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Being in the Military with a Stutter This is my experience of having a stutter while in the military. A stutter should not stop you from doing anything you set your mind to. So I'm 19 and have been in the Air Force for about a year and a half now and my family has always worried about how i get treated with my stutter. Usually i would hear jokes from time and again or i would make fun of myself to make it seem less awkward around people. I mainly have repetitions or blocks when I stuttered and when you are standing at attention it is harder not to stutter. When i first joined the military I wasn't even able to say my reporting statement ("Sir/Ma'am, Trainee Last Name Reports as Ordered") and I couldn't even say my name when talking normally to other people. I knew one other guy with a stutter in my flight so we would talk a lot (if we could even talk fluently enough.) It was rough because everyone assumed i was stupid, scared, nervous, or just weird. Didn't talk much to anyone but that one guy during my basic training and my Military Training Instructors didn't pay attention to me since I never did anything wrong. After basic training i went to technical training (things went basically the same as basic training), and then to my first duty base where i wasn't even able to answer a phone without dragging a 30 second conversation into a 5 minute conversation. I was embarrassed to talk most of the time around my coworkers, superiors, and fellow airmen and i just chose not to talk. After 8 months at my first base, I realized that my stutter was getting worse and was getting in the way of my work. I went to a Speech Pathologist and she has taught me many techniques to prevent stuttering and to react to stuttering moments. Our first meeting was terrible. I had a stutter that lasted 38 seconds followed by another lasting 24 seconds. Now within a few months of seeing the same pathologist she has seen my improvement and i am speaking fluently to the point where my longest stutter now is 3-5 seconds. We are now trying to see if a device called SpeechEasy will be right for me to almost eliminate the stutter. Although i still stutter, i definitely don't feel embarrassed to talk anymore. I can now work effectively and talk to people and say my name without stuttering. Now my stutters aren't that noticeable and people around me don't even mention it anymore. Feels great to progress with my communication skills and for people to hear me speak fluently. I still have 4 more years on my enlistment so hopefully I can keep up my progress and stay fluent.