Intro - Jeff

[prohitter]

Howdy Rangers!

First off Thank all of yall for your hard work and sacrifice. I hope I can begin to apply myself as all of yall have proven by becoming Rangers.

My name is Jeff and I am at a cross road in my life. I am about to graduate from Texas A&M University with a Pre-Med degree. However with some curve balls thrown at me and a few happenings beyond my control I will be delayed Medical School for at least a year. Since I found this out, I have seriously been considering joining the military. With a lot of research and searching my own heart I have decided to become an officer in the United States Army. However, I would not feel successful if I didn't strive to be the best I could be. By that, I mean joining special ops. Not that wanting to be an officer immediately was my only reasoning, but the end result is I decided Rangers over SF.

1) My first question... Is it worth it ? Joining the military for 4 - 8 years of the best training in the World in exchange for giving up seeing your best friends, family, and your home everyday?

2) If I decided absolutely this is something I want to do... can I get OCS and Ranger School / Ranger Selection in my contract ?

3) I am ready and willing to lead the soldiers under my command and follow the direction of my superior officers, and train rigorously. And it's not that I am scared by any means, but I am curious as to how dangerous Rangers is compared to regular infantry and SF ?

4) And lastly. I'm sure there is much more to the Rangers than the military.com and Wikipedia articles that primarily describe seizing airfields and making way for Delta Force. What are some examples of missions I would take on as a 2nd lieutenant Ranger?

Thank You all for your prior, current and future service to our country.

Jeff.

[Earthpig]

Welcome to the site, Aggie.

I'll touch on your first question. Only you hold that answer. It is either worth it to you, or it is not. I feel comfortable saying that every person on this site with the title "Ranger" by his name would say it was worth it to him. Even the guys with one leg, broken backs, PTSD, or any other aftermath. We have all lost buddies? Was it worth it? Yes....to us, it was all worth it. There might've been things we didn't like, things that turned out horribly, but in the end, we were doing something we believed in. It is who we are. The Ranger Brotherhood is a small, close knit society, and it is everlasting.

I don't know you, and I don't know your values, so there is no way for any of us to really answer that question for you.

RLTW
EP

[Ranger Bill]

Welcome. Your interest in serving our country and in Army Rangers is appreciated. If you enlist, you will not be able to get OCS and RASP in your contract. It will one or the other. RASP will gaurantee you the opportunity to serve in the Ranger Regment. OCS will get you a commision, but your branch (Infantry, Engineer, Artillery, Signal, Finance, etc.) will be based on the needs of the Army. If you are fortunate enough to get Infantry, you will get a shot at attending Ranger School and earn a Ranger Tab, but the odds are you will never serve in the Ranger Regiment as an officer. If you do become an officer, you can apply for SF after you are promoted to Captain. You may be willing to lead soldiers but you are certainly not ready to do so. Be sure to read and heed the ROE PM I have sent you.

[3dBatt]

As Ranger Bill stated, if you are enlisted and good enough, it's not hard "politics" wise to get to the Ranger Battalions. As an officer though, you could have the want to and be good enough and just not be lucky enough to land a slot as a Battalion PL. It seems like it's not a lifelong dream of yours to become an Army Ranger. Since you seem to be doing alot of work to go into medicine, and you want to see a little action along the way, take a look at Air Force Para Rescue. I have no idea what their officer programs are like, but I would put their medical training right up there and they get alot of money for assets so you'll be riding in choppers alot. You'd get to work with many different SOF units, although if you are looking to be a direct action guy, if things go right, that isn't their role. If you really want to be a Ranger, screw the rank, enlist and see what you've got!

[prohitter]

Thanks.

Zone IV:

I'm not saying this qualifies me to be a leader in the infantry. But I was the starting quarterback for my football team as a Junior and Senior. I had guys much older than me whom I led to nearly a state title. Also I was captain of my baseball team. Like I said, I'm not trying to brag or anything by any means, but you asked and I think someone who led 18 year olds as a 16 year old to nearly a state title at a 5a school has shown some ability to gain others respect.

[Kilted Heathen]

Thanks.

Zone IV:

I'm not saying this qualifies me to be a leader in the infantry. But I was the starting quarterback for my football team as a Junior and Senior. I had guys much older than me whom I led to nearly a state title. Also I was captain of my baseball team. Like I said, I'm not trying to brag or anything by any means, but you asked and I think someone who led 18 year olds as a 16 year old to nearly a state title at a 5a school has shown some ability to gain others respect.

This is the most idiotic response I've read in a long fucking time.

And it's "Ranger" ZoneIV to you.

Jesus Christ...he "nearly" led 18 year olds. Fuck.

[Ranger Bill]

Jeff, to help you truly understand what Ranger Kilted Heathen means, I'll attempt to embellish his words a bit. FIrst off, his job in the military is to train men to become Rangers. He has seen all types of school athletes and team captains, fraternity presidents, and even NCOs and officers who did not make the cut.

