Spent time in Army Reserve, not nearly the same as active duty.
I didn't start out in IT, started out doing administrative back office work (Executive Assistant, Ofc Mgr, etc.). We're talking what 20+ years ago. Was really good at the exec asst work, but also loved computers on the side and messed around with them. Along the way I had various folks who looked out for me giving me access to computers on my downtime (as an ofc mgr for a dept within a hospital one of the drs i worked for let me borrow one of his personal machines because he was never at home). As a exec asst to a head of consumer lending at a bank I did alot of local pc troubleshooting for coworkers in the dept. The Director noticed this and commented that I should work in IT. To make a long story short he put in a good word for me an I eventually transitioned into a Branch Support role (Level 2 support employees at various bank branches) and never looked back...