Around the same year, George was enlisted in the U.S. Army as an infantryman and spent the final two years in Schofield Barracks Hawaii. But little did he know that it will be the start of his career. While there, he refined his guitar and vocal technique and began playing country music with an Army-sponsored band called Rambling Country. By the time he left, he was already a seasoned stage player.
Norma Strait followed her husband around through his military years, and during the time afterward, when he was back in college at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State) where he joined the country band, Stoney Ridge, after seeing a flyer the band posted around campus looking for a new vocalist. Soon enough, he became the lead and even renamed the band, The Ace in the Hole Band.
In 1981, MCA Records signed George Strait to a one-song contract; they gave him the condition that if the song will be a success, the company would offer him a longer-term agreement. Lo and behold, George’s first single, “Unwound” (1981), reached number six on Billboard Magazine’s Hot Country Songs chart. This landed him an extended contract with MCA, and ultimately launched his career as a professional musician.
Norma Strait stuck by his side through it all. However, the Straits have kept their relationship mostly out of the public eye throughout George’s high-profile music career.