Mike Brake enlisted in the military at the age of 18, serving between 1988 to 1992 in the U.S. Marine Corps. Brake joined the military because he knew college wasn’t for him, and chose the Marines because he wanted to be one of the best.
Mike Brake was deployed for three years to Saudi Arabia in the infantry during the Gulf War. He was also stationed in Sasebo, Japan, and Palms, California, which was the home base of his 1st Battalion, 7th Marines base.
Saudi Arabia is a huge desert, hot and sandy. When stationed there, Brake lived on the barracks stateside. He couldn’t go anywhere. So, he was left in the middle of nowhere hanging out with all the guys in his platoon.
Brake described his time there, saying “You can look for miles and miles but only see the desert. I slept on the ground next to our equipment and weapons. Until the war happened, there was not much to do but train and hang out.”
During Brakes time, he was ranked Lance Corporal E-3. Throughout his first year, he worked as a security guard and guarded ammunition in Sasebo.
Brake’s memory he wanted to share happened in Panama. When there for jungle training. When he went on patrol, he came across a swarm of killer bees. His entire platoon was getting stung. They had to scatter throughout the jungle, running away from the bees. Some of the members were stung between 100 to 200 times. Brake himself was stung around 75 times. One of the guys was life flighted to the U.S. Thankfully he survived. To deal with the stings, he and his buddies used tweezers to pluck all of the stingers out.
Blake’s loved ones were extremely proud of his decision to enlist. He describes the day he enlisted as “one of the proudest moments of my life.” He never knew what he wanted for a career until he joined the military.
Brake made a ton of great friends in the Marines. However, he got rid of Facebook a few years ago because he was spending too much time on it and was getting frustrated with how dumb people were being on it. That’s how he lost touch with most of those Marines.
For Brake, his boot camp experience was extremely difficult. He was pushed both physically and mentally to extreme levels. Marines Boot Camp was most definitely a lot more difficult than the other branches’ boot camp. For Marines, boot camp is a total of thirteen weeks, a lot longer than other branches. It is also more physically demanding. Brake said what sets the Marines apart from others was “They try to break you down and then mold you into a Marine. They try to break your spirits and your will, to make us better”
The military taught Brake discipline and gave him the love he has for his country today.
Mike Brake’s advice to those who are considering joining the military is “If you want to travel the world and don’t have a desire to go to college, give the military a try. You can get great training and see the world.”
