While most seniors this time of year are starting to slack off in their classes or getting prepared for college, Aiden Reinhold is in San Diego training to join the Marines.
“As an 18-year-old it’s a lot to process that I’m going to be out there fighting for this country and that I could possibly die in that process,” Reinhold said. “But I’m proud of myself for taking on this role.”
Reinhold decided to enlist in the military because he has a few family members that also enlisted and because of his love for America.
“I would die fighting for the people I love that live here before I let anyone take over,” Reinhold said.
He graduated at the end of first semester so that he could start the 13-week-long boot camp on Jan. 16 where he has no phone or any contact whatsoever with the outside world. Once he completes boot camp, he then has another 12 weeks of training, after which he graduates and officially becomes a Marine.
“I chose the Marines because it’s going to challenge me the most,” Reinhold said. “It’s the hardest branch to make it into. The Marines are land, air and sea. We are the front line people, and we are the branch that the government calls first to go in when there is a war.”
After completing Marine training, Reinhold gets a vacation where he can come home for two weeks. Then he goes back to San Diego for another six weeks of training at the School of Infantry.
“Infantry is the job that you see in movies,” Reinhold said. “It’s the people that are on the front lines clearing out houses and going on rescue missions and who are fighting every day.”
Reinhold will then have his first assignment, which may includ a deployment, officially ready to put his life on the line for his country.
Reinhold plans on being in the military for life. He wants to fight as long as he can and then move on to a less physically demanding position.
“I know what I want my future to be and so I am ready to start it,” Reinhold said.
Reinhold understands that joining the military is a huge decision, but he encourages anyone considering it to enlist.
“It’s a big step in anyone’s life, and it’s an awesome thing that they are doing,” Reinhold said.

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