Some field training exercise photos

[11A-ABN]

at Ft. Lewis, WA, on 6th day of situational training exercise; the first time in 6 days the weather was dry, for a few hours at least...

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Loading up on a chinook for an Air Mobile mission; you can see the MILES equipment

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with Drill Sergeant Wallace, when I was a private

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with Major General Barrett, when I was a private

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in the woods at Ft. Lewis, WA

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MOUT training; I'm in the front, and 2nd guy was a special forces dude from 19th SFG.

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the objective during assault

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after the mission is over, in front of a junk APC

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at airborne school, Ft. Benning, barracks; it was pretty hot and humid

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the 34 ft tower (aircraft exit procedure) and the 250ft tower (actual drop )

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Friend, 1st Lieutenant Garcia in Iraq with 101st Airborne; on on far right

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1LT Garcia, before a night raid in Iraq

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Overwatching town

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the Stars and Stripes in the desert

[deathblow]

Thanks for sharing the pics man! Thanks for serving our country.

[Arnold_R1]

I thought that pic in your avatar was a statue. :eek: Jae, your a true soldier. Thanks for serving our country well.

[TreAdidas]

Originally posted by 11A-ABN
the Stars and Stripes in the desert

:rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

[Gixxer_6]

Yes thank the Army for taking over for a bit while the Marines rest up and go back to kick there ass again!!!! No but seriuosly thanks for joining the forcesand serving your country, you just joined the wrong one!! I was with first marine division during operation enduring/iraqi freedom. It was a blast. Ok, it sucked but some parts were fun.

[Gixxer_6]

oh yeah, some good pics though!!!

[speedster1219]

Bah you all should of joined the NAVY....just kidding..i have much respect for MARINES..after working with them a couple of times....but for me its NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE all the way!!:D

[Gixxer_6]

Navy schmavy!!!!! hello, can i get a taxi? i mean can you take me to Iraq so I can kill people? Go NAVY!!!

[speedster1219]

wait you have me mistaken for the big navy.welcome to my navy..

[speedster1219]

and more

[shichyea]

that's awesome!!

[11A-ABN]

Carlos, how you doing buddy? Hope things are going well for you.
I know what Carlos' MOS is, but what's your MOS in USMC Gixxer6? It is nice to meet others with more than bikes as common interest. Although it's a natural tendency for each branch of service to talk smack of each other, I'll pass, knowing that no combat missions nowadays are single service-oriented. Things have been joint operational for a while now, even in the special ops community, and no one branch will be more effective than all branches of service working together. ie. I know I'll love Air Force pilots for their air strike capabilities when I'm under fire on the ground.

[CjrJAM]

Originally posted by Gixxer_6
Navy schmavy!!!!! hello, can i get a taxi? i mean can you take me to Iraq so I can kill people? Go NAVY!!!

Please let's not start this childish game, not here. This is the place where I come to forget about all that stuff. All branches of the military are equal and they all work together towards one common goal, never forget that! :cool:

[TreAdidas]

Originally posted by CjrJAM
Please let's not start this childish game, not here. This is the place where I come to forget about all that stuff. All branches of the military are equal and they all work together towards one common goal, never forget that! :cool:

Agreed... just not here... not here.

[speedster1219]

we all love each other...nuff said we all bleed red white and blue...:D

[sworobec]

Really awesome photos. I especially like the camoflauge/forest one. Mass amounts of respect heading your way. Hell, mass respect to anyone doing their part! Woo!

[11A-ABN]

Originally posted by Gixxer_6
Navy schmavy!!!!! hello, can i get a taxi? i mean can you take me to Iraq so I can kill people? Go NAVY!!!


By the way, the current primary mission in Op Iraqi Freedom is not to kill people, but to stabilize the country, so the interim gov't and the major portion of US troops can pull out. But we all do need each other, right?

[11A-ABN]

Here's a pic for tank lovers; this was when I ran into some tank crews prepping for gunnery in Korea, 2d I.D.; those big things on the ground are 120mm main gun rounds, SABOT and HEAT rounds. and the almighty M1 Abrams Tanks.

