COEUR d'ALENE - Micah Johnson, 17, is looking forward to shipping out to basic training in June.

The Coeur d'Alene School District Bridge Academy high school student will become an infantryman in the U.S. Army.

"I'm totally stoked about that," Johnson said. "I've always wanted to join the military."

It's something that might not be happening for Johnson if he hadn't returned to high school to complete his degree.

"Bridge is making it so I can do that," Johnson said.

The credit retrieval alternative school offers a flexible schedule and pace that allows high school students who have fallen behind or dropped out, a way to earn the credits they need for a regular high school degree.

Raised by his grandfather who was a Navy SEAL, Johnson said he has always had the desire to serve.

The Army offers a lot of opportunities that might be hard to come by otherwise, he said, like $60,000 for college after three years.

"It's a steady job and steady money. That's hard to find with the economy," Johnson said.

He's also looking forward to the structure and discipline he'll be subjected to as an Army man, viewing it as a good way to learn to avoid trouble in life.

Because he's nearly self-supporting, Johnson said he has to work while going to school, something that was challenging for him in a traditional high school.

He's a cook at the Hayden Lake Country Club, a job he loves but does not want to plan his future around.

"It's more something to fall back on," Johnson said. "I'm not sure if I want to make the Army my career and retire from the Army, or I want to use the money from that to go to college."

If he chooses to leave the Army for college, Johnson said he would like to study marketing or business.