Listen, I wanted to join the military too. I really, really did. But if your motivation for joining the military is anything except going somewhere far away and killing people, rethink.
If it is getting away from the situation that you’re in, if it’s the ability to serve your country full-time, if it’s camaraderie and wearing a uniform and the opportunity for college and/or job training, if it’s physical fitness and learning to live with other people who are really different than you, heck, if it’s fully paid-for travel and the ability to do cool things like respond to disasters and fight wildfires…
JOIN THE NATIONAL CIVILIAN COMMUNITY CORPS OR A CONSERVATION CORPS INSTEAD.
AmeriCorps NCCC is a residential, team-based national service program. It’s free. They provide all travel, lodging, food, and training. They even pay you a stipend. At the end you get money for college or job training. Almost everyone 18-26 gets in. If you want to be a team leader you can be older than that.
You travel around the country for 1-2 years with a diverse team doing anything from building parks to trail maintenance to serving with a food pantry to disaster relief to cutting fire line to building houses.
If you have any questions I was a team leader with this program. I am happy to answer them.