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One for "Infantry-in-forest" lovers; on a patrol mission in Ft. Lewis, WA; very green yes? (and very thick too)

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patrol mission 2

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pop smoke to break contact with OPFOR

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taking a short break

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living quarters of an infantry man; you can see the poncho-made hootch to the right

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Drying some wet equipment and clothes during non-tactical period

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a painting of rangers during D-Day climbing the cliffs at Normandy to surprise the Nazi troops busy protecting the beach.

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This was the only ground picture taken by one of the rangers securing a corner of the target building during the assault of the target house in Mogadishu, Oct '93, before the blackhawk went down. You can see rangers scattered around, and the 2 delta force guys to the right.

[Ikazuchi]

Originally posted by 11A-ABN
MOUT training; I'm in the front, and 2nd guy was a special forces dude from 19th SFG.

I just saw a thing on the History Channel last night about MPs - one of the training exercises they showed was MOUT. Totally cool.

[CjrJAM]

Cool pics brah, show us more! :rockon:

[Arnold_R1]

Originally posted by CjrJAM
Cool pics brah, show us more! :rockon:

Hey Ceez, got any Navy/crossing the Equator for the first time pics! Because that's what the Navy is all about right, Liberty Weekend and getting swamped the first time crossing the Equator! :D :D :D :D

[Ikazuchi]

Originally posted by Arnold_R1
Hey Ceez, got any Navy/crossing the Equator for the first time pics! Because that's what the Navy is all about right, Liberty Weekend and getting swamped the first time crossing the Equator! :D :D :D :D

They still dress you up as a woman and haze the holy hell out of ya?

[Arnold_R1]

Originally posted by Ikazuchi
They still dress you up as a woman and haze the holy hell out of ya?

and how would you know. . .Ms Ikazuchi! :sick: :D

[Ikazuchi]

Originally posted by Arnold_R1
and how would you know. . .Ms Ikazuchi! :sick: :D

Old stories from my gramps ...ya polywog

I'm not suited for the armed services....don't like getting shot at...or taking orders.

[CjrJAM]

Originally posted by Arnold_R1
Hey Ceez, got any Navy/crossing the Equator for the first time pics! Because that's what the Navy is all about right, Liberty Weekend and getting swamped the first time crossing the Equator! :D :D :D :D
Yeah I might have some funny pics laying around, I'll see if I can dig a couple up. The ceremony still exists but it has toned down a lot from when I first went through it :rolleyes:
No pictures are supposed to be taken so the newbies won't know what to expect and also so that only the ones that go through it really know what it is all about. ;)

[YuJinha]

So how did the miles gear for you work out? I know when I used it, it really did feel like some lowest bidder ****. You could easily drain a whole mag of blanks on a target and it seemed like if one strand of grass got in the way of the laser, you would never hit the guy.

Anyways, what did you think of Airborne? Wasn't all it was cracked up to be for me but the first 2 seconds out of the plane was a blast that's for sure. The NCO's (not the Sergeant Airborne's) made it so much less enjoyable too but it really wasn't anything since I just came from basic.

Airborne airborne all the way, airborne airborne everyday, we like it here we love it here we finally found a home (a what), a home (a what), a home, a home away from home.... (Rinse and repeat until you can stand it no longer and then do it somemore.)

I just noticed from one of the online pics that you appear to be cadet Kim from 1/160th A Co. Is that right? If so, where were you for this months drill up at Camp Pen. if you don't mind me asking?

[a43-Dan]

i just got back from the army and marine recruiting offices and i'm trying to figure out which way ta go. not sure what MOS i want to do yet either.
anyway, cool pics.

[speedster1219]

How bout Navy, not the crappy navy but the fun stuff...


THE FUN NAVY (http://www.sealchallenge.navy.mil) <--- click me

just a thought!

[YuJinha]

Going active or reserve?

[speedster1219]

me.. im a reservist going active...

[CjrJAM]

Originally posted by a43-Dan
i just got back from the army and marine recruiting offices and i'm trying to figure out which way ta go. not sure what MOS i want to do yet either.
anyway, cool pics.

