THE NATIONAL GUARD’S NEWEST MEMBER

Zach Barnes shares his beliefs and decisions leading up to enlisting

by Isaiah Johnston staff writer

Not all people consider this career straight out of high school, but for Zach Barnes, he’s wanted to serve in the military for a long time. “My family has always been in the military,’’ Barnes shares. “My grandfather served in Vietnam, and he never tells his stories. He never talks about it. When I brought up the fact that I [planned to] join the military, he was like, ‘it’s your choice. You can do whatever you want to.’” Additionally, his uncle and many distant relatives also served. “ It’s pushed me to follow [in] his footsteps, in a sense, because he was an 82nd Airborne Green Beret, top of his class. He was the outstanding soldier that you were inspired to be,” Barnes elaborates.

Ultimately, Barnes chose to join the National Guard. “People like to [join] the National Guard because they’re called ‘weekend soldiers.’ They only do it one weekend a month, and I believe two weekends in the summer,” Barnes explains. There are many similarities, though, between the National Guard and other military branches. “[The] National Guard still goes under deployments and everything. They still have to go through boot camp. It’s just different times of what you do now in active duty. You instantly get shipped off to either a military base or an overseas military base, and you’re there until either your contract expires or they decide to move you,’’ Barnes notes.

Barnes sees many benefits from being in the military. “I think one of my biggest takeaways from the military is probably the discipline that comes along with it, because that’s one thing every branch has really in common. They’re all disciplined beyond normal human civil life. If you compare a soldier to a civilian, the discipline is going to be unmatched,” says Barnes.

As someone who selected a different postsecondary plan, Barnes’ high school experiences didn’t completely influence his decision to join the military. “Most of our counselors say, ‘go to college’ or ‘go to trade school.’ And I personally don’t think that’s the only route,” Barnes asserts. “I mean, I’m going a different route because that’s what I chose.’’ When it comes to high school experiences, Barnes faced many ups and downs. “I feel like being part of a team especially is one of the really good things about high school and just being able to try sports and stuff like that,” he reflects. “I think one of my lowest points was probably junior year around the SATs. Your junior year is your hardest year, and then you get slammed with SATs on top of your exams and everything, and it’s probably one of the most difficult years.’’

Although he hasn’t graduated yet, he knows where he’s headed. “I’m going to Fort Beddings in Georgia. My first ten weeks will be straight boot camp. They’re going to push you mentally and physically just to see how far you will go and if you can push yourself that extra mile or that extra step,” Barnes remarks. He has many goals for himself moving forward, including achieving the title of army ranger. As he starts on his path towards infantry and becoming an army ranger, Barnes wants to continue following in his family’s footsteps. //