Introduction- Dominik

[stryker]

Hello Rangers,

My name is Dominik. I am 17 years old, 5'9, 145 lbs, and live in Fort Lewis, WA. I am an AJROTC cadet. I have been lingering on this site for awhile and fortunately have had all my questions answered already so I don't have much to ask at the moment.
I have been accepted to Virginia Tech so next fall I will hopefully be going there on an ROTC scholarship(havent got the scholarship yet). I have wanted to be a Ranger for a few years now but unfortunately due to my family, going to college first has to be my number 1 goal, and the only way I can pay for it is through ROTC scholarship. I do realize that my chances of getting into the 75th as an officer are as slim as possible, but I will do whatever it takes to get there and acheive my goals. If I fail at this journey I will be the best leader I can be for whatever unit I am in.
The reason I want to be a Ranger is because you all are the finest soldiers on this planet and you are the guys that I want to be surrounded by in combat and in my daily life. To serve with the best you must be the best. Every time I see a Ranger walking around all I can think of is this is a man who has been through hell and survived it. A man I want to be like when I grow up. I run around the airfield and see the 2nd Ranger Bn HQ everyday just to try to catch a glimpse of what my life would be like(Sorry if this sounds strange), hoping that some day I wil live in those barracks.
Anyways on to PT. I have been gradually increasing my scores since the summer but am nowhere near where I need to be when I get to college. I did cross country this year and got my run time nearly to 12 min but slipped up and it is got a helluva lot worse. But here are my most recent APFT scores:

Push-ups: 52
Sit-ups:64
2 MI run: 13:35

I realize they suck right now so I will be going to the gym and starting on Ranger Silverback's push-up improvement plan starting tomorow. So on that note, I would like to thank all you Veterans for your service to this country and all of the Rangers for this great site full of information and allowing me to take part in it. Have a happy New Years everyone!

Rangers Lead The Way!

[stryker]

Ranger ZoneIV,

Thanks for the welcome, and I will strive to do my best no matter how hard the situation.

Rangers Lead The Way!

[IrishYanksFan]

hey Dominik,

I'm in a situation similar to yours. I'm an AROTC cadet who aspires to be an officer in the Ranger Regiment. Not being a Ranger, I'm not really qualified to answer any questions about the Regiment, but if you have any questions about ROTC or the scholarship process, etc., feel free to ask me, as I was there less than a year ago.

I also see that you want to go to VPI. My best friend from high school is a Marine Option in the Corps of Cadets down there. If you want honest, no-bullshit answers to any questions you have about the Corps, PM me with your contact info and I'll see if I can put him in contact with you. If you want to take me up on this, please do so within a week, before we have to return to school and resume our busy schedules.

Did you apply to any other schools? What do your GPA and SAT look like?

- John

[IrishYanksFan]

]Now 30 years ago, a party at Tech was not a real party unless there was some REAL moonshine there. Not too sure if that is the case now. :D

At Radford I believe it still is

[KW Driver]

]Now 30 years ago, a party at Tech was not a real party unless there was some REAL moonshine there. Not too sure if that is the case now. :D

At Radford I believe it still is

considering you've read the rules, how should this have been addressed?

[Jim]

]Now 30 years ago, a party at Tech was not a real party unless there was some REAL moonshine there. Not too sure if that is the case now. :D

At Radford I believe it still is

John, you need to pay more attention to detail. Please go back and review the protocols we use around here.

[stryker]

Rangers,

It's been a good while since I've posted this intro but my most recent update is that I am being commissioned into Armor which I am very proud of, and I also owe much credit to this forum which I've read to motivate me throughout the years. While I realize that my hopes of serving in the 75th at this point are very slim, I look forward to the opportunity of being able to earn myself a slot in Ranger school which has also been a dream since I was young.

Lead the way.

[Jim]

Good SITREP. How about filling us in on more details?

[stryker]

Ranger Jim,
I'm around a 3.2 GPA and usually get 300's or so on the pt test. I don't really have much information on anything else as far as BOLC or stations because we won't find out until next year.

Ranger Zone IV,
Thank you, and I will be graduating in May 2014.

[stryker]

Ranger Zone IV,
I think you're right in that most armor officers aren't getting sent to purely tank units anymore. From my research and the few guys that commissioned armor that I've talked to it seems like in this BCT model they like to intermingle armor and infantry officers. I believe that before you get a higher command they want to see you be in a heavy tank unit as well as either a cavalry or lighter infantry to make sure you are well rounded. I have also heard that the cavalry is getting larger and that the army is sending more junior officers to reconnaissance units like RSTA and BFSBs. As far as I am concerned I would be excited to get to any of these jobs.

[Jim]

Ranger Zone IV,
I think you're right in that most armor officers aren't getting sent to purely tank units anymore. From my research and the few guys that commissioned armor that I've talked to it seems like in this BCT model they like to intermingle armor and infantry officers. I believe that before you get a higher command they want to see you be in a heavy tank unit as well as either a cavalry or lighter infantry to make sure you are well rounded. I have also heard that the cavalry is getting larger and that the army is sending more junior officers to reconnaissance units like RSTA and BFSBs. As far as I am concerned I would be excited to get to any of these jobs.

rangertough wrote:
Listen to your PSG...but make your own decisions.

Get to know your men like they were family...but don't coddle them. Learn their names fast, schedule a one-on-one with each man as you can. You may find skillsets you never knew you had access to and leadership potentials as well.

Admit when you're wrong in front of your people. Being wrong isn't a weakness it's part of your learning process. Your men will respect you and trust you more if you show humility and a willingness to improve and learn. Doing this will also allow your subordinate leaders to feel they can make mistakes and learn from them as well.

Write your Squad Leaders NCOER's with your PSG's input, don't let anyone tell you the SL's work for the PSG. The SL's report to you in the fight not the PSG. Write your PSG's NCOER with advice from your CO (and hopefully the 1SG will throw in his two-bits as well).

There's no such thing as "NCO Buisness" it's PLATOON Buisness and you must be aware of what's going on. Let your NCO's handle it at the lowest levels, but be aware of it.

Good luck and welcome to the hardest and most rewarding job you'll ever have.

Tough

Hopefully, your initial assignment will be as a Platoon Leader. This Quote is from one of the other Rangers on the site, and it is the best advice I've seen in a long time. Please think about it.