If you need any help just give me a holler, I know ALL the ins and outs of recruiting like the back of my hand. And that goes for all services not just mine. Will be happy to help so you don't get screwed ;)

[CjrJAM]

Originally posted by speedster1219
How bout Navy, not the crappy navy but the fun stuff...

Watch your mouth sonny :grr: ;)

[a43-Dan]

hey cjrjam, thanks, maybe i can talk to you about it at the next bike night or ride or something. i'm not sure if i wana go reserve or active yet. right now i still need to get my high school diploma before i join,i'm only 18 but do have my ged allready,i should have the diploma in about 2 months. oh and i took the practice test for the asvab and got a 58, he said that i could get into any MOS with that. gunna try and do alot better on the real test though.
anyway i'm so confused at the moment, took in so much information today i don't know what i want to do now.

[a43-Dan]

oh, and i'm still considering the navy and air force as well, just leaning towards the army/ marines right now.

[CjrJAM]

Originally posted by a43-Dan
oh, and i'm still considering the navy and air force as well, just leaning towards the army/ marines right now.

To each is own bra, just let me know when you want the help and I'll be there for ya. Those recruiters can be slick, I worked with them for five years. You are right on time to start looking into your future with the military, the best advice I can give you now is to GET your HS diploma. It really does make a difference regardless of what you hear from the recruiters or others. And also don't commit to anyone just yet, regardless of what they tell you. They will still hire you next week or next year and all the same jobs will still be there. My number is listed in my profile if you wanna chat more about this offline.

[cbrsmurf]

Very cool pictures. I have a question though, in the picture of the flag surrounded by MG rounds, why do some of them have green tips while others have red? Different ammo types or was it xmas?

[Arnold_R1]

Originally posted by a43-Dan
right now i still need to get my high school diploma before i join,i'm only 18 but do have my ged allready,i should have the diploma in about 2 months. oh and i took the practice test for the asvab and got a 58, he said that i could get into any MOS with that. gunna try and do alot better on the real test though.
anyway i'm so confused at the moment, took in so much information today i don't know what i want to do now.

Have you thought about going to college? Unless you want to be a grunt, higher learning can always help your rank in the military.

[Ikazuchi]

Originally posted by Arnold_R1
Have you thought about going to college? Unless you want to be a grunt, higher learning can always help your rank in the military.

You can always do that while you're in the military...my buddy is a CB and he takes classes while the Navy pays for it.

[REDR6]

I have some OIF pics. I'll see if I can't dig them out of wherever I may have put them.
J

[deathblow]

Alot of my buddies in the military also go to school, but they are the ones not planning on being lifers.

[a43-Dan]

i am not sure what i'm gunna do right now,i do know that i'm going to do college though. actually i just did one semester of college. right now i'm thinking go in as enlisted for 4 years then go to college, or go into the reserves while going to college. then maybe go back in as an officer, or try to get into the police force so i can make my way to the swat team.
i dunno, so confused right now.

[speedster1219]

These are for Jae..this is the training compound that I was at..didnt get to take pics of the action but got some post excersice...

[speedster1219]

make up city used to train urban combat

[speedster1219]

this one makes me laugh

[speedster1219]

hope u make it here jae

[speedster1219]

humvees suck while being snowed in..

[speedster1219]

this is cool...this truck blows up all the time

[YuJinha]

Ever been to the Mckenna MOUT site at Ft. Benny? I hear it's damn near a whole city there.

[CjrJAM]

Looks like fun Carlos, nothing like a fun game of hunt the bad guy and use SIM rounds :cool:

[11A-ABN]

Nice pics Carlos, haven't been to Ft. Knox. Heard Bragg's got a kick ass MOUT facility, where the SF guys train. McKenna at Benning is not that big, more like a very small town, compared to JRTC(the town of Shugart-Gordon) at Ft. Polk, which is a national training center for dismounted, light infantry, MOUT training (whereas NTC is for armored & mechanized combat, and has old soviet tanks like the T-72; & CMTC is in Germany). But Ft. Polk is one boring place to be, located in a town called Leesville in Lousiana. I heard JRTC is making some changes for live fire mout training. Or may be they already have.

