Randall Bowers joined the military when he was 17 and still in high school shortly after the Iraq War began. He went to basic training at Fort Leonard Wood Missouri and then Afghanistan where he searched for and dismantle IEDs. He later went on to become a drill sergeant and plans to return to the army after he finishes school.

Clyde Badger was an Army Staff Sergeant and worked as a combat engineer during the Guadalcanal Campaign. He built bridges and roads, and said that he didn't really have much specific job training. He did most of his learning on the job and most of it was simple manual labor.