Courtesy photo – Exeter-Milligan seniors, Nick Hayek (left)
and Ryan Sharp (right) at their graduation from boot camp in August.
The summer before a senior year in high school is usually an
idyllic repast before the reality of adulting arrives. However, two
Exeter-Milligan seniors got a taste of the real world when they joined the
National Guard and went to basic training in South Carolina this summer.
Ryan Sharp, of Exeter, and Nick Hayek, of Milligan,
separately decided to join the National Guard. “We weren’t planning for
both of us to go at the same time,” explained Hayek.
Sharp added, “It was a crazy coincidence.”
Sharp ran into a recruiter at a career fair and decided he
wanted to take the National Guard path to help him pay for college.
Hayek had similar goals but “joined the guard for the
benefits. I feel like it would help me strengthen myself plus I got some
cash on the side. It will help me out for college.”
To start their guard careers they headed to boot camp at
Fort Jackson, South Carolina for the summer. Once they got their they
ended up in the same battalion and company, 3-60 River Raiders Echo Company,
but in different platoons (first for Sharp, and fourth for Hayek).
They explained that since they are younger they are part of
the split operatives program. Normally, immediately after basic training,
guard members head to advance individual training (AIT).
With Sharp and Hayek still needing to complete their senior
year of high school they did basic training this summer and next summer will
head to AIT before starting college in the fall.
Sharp will head to Fort Lee, Virginia where he plans to
train to be a supply specialist for eight weeks.
Hayek will go back to
Fort Jackson, South Carolina to train in Human Resources for 12 weeks.
Hayek hasn’t decided what path he will take in college yet,
Sharp is looking at earning a degree in Sociology at UNL before heading to Penn
State for a master’s degree.
It wasn’t an easy summer as the humidity in the south made
the heat feel hotter, but both agreed that the football training they are doing
now is “actually a bit harder than basic training.”
Hayek felt like they did a lot of cardio workouts but didn’t
get the strength training it like they would in the weight room.
Neither senior regrets the experience. Sharp said
“There were times when it was fun. I’ll miss the people, but I wouldn’t
want to do it again.”
Hayek added, “I wouldn’t say basic training was life
changing. I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone and definitely wouldn’t
force anyone to do it.”
One positive they both agreed on, they came out with “more
discipline and more respect for their elders.”
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