Introduction: Brett

[portland]

Hi, my name is Brett, I am 22 years old, and I am a college student majoring in political science in Maine. I have yet to enlist or even talk to a recruiter, but I have done a bit of research. I had never considered the military as an option due to a relatively easy upbringing and pressure from family ideals to pursue college. When my brother enlisted into the Navy when I was 17, it was then that I started to see the military as an option. Since then, I have seen this as an opportunity to put myself to the challenge and serve my country. I took the advice of my friends and family to wait a few years and mature a bit before considering this - I can now say that I know that this is an all or nothing path for me.

I initially wished to transfer to Georgetown and take part in the Hoya ROTC program, taking advantage of the time to learn another language such as Pashto or Arabic. I do have some interest in military intelligence, primarily 35M, but my ultimate desire is to push myself to new limits. If anyone has more information on the intelligence options that you have as a Ranger, if any exist, I would love to read more about it. But, I am focused on going the infantry 11X route with option 40 in my contract to guarantee a position with Airbourne and RASP. Becoming a Ranger has become the only goal worth earning at this point, even if that means sacrificing the interest I have in MI.

I want to thank all of the Rangers who have spent their time making this an invaluable public resource. I have spent some time lurking looking for information, but I decided it was time to make a post and introduce myself. As someone who does not come from a military family and never was surrounded by military life, this type of information has been essential.

Also, I apologize for not having a 'newt' avatar, but I do not see it as an option in the avatar gallery drop-down. Pic: http://i55.tinypic.com/10gxtms.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Other than that, thank you all for the opportunity to introduce myself. If anyone from the New England area reads this and is equally motivated, I am looking for someone to chat and run some New England marathons with.

[CharlieRanger1FFV]

Welcome to the site, portland.


RLTW!!!

[Jim]

Well, Brett, a man has only one opportunity to make a favorable initial impression. So far so good. I apprecieate your interest in becoming the product of a jesuit education (I have my MA from Georgetown, so I may have preconcieved notions). Having spent several years as an NCO, I feel comfortable supporting your decision. If you want to earn your place in the 75th Ranger Regiment, you came to the right place. We take considerable pride in the fine young men who work their way through armyranger.com. For your initial task, please self-administer a PT test and post your results in this thread not later than midnight, Sunday, 4 September 2011. Never, never quit!

[Steadfast]

Welcome portland. I hope you didn't use your name Brett Portland. If you did, PM me.

About you not using a avatar.
excerpt of portland

Also, I apologize for not having a 'newt' avatar, but I do not see it as an option in the avatar gallery drop-down. Pic:

We haven't had a newts category in prolly 5 years & do not intend to update our FAQ's. We DO expect new users to use their initiative rather than hear excuses with links to pics & bla bla bla . . .

[portland]

We DO expect new users to use their initiative rather than hear excuses with links to pics & bla bla bla . . .

Understood, Ranger Steadfast. I was too focused on making a good impression that I failed to see what was right in front of me. I will do better.

For your initial task, please self-administer a PT test and post your results in this thread not later than midnight, Sunday, 4 September 2011.

Ranger Jim, I self administered three PT tests and here are my weakest results.

Pushups: 28 (fatigued in 1:05 minutes)
Situps: 36 (2 minutes, bad pacing)
2 Miles: 14:52 minutes

I am not happy with these results, but I knew going into this it is going to be a lot of hard work. I am committed and know I can get to where I need to be. I am going to be following the Push Up Improvement and APFT Improvement threads posted by Ranger Silverback. I have made a point to do sets of 10-15 pushups/situps throughout the day, I hope this will help me learn better form and pace.