[11A-ABN]

Originally posted by cbrsmurf
Very cool pictures. I have a question though, in the picture of the flag surrounded by MG rounds, why do some of them have green tips while others have red? Different ammo types or was it xmas?


The red ones are the tracer rounds. Tracer rounds burn at the tip and you can see where the round is flying to at night. For machine guns, every 3rd or 4th round in the linked ammo is a tracer round, so that you can control where you fire at, and the firing direction can be directed at night.

[speedster1219]

Originally posted by 11A-ABN
The red ones are the tracer rounds. Tracer rounds burn at the tip and you can see where the round is flying to at night. For machine guns, every 3rd or 4th round in the linked ammo is a tracer round, so that you can control where you fire at, and the firing direction can be directed at night.

yeah and who ever your shooting can see where your shooting from!:-p

[11A-ABN]

US armed forces have these cool things called night vision goggles (NODs, currently PVS-14's), and it's easy to pickup enemy fire positions with these. And for a unit as large as a platoon to a company, there has to be control measures for fires, and the use of tracer rounds is one of them.

[11A-ABN]

Originally posted by a43-Dan
i am not sure what i'm gunna do right now,i do know that i'm going to do college though. actually i just did one semester of college. right now i'm thinking go in as enlisted for 4 years then go to college, or go into the reserves while going to college. then maybe go back in as an officer, or try to get into the police force so i can make my way to the swat team.
i dunno, so confused right now.

I suggest this, if you haven't signed up yet. Go take your offical ASVAB first. You don't have to take that thing during your stay at the MEPS for your physical and MOS counseling. As C-Jam said, it's best not only for the military, but for your future career, to have your diploma and other education.

Don't believe a damn thing recruiters tell you (i was a victim of an army recruiter at one point in my life). When you get to MEPS, take the physical exam, and then you'll be sitting down with a career counselor to choose your MOS. THEY will tell you which MOS you can or cannot get into with your ASVAB score of 58(or whatever you score on the official test). From there you can see what kind of jobs you may be interested in.

If you're into hooah shooting/blow stuff up/etc hardcore stuff. you can go infantry(11B) or combat engineer(12B). There's also Field Artillery (13B) and Tank crew. I do want to warn you, however, that you may be thinking that stuff is cool, and you're still pretty young, but there is more to being an infantryman (or a combat arms soldier) than what looks cool on TV. I'm not in anyway saying that you're influenced by Hollywood's cool portrayal of war and combat; I'm just trying to explain that there is a lot more to it than the glory from actions on the objective, just in case you were not aware.

As an infantryman especially, the final actions on the objective(the cool part) doesn't take that long, while prepping and movement for the mission takes the majority of the time. It can and will get very miserable: hungry, tired, wet, cold, etc just miserable. And not everyone is cool under such conditions. I personally have met and worked with people that couldn't deal with being cold and wet and very miserable. Imagine being cold, clothes/equipment wet down to your underwear, it's raining, you haven't ate in a while and you're hungry, you slept no more than 2 hours in the last 3 days, have 100+ pounds of gear on you, been tactically marching 10+ miles, etc etc. Things can get pretty miserable with just cold weather and rain, but there's even more to it.

After having said that, if you plan on doing 2-4 years and then go to college, and you like hardcore stuff, I would recommend going Infantry. You will learn a lot in different aspects. Nothing really technical, but in terms of responsibility, perseverence under harsh conditions, patience, composure, toughness, etc. If you want to learn some technical skills, you may want to go armor(tanks) where you'll learn to operate an M1 Abrams tank, as well as other MOS's like signal etc technician jobs. As an infantryman, you can be assigned to a mechanized infantry unit where you'll work with Bradley Fighting Vehicles. If you plan on being a cop, you can enlist as Military police. There are many other jobs, you just need to go find out which ones you qualify for, and which ones you really want.

