Already enlisted are Camryn Buckley, 18; Hailee Seawright, 17; Jayden Henderson, 17; and Lucas DeGrand, 17.

“I’ve always wanted to,” Buckley said of enlisting before leaving high school. “It runs in the family for the Army, Marines … My grandpa was in the Navy.”

Seawright and Henderson agreed with Buckley — both have grandfathers who fought in Vietnam.

“I just didn’t know what to do after high school, so I just thought, this is one of the routes I could take,” DeGrand said.

Jayden Henderson, middle, is shown with local recruiter Sgt. 1st Class Katie Pinar, left, as well as 1st Lt. Kash Dhanapal, right, during his enlistment in the Army National Guard. (Courtesy photo)

Escanaba Junior/Senior High School Principal Andy Doutree said he followed a similar path, joining the Army National Guard when he was 17. In 2004, Doutree was part of a group from Gladstone that was deployed to Iraq for 12 months.

“As a former soldier and now their principal, watching my students choose to begin their journeys in the military fills me with a deep sense of pride,” Doutree said. “I see the same spark in them that once pushed me forward — courage, curiosity and a desire to serve something bigger than themselves.”

DeGrand and Henderson will complete both Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training, or job training, after they graduate from high school. Buckley and Seawright split their training and have already completed their BCT.

According to local recruiter Sgt. 1st Class Katie Pinar of the Army National Guard, students like Buckley and Seawright can choose to do what’s called split training. This allows juniors who are at least age 17, with parental permission, to complete basic combat training before graduation and complete AIT upon graduation.

“If they’re old enough – and if that’s what they decide to do – a lot of them will go (to BCT) between their junior and senior year,” Pinar said.

Hailee Seawright, middle, is one of four local students at the Escanaba Junior/Senior High School to enlist in the Army National Guard. Recruiter Sgt. 1st Class Katie Pinar, left, and Principal Andy Doutree, right, are pictured at Seawright's contract signing. (Courtesy photo)

Pinar, who brought in all four EJSHS enlistees and is an Escanaba High Schol graduate herself, has been recruiting students in Escanaba and Gladstone since 2012.

Before enlisting, students must complete the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test and undergo physical exams at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Milwaukee.

As part of their contracts, Buckley and Seawright must attend drill weekends, or monthly drills, while still in school.

Pinar noted the typical contract to be considered active duty is three to six years, as seniors also sign contracts that can differ from younger students. Junior high school students who enlist always sign six-year contracts with the Army National Guard, according to Pinar. By the time they graduate, they already have plenty of training and monthly drills under their belts.

After soldiers complete BCT, they complete AIT, where they are trained in the specific job they chose before they even sign their contract. For example, Buckley, who chose to become a medic, will attend four months of AIT training.

Lucas DeGrand, left, stands alongside SSG John Rogers. DeGrand will attend Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training in the Army National Guard after graduation this spring. (Courtesy photo)

Seawright, Henderson and DeGrand will attend AIT to become 12 Novembers, or horizontal construction engineers. They will be trained to operate heavy equipment to support military and construction projects.

After completing AIT, soldiers will be considered part-time, required to attend drill weekends once per month, plus two weeks of annual training and their army job once per month.

Typically, Army National Guard soldiers have civilian careers, such as police officers, nurses and more. Others attend trade schools, Pinar said. Many soldiers pursue higher education or other job training while being part-time soldiers.

Soldiers who enlist in the Army National Guard receive education benefits, such as state and federal tuition aid, Chapter 1606 GI Bill assistance and the Michigan National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program.

Unlike other military branches, Army National Guard soldiers receive state and federal assistance because of their dual mission.

“We have a state mission and a federal mission, so we fall under the state of Michigan and the federal side,” Pinar said. “In a national disaster, we’re able to respond to that.”

According to Pinar, recruits receive $14,400 annually in state tuition assistance. They also earn $4,000 per year in federal funds, as well as monthly GI Bill payments for their bills and other expenses.

MINGSTAP allows students in the Army National Guard to receive discounted tuition rates, which only applies to the Army National Guard. For example, Northern Michigan University gives students enlisted in the Army National Guard up to 45% off their tuition rates.

Doutree, who knows better than most what his students can anticipate in the months ahead, said:

“As they graduate and set off for new adventures, I wish them strength, confidence and the knowledge that they carry an entire community cheering them on. I hope they discover their own resilience, build lifelong friendships and find moments of joy even in the challenges ahead. Most of all, I want them to know that no matter where the world takes them, they’ll always have a home here — once an Eskymo, always an Eskymo — and I couldn’t be more excited to see the incredible paths they’ll forge.”

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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.