Talking to Kids about Military Service

BLUF: Tell the kids why you joined, what you did, why you choose to stay in and how they can service their country and community.

Tomorrow I don my uniform and head out to talk to my son’s cub scout den about Naval Service.

Truth be told I’m actually more nervous about talking to some 7-8 year old boys than my Change of Command Speech which is only a few days after.

So in preparation for the event I hit up Google and unfortunately came up short for some high quality talking points on how to talk with civic groups about the importance of Naval Service. Therefore seeing a need I came up with some talking points for talking to students, boy scouts, civic groups, ect… about military service and what it means to serve.

Military Service Talking Points

Show up in a dress uniform. It is an easy conversation starter to show the students your badges, awards, and what the various pins mean.

1. Thank the kids for their interest
2. Talk about why I Joined and what most interested me about the military
3. Discuss all the places I’ve been to.
   1. Tell a story about an “exotic port”
   2. Sea story about a storm at sea
   3. Talk about an exciting deployment
4. Discuss Why I currently serve in the Military
   1. Sense of Adventure
   2. Opportunity to continue to develop myself
5. Present other options for serving. You can service in your Church, School, Fire Department, your kids a Stay-at-home-dad.
   1. No need to wait until you join the military. Start serving now.
6. Thank them again and take questions

Few Additional Notes

• I am specifically not addressing the why of the military (war, why we fight, defend our country, ect…) Since I am currently struggling with this there is no way that I can, with a straight face talk about this.
• If questions move into the “why we fight”, or “good guys vs bad guys”. Go back to the why you serve, and the military exists to serve our nation’s interests talking points