If you're in a combat arms (ground troop) for Army or Marines, you will never be able to go to college while you're active duty, because you just spend too much time in the field. All active guys I know, and have known, who are non-combat arms (ie. no grunts, tanks, artillery etc) pretty much never go out to the field, and always have their weekends and nights free (except of course CQ, guard duty, etc). As a combat arms soldier, you will not always have weekends and nights, and you will not have time to take college courses while active. I'm not talking smack about Navy, Air Force, and non-combat arms (combat support and service support units), but personnel in these category don't go out to the field as much, and have more time to do other things.

Finally, I want to tell you that, no matter which branch and what MOS you take, there will be bull**** here and there. That's just the way it is. It is up to you to make out the best of it, and get the best outcome from a valuable experience that many don't even think about doing, and some just don't have the balls. You will get out of it what you put into it. And it's all in your head. If you think positive, things will be good and you'll learn a lot, & come out a better person. But if you think negative, you'll be *****ing, complaining, whining, and not get the most out of it. I hope that whatever decision you make, you stick to it and get the best out of it.

Let me know if you have Qs about joining the Army. I can help you out, as well as Gallahad (Yujinha).

[YuJinha]

Originally posted by 11A-ABN

If you're into hooah shooting/blow stuff up/etc hardcore stuff. you can go infantry(11B) or combat engineer(12B). There's also Field Artillery (13B) and Tank crew. I do want to warn you, however, that you may be thinking that stuff is cool, and you're still pretty young, but there is more to being an infantryman (or a combat arms soldier) than what looks cool on TV. I'm not in anyway saying that you're influenced by Hollywood's cool portrayal of war and combat; I'm just trying to explain that there is a lot more to it than the glory from actions on the objective, just in case you were not aware.

As an infantryman especially, the final actions on the objective(the cool part) doesn't take that long, while prepping and movement for the mission takes the majority of the time. It can and will get very miserable: hungry, tired, wet, cold, etc just miserable. And not everyone is cool under such conditions. I personally have met and worked with people that couldn't deal with being cold and wet and very miserable. Imagine being cold, clothes/equipment wet down to your underwear, it's raining, you haven't ate in a while and you're hungry, you slept no more than 2 hours in the last 3 days, have 100+ pounds of gear on you, been tactically marching 10+ miles, etc etc. Things can get pretty miserable with just cold weather and rain, but there's even more to it.



Amen to that. BTW, there is also 11C, Infantryman Indirect Fire (Mortarmen). They do everything 11 Bravo's do in addition to mortar stuff. Anyways, if you choose infantry, which isn't a job suited for everyone as noted by the 2nd part of the LT's quote, school will seem like a joke after getting back from OSUT (Infantryman's version of Basic training).

Oh, and don't just think that by joing the reserve you'll be able to skate along with your school and finish it in 4 years. With George Dubya in power, everyone is getting deployed these days. And the reserve units aren't strictly limited to Kosovo and Bosnia now either. They're off to Iraq/Afghanistan just like the active duty people.

Whatever you choose, if you have questions on the recruiting process or anything for that matter, I'm all ears. I'm fairly fresh meat when it comes to time in service so I've remembered pretty much everything about MEPs process and recruiters and what not. I can also tell you what it's like to be a "cherry" in a new unit too although 1/160th isn't **** compared to the stories that I hear from some of my buddies from OSUT and from when my team leader was a PVT.

[speedster1219]

If ya ever wanna join the navy we have cool and exciting jobs too...but you'll probaly never get to get an education and you'll travel alot...:D

[11A-ABN]

It's my understanding that Navy Sailors are out at sea 6months out of a year - 2 years. C-Jam can answer that. So if you were to join the Navy, I'm sure you can take a semester of school at least per year, of course except if you get deployed for war.

[11A-ABN]

Originally posted by speedster1219
How bout Navy, not the crappy navy but the fun stuff...


THE FUN NAVY (http://www.sealchallenge.navy.mil) <--- click me

just a thought!


