The images of bombs and gunfire injuring and killing service members in Iraq and Afghanistan are enough to make many people apprehensive about joining the armed forces.
But to 18-year-old Gabe Cisneros, those images stoked feelings of motivation, duty and eagerness.
“I saw how many people were losing life and limb, and something inside me wanted to make a difference,” said Cisneros, of Parkville, who along with 14 others enlisted into the Army and Maryland Army National Guard this weekend at Camden Yards as part of the Army?s 233rd anniversary celebration.
The Army and Army National Guard, nationally, are not having problems enlisting soldiers despite a war unpopular with many.
The Army exceeded its May quota of 5,550 recruits, and though the National Guard fell 324 recruits shy of this month?s goal, it is still 109 percent above this year?s quota, according to the Department of Defense.
However, the Maryland Army National Guard is struggling to keep its ranks full, said Alberto Jiminez, brigadier general of the Maryland Guard.
“We want to make sure families are well-informed,” Jiminez said.
“We agree with the concerns of the parents. But today?s Army needs leaders and is at its finest position than it has ever been.”
More of a willingness to join the fight abroad ? as well as an outpouring of public support for veterans ? is one way the Army has changed in the past 30 years.
David Steele, 52, of Landover Hills, has served tours of duty during the Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was one of two Iraq veterans who threw out the first pitch at the Orioles game Saturday.
Steele said he was called a “baby killer” when he returned from Vietnam in 1975; in 2005, he was congratulated and welcomed upon his return, even though the public?s attitude about the conflicts hadn?t changed.
The Army?s battleground also has changed much since George Washington was commissioned to lead America?s first army in 1775.
“If I had to say which is worse, I?d say Iraq,” said Steele, who went to Iraq with the Maryland Guard.
“In Vietnam, we knew who we were dealing with. But in Iraq, you don?t know who is the enemy.
It could that woman across the street or the kid standing next to you.”
Cisneros said he wants to be an Army medic, following in the footsteps of his mother, an Army reservist and Baltimore City paramedic.
“I want to be a Baltimore City paramedic one day,” he said.
“I feel military service can prepare me for anything else that comes my way.”
