Recruiter urges candidates to consider all options

Sergeant Nicholi Garner (left) talks to Marine recruits during a workout Wednesday in Bowling Green. (Photo: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune)

In many ways, Sgt. Nicholi Garner isn't a typical soldier.
The Marine doesn't regret missing out on combat opportunities, serving tours in Iraq and Africa but never really engaging with enemy troops.
He also doesn't lament missing the metaphorical boat to the Naval Academy, having enlisted and gone to boot camp without knowing he was offered a college education.
But in other ways, he's precisely what the corps was seeking in a recruiter when he was sent from Virginia Beach, Va. to work out of the Bowling Green office at Main and Wooster streets.
Garner said his goal isn't to convince every young person to consider a military career. Rather, he sees his role as someone meant to encourage potential troops to consider all their options before moving forward with a commitment.
Garner doesn't look back, worrying about what might have been if word had reached him during boot camp in Paris Island, SC in 2007 that he had actually been accepted to the Naval Academy.