Hey make sure you let him know that your "fun navy" is this( http://www.sealchallenge.navy.mil/swcc/default.asp ), not this ( http://www.sealchallenge.navy.mil/seal/default.asp ) . ;) He might get confused and join the wrong one.^_^

[11A-ABN]

Hey Dan,

I wanted to also let you know that if you're a hardcore, extremely fit (physical & mental) civilian, Army has a program in which they recruit some high-speed civilians into Special Forces (green berets). I can explain to you in more detail if you're interested, and you feel you can do it. PM me about any Qs. :rifle:

[YuJinha]

Originally posted by 11A-ABN
Hey Dan,

I wanted to also let you know that if you're a hardcore, extremely fit (physical & mental) civilian, Army has a program in which they recruit some high-speed civilians into Special Forces (green berets). I can explain to you in more detail if you're interested, and you feel you can do it. PM me about any Qs. :rifle:

IF we're thinking of the same thing, I thought they just stopped that program. From my understanding when I was in basic, the 18x guys there were in my company were the 2nd to last group to roll through, the last group being in a different company a week behind us. But who knows, they may still be doing that program.

Either way, if 18 series isn't for you, they're in heavy need of Rangers right now and you can easily get a contract (if your recruiter doesn't give you one for RIP) to go to RIP during basic. It also means if you didn't get an Airborne slot, you're automatically given one of those too. Regardless, the military has a way of easing standards rather than rethinking them when they aren't making their quotas so Ranger school isn't as hard as it used to be.

[speedster1219]

Originally posted by 11A-ABN
Hey make sure you let him know that your "fun navy" is this( http://www.sealchallenge.navy.mil/swcc/default.asp ), not this ( http://www.sealchallenge.navy.mil/seal/default.asp ) . ;) He might get confused and join the wrong one.^_^

They're both fun Jae:)

[11A-ABN]

Originally posted by YuJinha
IF we're thinking of the same thing, I thought they just stopped that program. From my understanding when I was in basic, the 18x guys there were in my company were the 2nd to last group to roll through, the last group being in a different company a week behind us. But who knows, they may still be doing that program.

Either way, if 18 series isn't for you, they're in heavy need of Rangers right now and you can easily get a contract (if your recruiter doesn't give you one for RIP) to go to RIP during basic. It also means if you didn't get an Airborne slot, you're automatically given one of those too. Regardless, the military has a way of easing standards rather than rethinking them when they aren't making their quotas so Ranger school isn't as hard as it used to be.

I do want to mention that several years ago, two NCO's going through ranger school died in Florida Phase from hypothermia during winter, and a Lieutenant died during land navigation test during benning phase. That's why some control measures have been inputted to prevent loss of ranger school students, which in turn made ranger school a little "easier" than it used to be. For example, they shut down the swamps(during winter Florida phase) now at times if it gets under certain temperature for safety purposes, lightening the combat load from like 130pounds to 110 pounds (not exact #'s) during hot weathers (around HEAT CAT 5), etc. Such measures did make ranger school 'easier' than it used to be, but it is still an extremely difficult course that produces over 50% attrition rate, and loss of a soldier's life during training is something definitely unncessary and must be prevented.

I'm saying this only because I'll be going to ranger school this coming winter after IOBC :-p , trying to make it sound very difficult ;) . But really, I have several friends who went through ranger school and fought in Op Iraqi Freedom(iraq) and Op Enduring Freedom (afghanistan), have 2 friends going through it right now at the moment, and know a buncha other people that have gone through it in the past. And no matter what time of the year you go, how tough you are, it's still a difficult course, based on what they tell me. I'll let you know how it is after I get done with it. :rifle: I did hear that if you go through ranger school during winter, you have an unofficial traditional privilege to sew on your ranger tab with white thread (on class A's), to signify that you went during winter, the worst time to go.

[11A-ABN]

Originally posted by speedster1219
They're both fun Jae:)

Of course. I met some Navy SWCC guys and Air Force CCT/PJ guys in airborne school. All of them came out from Army's Combat Dive school in Florida, and were going to HALO school after airborne. They told me the highspeed stuff they get to do. You lucky dogs. Let me know when you go BUD/s, I'm buying dinner. When I go SFAS, you buy me dinner. ^_^

[speedster1219]

i know the feeling Jae, I class up for BUDS in the winter...ooohhh I cant wait for the 50degree water...:(

[11A-ABN]

Where all the other mil guys at? Let's see some pictures, please share, I really would like to see. Where them OIF pics at RedR6?

