From a 18.5-inch brown ponytail to a tight army buzz, 17-year-old Dyllan House began his transition into becoming a U.S. Army private with a gift to "Locks of Love."

"It's cold," House said when the shears finally stopped Tuesday afternoon.

House, who will graduate with a high school diploma in September or October, has enlisted to join the Army. However, his long brown locks, which he hadn't cut since around ninth grade, were anything but Army standard.

House decided if the hair must go, then it might as well go to a worthy cause. He recalled first hearing about "Locks of Love" from a girl he knew.

"She was donating her hair and told me about it," said House. "I decided I'd do it too."

Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that turns donated hair into hairpieces for disadvantaged children suffering from hair loss because of any number of illnesses.

House's mother, Cara House, cut off the ponytail in the family's home Tuesday afternoon before a small audience of family members and Sgt. 1st Class Roger Willett, an Army recruiter who was instrumental in recruiting young House.

House's father, Don House, followed up the act with a pair of electric shears to give House that recognizably short Army haircut.

"It's not even my hair, and I feel like crying," said House's sister, Victoria, as hair started to fall.

From crown to tip House's hair was 20 inches long only a few moments ago. Now part of it was gathered into an orderly ponytail to be sent to Locks of Love, and the rest remained scattered in small tufts across the kitchen floor.

"It's kind of his trademark," said House's mother. She recalled how people referred to her son as simply "the boy with the hair."

House won't leave for Army basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., until Jan. 4, but he will start drill training on July 17 in Kingsport.

House first showed interest in joining the Army after talking with a friend of the family in the Army Reserve about a year ago. Before that, House was considering a career in the criminal justice field.

House follows a rich heritage of family in the armed forces before him, including both grandfathers, cousins, and his father.

Buford King, a grandfather on House's mother's side, is a retired tech sergeant in the Air Force.

House's grandfather on his father's side was among "the few and the proud" in the Marines, and a cousin served with the Marines in the Iraq conflict. Another cousin also served in the war in Iraq as an Army soldier.

House has decided to follow his father's footstep and join the Army. His father served during "Operation Desert Storm," and recently escorted "The Wall that Heals," a half-sized replica of the Vietnam Memorial, as it traveled through Greeneville on its way to a temporary display site in Johnson City. He also served guard duty during the wall's stay in Johnson City.

House's current plan is to use the Army's education program to pay for college at either Walters State Community College first, then ETSU, or to go directly to ETSU where he will most likely join the ROTC program. He hopes to one day become a paramedic.

House's mother expressed the family's relief when he was accepted into the Army. "We were really worried about him getting in," she said.

According to House's mother, House suffered a dirt bike accident two years ago. He was flown to emergency care by medical helicopter. House had broken bones on both sides of his body and had broken his femur in three places which required emergency surgery.

He was confined to a wheelchair for over a month, during which time House could not even attend public school. The family was not sure if the extensive injury would prevent House from being accepted by the Army.

Fortunately, with only a medical warrant, formal approval, and Tuesday's haircut, House was "all systems go" for military service.

Formerly a North Greene High School student, House will finish high school at the Center for Technology, where he only has two classes left before he leaves for basic training with the Amry.