Lesnar was born in Webster , South Dakota , on July 12 , 1977 . He was raised on a Webster dairy farm owned by his parents , Stephanie and Richard Lesnar . He is of German descent . He has two older brothers named Troy and Chad , and a younger sister named Brandi . At age 17 , he joined the National Guard , where he was assigned to an office job after his red @-@ green colorblindness was deemed hazardous to his desire to work with explosives . He lost this job after failing a computer typing test , and later worked for a construction company .