People occasionally ask me why I joined the Marine Corps. The longer I live, the more I realize there was never a single answer. There were several. Some practical. Some patriotic. Some personal. Some emotional. Some I understood clearly at eighteen years old. Others I understand far better now than I did back then.

When I first sat down with my Marine recruiter, Sergeant McDonald, I remember selecting what were called benefit tags. Of all the available options, three stood out to me.

Leadership

One of the biggest reasons I chose the Marine Corps was leadership. I wanted to learn leadership from what I believed was the world's foremost leadership institution. I was not looking for direction because I lacked ambition. In fact, I was already a bona fide entrepreneur before I ever stepped onto the yellow footprints at Parris Island.

Before joining the Marine Corps, I had already experienced both success and failure in business. I started and operated a lawn-care business as a young man and eventually sold it before leaving for boot camp. I also started a dot-com business during the height of the dot-com bubble. That venture ultimately went bust. It was not a catastrophic loss, but it taught me an important lesson: not every idea works. When something does not work, you adapt. You reorient. You move forward.

I wasn't trying to become an entrepreneur. I already was one. I wanted to become a better leader. The Marine Corps delivered on every one of those expectations.

Patriotism

I was a senior in high school when the attacks of September 11, 2001 occurred. I remember sitting in Spanish class and watching the towers fall. Like millions of Americans, I can still remember where I was.

I had already considered military service before September 11th. I had already thought seriously about becoming a Marine. But there is no question that September 11th became a catalyst. After school that day, one of my first actions was visiting Sergeant McDonald's office.

I loved my country then. I love my country now. I felt a responsibility to serve. September 11th reinforced that feeling. Many young Americans felt the same way. I was one of them.

Adventure

The Marines promised adventure. And they delivered. Before joining the Marine Corps, I had flown on an airplane exactly once. My second airplane ride in life was to Parris Island, South Carolina. That flight changed the course of my life.

Over the next six years, the Marine Corps took me places I never would have imagined as a kid growing up in Tennessee. I traveled throughout the United States. I traveled internationally. I saw beaches, deserts, forests, swamps, mountains, and valleys. More accurately, I did more than see them. I humped through them. I force-marched through them. I trained in them. I lived in them — often carrying nearly 100 pounds of weapons, ammunition, water, equipment, and gear on my back.

What I Found

What's interesting is that I joined for leadership, patriotism, and adventure. But what I found was even greater.

• —I found challenge.
• —I found discipline.
• —I found responsibility.
• —I found accountability.
• —I found purpose.
• —I found lifelong friendships.
• —And I found standards.

The Marine Corps changed me. Not overnight. Not all at once. But gradually — through training, through leadership, through hardship, through service, through experience.

What I Received and What I Contributed

The Marine Corps invested a great deal in me, and I remain grateful for that investment. At the same time, I was proud to contribute in return. I served as an Infantry Rifleman, a Fire Team Leader, and an Infantry Squad Leader. I served as a Recruiter's Aide for six months. I served on dozens of funeral details honoring Marines who came before me. Those ceremonies remain among the most humbling experiences of my life.

I also spent years supporting Toys for Tots — first as a junior Marine collecting donations outside retail stores in my Dress Blues, and later as a Sergeant coordinating drivers, organizing crews, and planning routes throughout the Memphis metropolitan area. Looking back, I was learning leadership, logistics, planning, coordination, and execution skills that I would later use as an entrepreneur and business owner.

More Than Twenty Years Later

More than twenty years have passed since I arrived at Marine Corps boot camp in July of 2002. A lot has changed. Two Marines Moving did not exist when I first stepped onto the yellow footprints at Parris Island. Today it does.

The daily routine of the Marine Corps is behind me. But the Marine Corps remains. My uniforms are still hanging in my closet. More importantly, the lessons are still there. The standards are still there. The friendships are still there. The gratitude is still there.

The values remain. The leadership lessons remain. The responsibility remains. The appreciation remains.