The Armed Forces

I'm impressed with the power of the armed forces; though I've critiques of some inadequacies of the forces, nevertheless I'm still amazed at the impact on the lives of a changed man(or even changed men perhaps).

Before national service, my lil' brother was basically someone who whiled his time away in school,someone who never gave much about the future, someone who just spent time playing computer games or sleeping away or eating if he had a free day at home, someone who wasn't much of a contributor to the household chores and most of all, someone who don't show much concern for the family.

But like all men who come of age, the letter for enlistment came. With the letter, a lot of things were gone for my lil' brother too-like his almost-shoulder-length-hair, his lethargic routine of computer-gaming,eating & sleeping and most of all, FREEDOM: to do anything he wants, anytime.

Beginning life with the armed forces was hard as we could see. 2 months into the training and I see a marked change in my lil' brother. A better person he was, he surprised each family in little but impactful way.

From someone who never inform us of his whereabouts even when he went out for a few days, he turned into someone who called every other day to find out how each family member is doing and to reassure and tell us of his day at camp. From someone who didn't bother much about school to have dreams, he became someone who aimed to better himself when he passed out of the armed forces. From someone who played computer games through the night, he became someone who picked up a healthy lifestyle of exercising regularly. But most impressive of all, from someone who didn't bother much about things around him, he started showing concern to his family and friends.

For once, I salute the armed forces for the marked change in my lil' brother.