When I enlisted in the United States Air Force, I was attending Long Beach State University. Wanting to complete that semester of school, I enlisted in the DEP (Delayed Enlistment Program) program. So I signed the enlistment paperwork in November, but I didn’t report for active duty until January.
Although I majored in journalism at the university, I was reluctant to ask the Air Force to guarantee me a job in that career field. I feared that if I went in “guaranteed” that I might choose something that I didn’t like. Therefore, not knowing what kind of career I wanted to pursue, I went in Open General. (Open General is when you allow the Air Force to place you where you’re needed in the general operations of the military.) I told the Lord, “Lord, I’m going in Open so you can choose my career field. I don’t have any idea what I would enjoy, so I’ll let You place me where You want me.” There was no doubt in my mind that God would choose the very best for me, and He’d use the Air Force to do it.
I loved Basic Training (but that’s another blog post). The last day of Basic, they posted everyone’s AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code) on the barracks wall. I anxiously ran my finger down the list of names until I reached mine to see where God had put me. Dental Technician. My heart sank. I thought, Dental Technician? Yuck. I said, “Lord, you put me in dental?” Then God spoke to my heart, and He asked me a question. He said, “But, Marj, didn’t you let me choose?” That question caused my heart to soar. I thought, Yes, I did. So that means that I will enjoy it. And I started tech school with the goal of being the best dental tech on my base. So I did my very best in school.
The school was eight weeks long, and half-way through my schooling, the Lord put on my heart to interview my classmates. There were about 28 students in my class. I talked to every one of them, asking them all the same two questions. Did they come in guaranteed? How long did they wait in the DEP program in order to get this AFSC? To my surprise, every last one of them came in guaranteed through the DEP program. Most of them had waited between four and six months to get in. And a couple of them had waited as long as eight months. I was the only one who’d come in Open, and God put me into an AFSC in high demand. The Air Force didn’t put me where they needed me; God placed me where He wanted me.
My first duty assignment was RAF Alconbury, England. Guess what? I absolutely loved my job; one that I would not have chosen for myself. I was so glad that I let the Lord choose for me. And while I was there, I had the privilege of hearing my NCOIC (Non Commissioned Officer in Charge) refer to me as the best dental technician in the clinic. It doesn’t get much better than that.