[YuJinha]

Originally posted by 11A-ABN
I'm saying this only because I'll be going to ranger school this coming winter after IOBC :-p , trying to make it sound very difficult ;) . But really, I have several friends who went through ranger school and fought in Op Iraqi Freedom(iraq) and Op Enduring Freedom (afghanistan), have 2 friends going through it right now at the moment, and know a buncha other people that have gone through it in the past. And no matter what time of the year you go, how tough you are, it's still a difficult course, based on what they tell me. I'll let you know how it is after I get done with it. :rifle: I did hear that if you go through ranger school during winter, you have an unofficial traditional privilege to sew on your ranger tab with white thread (on class A's), to signify that you went during winter, the worst time to go.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for Rangers andthe rigorous training that they go through. It's still by no means a cakewalk. I'm just poining out that the military has a weird way of meeting quotas. Just look at Airborne school. You can't possibly say that was difficult, especially compared to what they had to do back in the day to pass the school.

Anyways, good luck at Ranger school. Do you have to go to RIP (or rather something similar to RIP) before Ranger school seeing as you'll be coming fresh from a training enviorment to freshen up on Land Nav and what not? I think enlisted guys not coming from OSUt go through a similar course to RIP (maybe it's not mandatory) to get them up to speed but I was just wondering if you had to go through any of that.

[CjrJAM]

Geez all these lifers around here :rolleyes::puke:

[speedster1219]

Originally posted by CjrJAM
Geez all these lifers around here :rolleyes:
yeah huh "mr first class gonna make chief and drink coffee all day"..:-p

[YuJinha]

Originally posted by CjrJAM
Geez all these lifers around here :rolleyes:

Actually, I'm actually a Nasty Girl :whistle: until I graduate from College. Although I suppose you can have a reserve lifer, but I don't think that's what you had in mind. But for the time being, I just tell people I'm either Army or Infantry, depending on the time of day.

[11A-ABN]

Originally posted by YuJinha
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for Rangers andthe rigorous training that they go through. It's still by no means a cakewalk. I'm just poining out that the military has a weird way of meeting quotas. Just look at Airborne school. You can't possibly say that was difficult, especially compared to what they had to do back in the day to pass the school.

Anyways, good luck at Ranger school. Do you have to go to RIP (or rather something similar to RIP) before Ranger school seeing as you'll be coming fresh from a training enviorment to freshen up on Land Nav and what not? I think enlisted guys not coming from OSUt go through a similar course to RIP (maybe it's not mandatory) to get them up to speed but I was just wondering if you had to go through any of that.

I understand. As for jump school, when airborne units were formed back in 1942, WW2 was going on, and the jump school was designed for hard-charging airborne infantry volunteers to be used specifically for D-Day (Op Overlord). Hence, jump school had to be tough to weed out posers and weaklings, so that the badass guys can do it right inside enemy territory after they jump in on D-Day. Now, however, jump school is still designed to train soldiers headed to airborne units, but also serves as an incentive for people to join the army, as well as a reward, ie. for honor grads, even if they are not headed to airborne units. Hence, physically, i agree that airborne school is now one of the easiest schools, but mentally, you do need to pay attention if you don't want to break some bones when you land. Also, airborne shool and other special skills schools (like air assault, scuba, and ranger, etc) don't go on a quota system, meaning they are never trying to get soldiers to come to their school, but the soldiers are requesting & begging to get a slot for the schools (b/c it's not easy for the slots to come by). But I must agree with you, Airborne School is a very lame school, that extended a week worth of training out to 3 weeks, making it a drag. Hopefully it saved a lot of lives and a lot of bones though.

**A very funny historical fact: US and allied troops didn't even inform the French authorities(who already had surrendered by then) that they were going to conduct a huge military operation in which they will land on shores of Normandy and airdrop soldiers inland. The French found out only after the operation took place. :clap: (no offense to people with french background on the forum)

I won't have to go to a RIP type prep course, since IOBC (infantry officer basic course) pretty much prepares the infantry LTs for ranger school during those 4 months, with the land nav skills, ruck marching (up to 16 miles i think with full battle rattle), physical fitness (apft, pullups, 5mile runs, patrols), combat water survival, operations order, and other 11 bang bang stuff, etc. (in addition to teaching LTs to be effective combat platoon leaders).

