I turned 18 in Basic Training, joined the Army at 17. I had no parents, the court was my legal guardian, so someone I never met had to sign a form allowing me to join the military that young. It was a pretty bizarre birthday. I was incredibly skinny when I joined, like 100 pounds wet, at 5'10". A drill sergeant saw how skinny I was and took all the cake away from the chubby recruits and gave it all to me. Lol, I pigged out on chocolate cake, with all the chubs glaring at me in anger.