In December 1998, seeking college tuition assistance, I voluntarily enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard. I did not have enough courage to do this, but growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, I had read about men who’d gone to jail for dodging military service. I held the erroneous assumption that once I signed the enlistment papers, I would have to complete service or go to jail. This fear of prison helped me face the comparatively lesser terror of Army basic training.