for college tuition assistance. I enlisted as a combat engineer because it was a military occupational specialty that would allow me to complete basic and job training in one summer so that I could return to college on time in the fall.

By November 2003, with the Afghanistan and Iraq wars demanding many troops, a platoon of engineers from my company was on notice for deployment. I was in the backup platoon, a group of soldiers from which command could draw if one........

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