Striving for independence after her father kicks her out of the house, Jennifer feels she has no choice but to join the military to get out of New Hampshire and out of her friend's basement. Quickly, she realizes she has bitten off more than she can chew but cannot reverse the decision. To stay in might mean death from an asthma attack, but going back home to the basement would be another death, too. She survives basic training and Air Traffic Tech School and after three and a half years of service, Jennifer starts making plans to move back to New Hampshire with her boyfriend, finish her degree and forget the military ever displaced her from her friends in the first place, until she is suddenly deployed overseas, where she feels she will die before her life has even begun.