Enlisting after high school

While most seniors will be worried about attending college in the fall and how they are going to spend their summer before college, seniors Cole Mrsny and Cole Bails will be attending boot camp.

Bails is enlisting into the army as an 11 x-ray, which is an infantry man. He will be attending a 10-week-long boot camp towards the end of summer. Bails will go straight into the army following bootcamp then attend college down the road. 

“I’m still planning on going to college,” Bails said. “I want to go to UNO and do the ROTC program, and then once I graduate from college I will be commissioned as a first lieutenant.” 

Mrsny is enlisting into the marines and will be attending boot camp for 13 weeks followed by three weeks of schooling for a specialty. 

“I chose the Marines because boot camp is longer and harder than all the other branches in the military,” Mrsny said.

Mrsny chose the marines not only for the challenge but because it’s a tradition in his family.

Along with being a family tradition, Mrsny really got interested in the Marines from talking to representatives at Westside.

During career fairs at Westside, army representatives set up a booth to talk to students about what the army offers.

Mrsny said talking to representatives has helped him make his decision and be more informed about his decision.

Bails chose to join the army for more than one reason, too.

“I have a sense of duty, pride for my country and it’s a family tradition,” Bails said.