10 Things I wish I knew before I enlisted

According to Ty, you should pause and spend time thinking about your goals before contacting a recruiter—don't let someone else decide for you. The article emphasizes that most people don't make bad decisions; they just don't know what the right options are because they talk to a recruiter before doing any real self-reflection. The Warrior Collective is being built specifically to give you tools and a clear path to figure this out before you sign anything, rather than piecing information together from random sources.

While you technically can change jobs later, Ty warns that it's not quick, not easy, and definitely not fun. Choosing a branch or job without a real reason is compared to picking a college without choosing a major—it can work out, but it might narrow your options for years. This is why taking time upfront to make the right choice actually gets you further, faster, and happier in the long run.

The article points out that the current process feels confusing because people piece together information from TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, and whatever their recruiter tells them—and it feels isolating. The Warrior Collective is being built as a single place (not run by the Department of Defense) that offers tools to help you choose the right branch and job, guidance on the ASVAB and MEPS, and a community of people going through the same thing at the same time. It's designed to lay everything out clearly so you know what you don't know before you commit.

Ty regrets that he winged the ASVAB and got lucky, but acknowledges it might have narrowed some of his options years later. The article lists studying for the ASVAB as one of the key things he wishes he'd known before enlisting, suggesting that your ASVAB score can have real long-term consequences on your career options in the military.

According to the article, the biggest mistake is talking to a recruiter before you've spent time figuring out what you actually want. People pick a branch because it sounds cool or because someone they know did it, or they lock in a job without understanding where it leads. By the time something doesn't feel right, they're already committed—but this isn't a character flaw; it happens because people don't know what they don't know.