Name: Joel Flore
Hometown: Caldwell, Idaho
Major: Government and Public Police with an emphasis in Foreign Affairs
Year: Senior
For this campus celebrity we decided to pick a student who serves his country in the military in honour of September 11, 2001. Joel Flores is a member of the U.S. army and has served time in Afgahnistan, Lybia, and Cuba.
HC: When did you join the military?
Flores: I joined the military in 2011.
HC: What made you enlist?
Flores: Well, my family is a big military family. My grandpa was in the military during Vietnam. He did communications. My other grandpa was in the United States Navy where he commanded a destroyer in Vietnam. Those were two of my main influences in joining. The other biggiest influence was the book The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. And I always just really wanted to be a part of something and I felt I had a duty to do for my country.
HC: What about the book influenced you?
Flores: The book was basically written about Washington D.C. and how the city was young and influenced a lot by religion and astrological preferences. This lead me to wanting to know things that everyday citizens don’t know. Everybody loves to talk and make judgement on the government so I wanted to see what was really behind the curtain.
HC: Do you feel like you’ve made a difference?
Flores: No. I’m not high enough in the ranks yet and I’d rather deal with domestic issues than try to solve foreign problems.
HC: Do you think that this University is patriotic?
Flores: F*** yea! This University is a major advocate of the U.S. military. The statue in the middle of the circle has all the dog tags from all the servicemen killed in the Pearl Harbor. The student union, the building itself, is supposed to be engineered in a way to represent the USS Arizona. The Davis Monthan base and the university work together a lot. This is a military area.
HC: So what is it like to be in the military as a student?
Flores: I get to tell people that I’m in the military! No, I’m just kidding. Here’s my thing: federal employees get tuition assistance through tax dollars. A lot of people think thats a waste of time and feel like people in the military are just like typical “dumb jocks.” Lots of people feel like being in the military is for failures. But I’ve gotten all kinds of special training, intelligence and physical. When I got back I was so happy just to have my feet on green grass again and no worms and dirt in my food. I had such a different view on life. I’m just blown away by how much civilians are unappreciative of their surrounding. They don’t care. Most college students will try harder not to do something instead of just doing it.
HC: Do you ever regret joining the army?
Flores: F*** no. I mean, after these next three years I’m done, but it was the best decision of my life.