Hopeful driver : Army veteran located in Chicagoland

Greetings all,

I'll introduce myself quickly as this is my first post. My name's Lucas, and I was born and raised in Northwest Indiana just outside of Chicago. I signed a four year contract with the active duty Army at the age of 19, beginning my term of service on May 5th, 2010. After several years stationed at Ft. Lewis Washington just south of Seattle, as well as a 12 month tour in Southeast Helmand Province, Afghanistan, I returned home to Indiana this past August. With the initial intention of becoming a small business owner, I began pursuing my degree in business administration with a focus in marketing. While I still favor the concept of owning and operating my own business, I am beginning to question the type of organization I'd like to open. I originally intended to focus on a brewery/pub in which I would market and sell my own microbrews. However now that I have returned home and began going to the bars more often again, my patience becomes shorter each time I see people acting beligerantly.

I've always loved to drive, a true genuine passion for being on the road. I'm an automotive enthusiast, and really appreciate driving and the relationship between the asphalt and driver. I enjoy experiencing different conditions like a sudden snow storm, torrential downpours, and high gusting winds. Seeing the country is my biggest incentive, though, as I truley enjoy laying eyes on the natural beauty this land has to offer.

I'm not an experienced driver by any means, but I do have some time behind the wheel of a heavy truck. During my time with the Army, I served as a combat engineer. My primary duty was to conduct route clearance, or the removal of improvised explosive devices (IED'S) from road/pathways in order to allow safe movement for fuel trucks in between bases and posts. I drove, mostly, an RG31 uparmored truck(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RG-31_Nyala). These weigh in at just shy of 10 tons in the trim I operated them in. While I'm well aware this is a vast change when compared to a loaded tractor and trailer, I have been behind the wheel of one over 100+ times for periods of longer than 18 hours, all while maintaining a keen sense of my surroundings. I know I have the capability to drive, and truley believe I would enjoy doing so for a career.


My questions is this:

Should I do an apprenticeship type training through a company like swift, etc? Or do a program through a local community college? Price is not a factor as I will be funded through the post 9/11 GI bill either way. In either case, which companies should I look at? Training near chicago is a big plus.


I appreciate all of the help in advance and am extremely open to any comments/suggestions.

Hope to hear from you guys soon! Take care.


-Lucas