LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – A 19-year-old from Levelland recently swore an oath to support and defend the United States, with his dad right there beside him – not just to cheer him on, but to make the same promise.<\/p>\n
41-year-old Joshua Randol has been teaching middle school English in Levelland for the last few years. His second-oldest son, Eli, recently finished his senior year at Levelland High School.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, military wasn\u2019t on his radar. He was actually number one in the South Plains for tackles, playing Levelland football,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, we really thought he\u2019d take a scholarship to go play football in D2, maybe. But he said if he was going to tear his body up, he might as well get a good medical education. So, he decided to join the Army.\u201d<\/p>\n
His recruiter, Staff Sergeant Seth Adkins, says Eli didn\u2019t seem super interested in their conversations during the school year.<\/p>\n
\u201cToward the end of the school year, though, I actually just got a random phone call from him, and he asked me if I could go meet him at his house to talk somewhere,\u201d Adkins said.<\/p>\n
Adkins visited their house and was explaining the process and the benefits to Eli. Then, Joshua decided to come join the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd chimed in that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but he made the joke that he thought he was too old. Being 41 years old, he\u2019s just made the cut to get in,\u201d Adkins said. \u201cSo, I explained how it would work for him, too, and he had a quick conversation with his wife, called me the next day and said he was interested.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adkins says he\u2019s never seen anything like this in his year and a half of recruiting.<\/p>\n
While Eli\u2019s decision to enlist was focused on education, Joshua says his reasons were different.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe benefits being immediate, with healthcare and college and all those things that go with joining the military as fully enlisted,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd believe it or not, I get an instant pay raise by joining the Army, based off teacher salary versus Army salary. So, couldn\u2019t go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two signed on together and stood side by side for their initial swearing-in ceremony. Eli is now in basic training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. Joshua ships out next weekend to Fort Jackson in South Carolina.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo go out there and go through basic training at 41 years old and be able to say, \u2018Hey, I can do this.\u2019 That\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d Joshua said.<\/p>\n
While Eli got a big signing bonus, Joshua says the bonus for him was getting to choose to go to Germany after his training.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s the cool thing. Married 24 years, right? I\u2019m going to be gone for months and months and months. After the end of the school year, my family would join me in Germany,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd my wife and I\u2019ve always been planning to go to Europe for our 25th anniversary. And so, that\u2019s gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The four years he will spend in Germany, Joshua counts as an added bonus, along with getting to defend the nation alongside his son.<\/p>\n
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