Maust tried to return home to his mother, but she did not want him to return and in fact threatened him with a knife. His mother took him to an Army recruiter and in 1971, at age eighteen, he enlisted in the Army. He completed Basic Training at Fort Lewis and AIT at Fort Ord, and in 1972 was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. He served as a cook, and was by all accounts an able serviceman. He was also a keen bowler, averaging scores as high as 297, and won numerous awards and money prizes in his Army bowling league.