All the men here with the title of Ranger have seen it too. Granted, those are good experiences and they speak well for you, but trust me on this: You know nothing about lack of sleep, hunger, thirst, physcial exhaustion, being cold or hot, and pain, all at the same time and over extended periods of time and having to drive on under stressful situaitons. And that's just training. On a two-way range where killing and and not getting killed while accomplishing an objecrtive is the goal, it's not a game of football or baseball. And regarding your high school teams, your coaches and assistant coaches had much more to do with your team's success than you ever did.

The point is that you do not know what you don't know.

One of the purposes of this site is to help aspiring young men become Rangers by preparing them and most of that is mentally and having the right attitude for success. The mentors on this site are quite successful at this. Part of your preparation for success in achieving your goals is to learn to not get defensive and make excuses. You will teach nothing to nobody here, but you can learn a lot. Whether you remain here and learn or run off is your choice.

[Jim]

Jeff, you have no idea how fortunate you are to come here. This site takes pride in the number of fine young men who come here for the express purpose of preparing themselves for service in the 75th Ranger Regiment. If you truly want to earn a place in the 75th Ranger Regiment, you came to the right site. Please take the time to read selected threads, FAQs, and stickies. In doing so, most of your questions will be answered. I know you are proud of graduating from A&M, but you will find that a good number of your peers in the Ranger Regiment also have degrees from equally good schools. As a matter of fact, the young men I have seen serving in the Regiment are some of the best and brightest. You will consider yourself fortunate to associate with them. If you intend to go to Medical School, consider enlisting to be a Ranger Medic. It will give you a big leg up on most of your peers. Never, never quit!!!

[prohitter]

Ranger Bill,

Thank You very much for clarifying all that to me. And being patient with me and all the other newbs on here.

And Ranger Zone IV and Ranger Kilted Heathen,
I'm sorry for posting a response that disappointed yall. I promise I wasn't trying to mock you. But, I was asked why I thought I could lead, so I gave an example from my past I thought proved I have shown some leadership before. Once again, I am sorry. And thank you for keeping me in line.

And to everyone,
I have been doing a lot of reading and research and it appears the only guaranteed combat I can see as an officer is in 11x infantry or in the Marines. I obviously don't know from experience, but I have heard and read a lot of bad stories of the 11x infantry, that I hesitate to go into for. If any of you have served in the infantry please fill me in. And for both the Marines and 11x I couldn't really receive any training for a future career choice or Medicine. So basically, for me, it's Special Ops or Bust! And if I enlist, I feel like I'll have waisted 4 years of one of the hardest degrees at a top University. Anything I have put my mind to in the past I have succeeded in. I know any special ops especially as an officer is damn near impossible. But if the Rangers is the rout I decide to try out, I will give it my all, and keep you fine gentleman posted. If yall have any suggestions from those thoughts please fill me in.

Thank You all for your service and volunteering to guide us newbies through this potentially amazing journey.

[3dBatt]

Look at it this way. What do you want out of the next 4 years of your life? Do you want to retire from the Military as an officer? Or do you want to serve your country and be among the best for awhile, going on missions that are tip of the sword critical? I had the college credit to enter the Army as a PFC. As so commonly happend at least back then, is that you went in as an E-1 private and the Army would "settle up with you" later on. Well after OSUT and 6 weeks of Airborne School and RIP, I'm standing in 3rd Battallion as an E-1 with 33 credit hours. After a bit, I "broached" the subject with my Team Leader about getting my rank/back pay. Bad idea. My Team Leader kindly explained to me that being a PFC in the Ranger Battalion was a position I wasn't fit to hold yet. So I earned my stripes in Battallion, then my leadership signed off on everything and I got a backpay check from day one. About 5 dollars.

Said all that to say this. If you wanted to be a Dr. right now, you'd be doing it. There is something in you that probably wants a challenge. You don't want to sit in a rocker and say, yep, Graduated from college and became a doctor. Is your degree going to evaporate in 4 years? No, so it's not being wasted. It isn't going to matter if you have your degree in a SOF unit as an enlisted person I can guarentee you. It's a different world. So if you want SOF and you don't want to worry about getting stuck in indian country with a bunch of shitbags, then you need to do some more research of units and how likely it is you can get into SOF as an officer relatively quickly. More than likely there isn't a SOF unit that will take a college boy, send him through some tough training, and say, ok you are now in charge of this E-7 special ops stud bolt with more kills than Genghis Khan. You know? So you've got a decision to make. If you want to be a SOF officer, it can be done, but you are going to have to spend alot of time, in years to prove yourself, leading shitbags first. Then you get the selections, then you get the position, if you are good enough.

Now if you want a direct action unit, you are limiting yourself even further. I wasn't in combat, but I know plenty of guys who were, and you may not want to be so anxious for what you wish for. I admit, I missed my opportunity to prove myself in the ultimate test, and I wonder sometimes if my bullet takes out the guy who smokes a buddy, but it wasn't meant to be. Regardless if you want action soon with an elite unit, get your mind right, fitness level right and piss on being an officer right now. If you want to stay in and be an officer, you will have SOF experience and connections, and your degree. So you get your officer selection in and your path back to a SOF unit will be much quicker and you will have a much clearer picture of where to go and whats available to you.