During a special ceremony Tuesday, 28 military recruits from across the state recited their oaths of enlistment, said goodbye to their families and boarded a bus bound for basic training.
About 100 military officers as well as friends and family of the recruits attended the ceremony, which was held in honor of Memorial Day, at the MacArthur Museum of Military History in Little Rock.
The Little Rock Military Entrance Processing Station, one of 65 locations that screen applicants for the U.S. military, enlists about 20 recruits a week, said Capt. Carl Miller, operation officer at the station. In fiscal 2014, it enlisted a total of 1,983 men and women from the Little Rock area.
For the ceremony, the station gathered a group that included 10 Arkansas National Guard recruits, eight for the U.S. Army, four each for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps, and two for the U.S. Navy.
Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, talked about his military experience and encouraged the recruits.
"If you make it so, it will be one of the best decisions of your life," Griffin said. "Some of you probably have butterflies in your stomach, but be excited, lean forward and do the best you can. You are absolutely critical to the security of this country."
After taking their oaths, recruits retreated outdoors or to quiet spaces inside the museum to say goodbye to their families.
Desiderrian Jenkins, an 18-year-old from Stephens, sat on a bench outside the museum with his mother, Sharita Jenkins, his sister and his cousin.
"I'm excited to go," he said, smiling.
His mother, wearing a matching Air Force T-shirt, was a little unsure.
"Is that the bus right there?" Sharita Jenkins asked, pointing to a large tour bus parked west of the museum. "I may cry when he leaves."
About 15 minutes later, she wiped away tears when her son and the other recruits were told to board.
The bus took the recruits to Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field, where they started the trip to their basic training sites.
Desiderrian Jenkins and the rest of the Air Force recruits will train at Lackland Air Force base near San Antonio; the Navy recruits are headed to Great Lakes Naval Base near Chicago; and the Marines will be at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. National Guard and Army recruits will disperse to Fort Jackson, S.C.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Sill, Okla.; and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Miller said.
"We'll be thinking of you; we'll be praying for you," said Maj. Adam Grim, commander of the Little Rock Military Entrance Processing Station, in a brief speech Tuesday. "Many people would love to serve and love to be in your shoes right now. I wish you all the best of luck."
Metro on 05/20/2015