'I learned to take orders': Warren Buffett talks about serving in the military and how his wedding almost fell apart because of an emergency

• Berkshire Hathaway chairman and legendary investor Warren Buffett reflected on his military enlistment in the 1950s and said he was proud of those who served in the armed forces.
• "There was something about the spirit of a company," Buffett told the National Guard in a recent interview. "I mean, people that you did things with, slept in the same barracks and everything. That actually has a really good effect on you. You learn about people in all different kinds of walks of life."
• Buffett recalled that he was activated to serve during an emergency, the same day his wedding was supposed to be held.

Berkshire Hathaway chairman and legendary investor Warren Buffett reflected back on his military enlistment in the 1950s and said he was proud of those who served in the armed forces.

Buffett, who turned 90 years old on Sunday, enlisted in the Nebraska Army National Guard as a pay specialist in the 1951, after he graduated from Columbia University. He would also serve in the New York National Guard until leaving the military in 1956.

"Well, I learned to take orders, which is not a bad trait to acquire," Buffett humorously recalled in an Aug. 30 interview with the Nebraska National Guard. "But I had a lot of fun. Anytime you make a lot of good, long friendships, that's important in life."

Pay specialists in the Army dispensed cash salaries to soldiers and handled other finance-related issues for soldiers, back when direct deposits into banks were not available.

Buffett went on to speak highly of the camaraderie within the military and the opportunity to learn about people from different backgrounds.

"There was something about the spirit of a company," Buffett said. "I mean, people that you did things with, slept in the same barracks and everything. That actually has a really good effect on you. You learn about people in all different kinds of walks of life."

Buffett, the third richest American who has an estimated net worth of nearly $70 billion, lives rather humbly in a house he originally purchased in Nebraska in the 1950s.

Buffett also recalled a life-changing incident during his military service. As he planned on getting married in April 1952, "an unprecedented volume of water" from the winter snow rolled down to Omaha, according to reports at the time.

The Nebraska National Guard was expected to respond to the "really epic flood," during the same weekend he had previously planned his wedding, Buffett recalled.

Buffett, who was a corporal, said he got a phone call around noon, three hours before his wedding, and was told he was being activated for the emergency response. His commander gave him a 2-hour reprieve to report to his armory so that he could show up to his own wedding.

It wasn't until he got a second phone call, this time from a senior-ranking officer, when he finally managed to attend his wedding. A general overrode the junior officer's orders and Buffett was told to "go have a good time."

"That was a great moment in my life," Buffett said. "I'd like to think that was a great moment in my bride's life too."

"It's a great experience," Buffett added. "And I think, whether it's a career for you or whether it's Reserves or something of the sort, you're going to make a lot of good friends. You're going to learn a lot and I think that I would be very proud of what you're doing."