This season we’re focusing on service members who entered the military later in life. I wanted to kick things off with a friend of mine from basic training who fit this profile, SPC Francis. She went from vice principal to enlisted Army National Guard soldier. Not only is her journey to BCT unique, she also had a very, ahem, expedited recruiting process. Check out her story.

• 2:08 … Who is SPC Francis?
• 2:50 … Teacher to Troop: Francis Begins
• 3:06 … how COVID-19 had impact on Francis’ life
• 5:00 … how she decided on the Guard
• 13:25 ... Imagine taking the ASVAB, MEPS and contracting back-to-back
• 17:15 … Plot twist: Francis stuns the entire contracting office
• 20:00 … Plot twist again: Francis ships out two weeks after stunning the contracting office
• 27:20 … Francis on her experience with young people at BCT

Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions of the guests on this series are their own. There’s a little bit of cursing but it’s mostly just casual conversation.Listener discretion is recommended.

This episode was edited by Hannah Sunday. She’s pretty awesome and you can follow her @h.ameka.sunday.

The music you hear in this season are two public domain songs found on Free Music Archive. The intro song is called Coldness by “The Wanderer”. The background music is a song called “Sky Scrapers” by HoliznaCC0.

Make sure to check out The Echo Review on social media @theechoreview.