Build Your Legacy - Trainee Tyler Miller

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Callie Ware
  • 307th Bomb Wing

This is the sixth installment in the Build Your Legacy series, where we sit down with enlisted recruits to find out who and what influenced them to join the Air Force Reserve. The series is designed to help veterans better understand what potential recruits want to know about life in the Air Force Reserve.

Tyler Miller grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but moved to Texas to play college basketball at age 18 with no intention of joining the military. Ten years later, Miller has enlisted in the Air Force Reserve and is preparing for Basic Military Training. In this interview he talked about how one conversation with a veteran changed his mind and the trajectory of his life.

 

Q: Who inspired you to join the military?

A. My cousin pushed me to go for it. He is currently on active duty in the Army. But I have uncles and an aunt in the Army as well. 

Q: What did he tell you that influenced you to see a recruiter?

A. We had a long conversation when I went back home for my great-grandmother’s funeral, and that was the moment I decided to get the ball rolling to enlist. My cousin said if he had to choose again, he would have gone to the Air Force, so I followed his advice.

Q: Was there any other helpful advice you received?

A: Find your why. I know the benefits are great, but it’s more than that for me. The discipline is huge, and I think employers like seeing that military bullet on a resume because they know you can handle just about anything thrown at you.Q: What advice would you give to veterans telling their stories to potential recruits?

A: Just be honest. Don’t leave anything out, and don’t sugarcoat it so we know what we are getting into. I just want to know what it is and what it isn’t.

Q: Any words of wisdom for other potential recruits now that you’ve reached this point?

A: Enjoy the journey and the process from day one to however long you enlist for. It goes by quickly. I feel like I was just 18, and looking back I thought I would never join the military. Yet, here I am 10 years later.