Introduction - Mike

[Vyce]

Rangers,

Hello, my name is Mike. I am 21 years old, and I am set to graduate from the University of Scranton with a B.S in Psychology in May.

Firstly I would like to thank each and every one of the Rangers here for taking the time to help aspiring soldiers achieve their goals, as well as their immense service to our country. You give us so much and to even attempt to fathom the extent of your sacrifices would be very disrespectful on my part. Thank You.

I have always felt driven to serve my country to the best of my ability since I was a child. However, higher education was/is extremely important to me and I had decided to go to college to mature, train, and mentally prepare for life’s challenges that await me. I am currently in the process of pursuing an 11x Option 40 and have started to talk with my recruiter.

To have the opportunity to become a Ranger and serve my country to such a great extent is something that I have dreamt about for as long as I can remember. I am determined to achieve this honor and will not relent until I reach my goal. Period.

In regards to PT and my physical fitness altogether, I have been wrestling since I was 5 years old and will never stop striving to improve my fitness level.

My 2/2/2 PT scores are:
- 2 Mile = 12:54 (5 mile on gently rolling terrain clocked at 36:01)
- PU = 94
- SU = 92
I run 3-5 miles 4-5 times a week and weight train 6 days a week. I am also going to begin implementing the 12-week RASP prep program into my workouts, extensively, to accustom myself to military/functional PT. I acknowledge that my runs, and in a broader sense, cardio, can be improved.

I look forward to learning much more from these boards, the wisdom Rangers share here, and to soak in as much as I possibly can so that I may make calculated and informed decisions on how to achieve my aspirations.

Thank You, Rangers.

[Jim]

Mike a man has only one opportunity to create a favorable initial impression. So far you are doing well. Anyone who can pull a 3.5 at a good Jesuit school like Scranton is all right with me ( My MA is from Georgetown). If you truly want to earn a place in the 75th Ranger Regiment, you came to the right site. Read the FAQs , as well as selected threads and stickies. The search feature is located on the top right of this page. The search feature is your friend. Most of the questions that you may have have been addressed before. Never, never quit!

[Vyce]

Ranger Jim,

Thank you for the warm reception and the quick response. I have to say that I hadn't truly understood what it meant to learn in the Jesuit tradition until the beginning of my senior year, when I began to look back on how I have changed. I had never truly directed attention to the underlying "Cura Personalis" as well as the "Magis" and simply went on with my life and academics. However, looking back on my experience here, I can truly say that I have learned so much more than psychological theory and research statistics - to the extent of which I do not think I will ever be aware of.

I'm excited for what lies ahead.

P.S - Shaved 9 seconds off my 2-miler today!

[Jim]

You should do well. The joy of an introspective life. The Dali Lama observed that a man should live a good life, that way he can enjoy it as he lives it, and a second time when he reflects back on what he has accomplished. Never, never quit!

[Vyce]

Rangers,

Today was a bummer. I went to talk with my recruiter today an he told me that there are some option 40s up today, but that they were probably going to be gone within the next day or so. If I was MEPs certified, I could have signed and have been on my way! If only I started sooner. This makes no difference to me, I am certainly motivated. Going to MEPs next week to get my numbers on the book!

[Vyce]

Rangers,

RE: Update/MEPS visit

So, my MEPS experience has concluded. Yesterday, I took the ASVAB and scored an AFQT score of 99. My GT score was a 141 and my CO(if that makes much of a difference) was a 146, I believe. I am extremely excited about these results and my recruiter is too. While there were no current option 40's available today for anyone, my recruiter has made it very clear that he is going to fight tooth and nail to find me a slot before I graduate, and that the call may come sooner rather than later. He had told me he had put the MEPS station commander into the Army and has pulled some strings before. I cannot wait for his phone call!

-Mike

P.S.-I was administered the APFT and scored a 300 as well since my last post, so that is another component that can be accounted for as well.

[Jim]

Rangers,

RE: Update/MEPS visit

So, my MEPS experience has concluded. Yesterday, I took the ASVAB and scored an AFQT score of 99. My GT score was a 141 and my CO(if that makes much of a difference) was a 146, I believe. I am extremely excited about these results and my recruiter is too. While there were no current option 40's available today for anyone, my recruiter has made it very clear that he is going to fight tooth and nail to find me a slot before I graduate, and that the call may come sooner rather than later. He had told me he had put the MEPS station commander into the Army and has pulled some strings before. I cannot wait for his phone call!

-Mike

P.S.-I was administered the APFT and scored a 300 as well since my last post, so that is another component that can be accounted for as well.

That's quite a start point. Layola, if you recall, was a unit commander in his early days.

[Vyce]

Ranger Jim,

I do recall him devoting a portion of his life to military life, yes. I looked into his history a bit further and found that as he was recovering from a serious injury sustained in battle, he found an entirely new level of spirituality and was brought to a heightened sense of self reflection. Very interesting indeed.

-Mike

[Jim]

"That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity with the Church herself, if she shall have defined anything to be black which appears to our eyes to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black. For we must undoubtingly believe, that the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of the Orthodox Church His Spouse, by which Spirit we are governed and directed to Salvation, is the same."
Sometime I'll tell you why I am the only man you know who has an F in grad school.

[CharlieRanger1FFV]

Welcome to the site, Mike.


RLTW!!!

[Vyce]

I look forward to that Ranger Jim! And thank you very much Ranger CharlieRanger1FFV!

[Vyce]

Rangers,

I feel as if my recruiters are giving me the runaround....the active, hardcore, runaround. I have been talking with them consistently, and every time we get to talking they bring up 18x. They keep saying that how, after talking to me, and having some of the highest ASVAB scores they have ever seen since they were classed 79R's, that I would really do well in SFAS. Yes, while I have all the confidence in the world that I can put my head down and tackle the objectives one by one, it is not what I want to pursue at this time. They keep telling me with a 300+ PT score and how solid of a head I have on my shoulders/dedication I show, "statistically I should have like a 5% chance of even remotely failing. " (not by any means trying to flaunt my stuff, just trying to best put it into context.)

18x is not what I want to do right now. Do I think that one day down the line I might want to try out for SF? Sure, its a very real possibility. But I keep hearing of these 11x's and 13f's with The Big Option and no call. When I call, it's branched into a discussion about how well I would do in SF and all this jazz, about how the promotions are faster and how they get the coolest stuff etc. While that may be true, I want to be a Ranger with all my heart and soul.

Also, the SFC/station commander told me that come May, tons of 11x opt. 40's come out and ONLY high school students are eligible for them, over college grads -- that we have to wait for the high school kids to drop them. Sounds a little shady to me.

Just looking for some advice as to how to best get my recruiters to help me. I am being polite, I am showing dedication to my goals, and they are actively calling me and expressing that they have intentions of finding one, but it seems that they are instead trying to push 18x onto me.

They are going to have to chop off my feet or club me over the head and throw me into the closet before I back down on this goal of mine.

I have a Ranger handbook on my desk, 1/3 of the way to being read cover to cover, before I have even signed a single thing. I'm hungry for the opportunity. And I won't stop until I get it. Ranger or bust.

-Mike

[Jim]

Check your PM.

[Vyce]

Check your PM.

Ranger Jim,

I believe there may be something wrong with my PM box. If you did not receive my PM, there there is something fishy going on with it.


Thanks

[Jim]

Check PM. For some reason, it did not send.