[a43-Dan]

thanks for the replies. i'm still trying to figure out what to do.
can any of you tell me what i have to do to get into the scout/sniper program with the marines?i really want this job, but i think you have to go in as normal rifleman,then wait for an opening in the scout/sniper school,but i'm not sure if that's how it works.
the army ranger or special ops sounds interesting too. i've also been thinking of flying f-18s for the marines.i found out that the marines will Guarantee flight. only thing is they don't guarantee what you'll fly,they take the best guys out of the flight school for the f-18s.

[11A-ABN]

Originally posted by a43-Dan
thanks for the replies. i'm still trying to figure out what to do.
can any of you tell me what i have to do to get into the scout/sniper program with the marines?i really want this job, but i think you have to go in as normal rifleman,then wait for an opening in the scout/sniper school,but i'm not sure if that's how it works.
the army ranger or special ops sounds interesting too. i've also been thinking of flying f-18s for the marines.i found out that the marines will Guarantee flight. only thing is they don't guarantee what you'll fly,they take the best guys out of the flight school for the f-18s.

For Army, you just need to qualify individual marksmanship as an expert shooter (36 and above out of 40), and you are eligible for sniper school. But your chances of getting a slot with the school would be better if you're 39 or 40, instead of just 36. Sniper school is only for enlisted personnel, officers are not eligible. In an infantry unit, one doesn't have to be a sniper trained to be a sharpshooter. Each platoon has a sharpshooter sniper team, with modified M16 or M24 sniper rifles. I'm not sure how the marines have it set up, but I'm sure it's about the same.

As for flying, whether it's USMC or USAF, you have to be an officer to be a pilot. And even then, I hear it's very difficult to get a job as a pilot, as only a handful of officer candidates get picked for it. Competition is very high, which is the same with army helicopter pilot jobs. Being an officer means you MUST have a college degree or above. I'm not sure if the guarantee you got (from a recruiter?) is a sure thing. If it was guaranteed, everyone would be trying to be a pilot, but that's not the case. Think about it, and when have a general idea, let me know.

[YuJinha]

Originally posted by 11A-ABN
For Army, you just need to qualify individual marksmanship as an expert shooter (36 and above out of 40), and you are eligible for sniper school. But your chances of getting a slot with the school would be better if you're 39 or 40, instead of just 36. Sniper school is only for enlisted personnel, officers are not eligible. In an infantry unit, one doesn't have to be a sniper trained to be a sharpshooter. Each platoon has a sharpshooter sniper team, with modified M16 or M24 sniper rifles. I'm not sure how the marines have it set up, but I'm sure it's about the same.

As for flying, whether it's USMC or USAF, you have to be an officer to be a pilot. And even then, I hear it's very difficult to get a job as a pilot, as only a handful of officer candidates get picked for it. Competition is very high, which is the same with army helicopter pilot jobs. Being an officer means you MUST have a college degree or above. I'm not sure if the guarantee you got (from a recruiter?) is a sure thing. If it was guaranteed, everyone would be trying to be a pilot, but that's not the case. Think about it, and when have a general idea, let me know.

In response to being an Army sniper. The school itself is no joke. Don't just assume that b/c you can hit some pop-up targets that you'll automatically pass the school. You've got to have mad skills at range estimation and incredible self-discipline (all that stalking stuff). And I hear the last test for being an Army sniper makes some people go crazy b/c of sleep deprivation (just stories though). Oh, and as with all Infantry related schools (exception Airborne and maybe a few others), you do a fair portion of humping with your ruck.

Anyways, if you wanted to be a pilot, although hard to be a pilot regardless as the LT mentioned, I think it's easier to be a pilot in the USMC. The USAF has some incredibly smart people, NASA like material so I'd imagine competition would be a little more difficult. Regardless, aren't they trying to eliminate the pilot out of Airplanes and stuff? Who knows, by the time you finish all your training, you may not even be "flying" F-18's anymore. But that's just my .02.