SITREP - G.I.434

[G.I.434]

Rangers,
It has been a long time since my last post, the Army has kept me very busy!

Basic Training was nothing that I expected it to be, but definitely a roller coaster ride from that start. My experience was different than what I understand most to have. We had many reservist Drill Sergeants during our cycle, one was from another Battery and the other on only her second cycle. Needless to say, in training they had kinks to work through, since they had never worked together before. This was compounded by a long period of heavy rains and flooding at Ft. Sill. For a couple weeks most of the post was under a few feet of water. We missed out on quite a bit; forced into classroom lectures more often, or received condensed versions of the more hands on stuff. This gave a lot more time for training in discipline and building our pt with corrective action though! Between 20 and 30 people quit and a handful didn't make the pt standards. My push ups and sit ups improved a lot but my run time dropped. We only did 4 group runs all of basic due to weather; very disappointing. My final pt score was a 229 in basic. I was very fortunate to perform well during basic. I achieved expert marksmen (and grenades) and was Platoon Guide for over a month during red and blue phases (finally fired so others could have a chance to learn. My Drill Sergeant told me I did a "great job," one of my most proud moments in basic). Being able to perform well under stress was a great asset in this environment. Many people around you will be freezing up when given really simple tasks after stress is added to the equation and being able to see through that stress will take you very far in basic. When the Drill Sergeants start to recognize you as competent and as a leader, they will start to show you another side of instruction that others aren't "ready" to see. You will get more direction on leadership, or more "high speed" applications of different tasks and drills. They will teach you on your level so to speak, give you guidance going forward in your military career. If you are fortunate enough to have a Drill Sergeant who has served in a Special Operations capacity, you can learn a lot of extra stuff. In that same way you may also have to do a lot of extra push ups, just because they want to make you better! When they asked who had a Ranger contract in the first week, I raised my hand. I wanted the path of more resistance (and they really put it on me the first couple of weeks for that, a lot of extra pt and mind game sort of things. All make you stronger). I was always first for volunteering. I sprinted to volunteer for anything. At any given time my goal was to have no one outwork, carry more, or be dirtier than I was. It really paid off. I was awarded Honor Grad (if my pt score was higher I was told I would have been the Distinguished Honor Grad. DO MORE PT!), had the chance to do all the extra cool stuff (hundreds of extra rounds out of my weapon and the machine guns. Nothing like a 50 round burst out the 240B!), and met with our leadership all the way up to the Brigade CSM (priceless conversations as a PFC!). My family had no idea I was gonna be Honor Grad and seeing how proud they and my girlfriend were of me made all of the work, headaches, and missing home worth it. Very worth it. Be first, work the hardest, always volunteer, and be louder and dirtier than the people around you. Those are the keys to basic training, I guarantee you will be successful.

AIT for 68W, just as surprising as basic was. They keep you very busy here so far. Very little down time (even on the weekends), compared to the other mos's around the post. Expect to have an essay or two in the first or second week. The Platoon Sergeants pass them out like hotcakes during this period for anything at all. Sleep is rare, even now in the fifth week. All this is necessary to help you be successful during the EMT course (Some very fast paced learning). There is so much to pick up and learn here. My instructors are great, the Platoon Sergeants all have combat experience and most with an Airborne unit. So far I am doing well, my GPA is at a 91.5%, which puts at ninth in the company of about 300. I am also class leader and received positive Form 1's for being a good team player and helping my classmates. I am aiming higher, and that number will grow. Anything above 90% with no failing on any exam or practical will be awarded Honor Grad, and I will have that title here as well! There is a track around our "barracks" (more like a hotel) and a great gym very close to home as well. I am taking full advantage of both, doing extra cardio work 3-4 nights a week, and a long run or ruck on Saturday's. Our instructors encourage pt during class to keep everyone awake and attentive so 3-4 days a week I do some combination of "every-hour-on-the-hour", or sets of max effort push ups/core work. People generally are more than happy to help people better themselves. I have made friends with a few guys who do really well at pt and they are helping me with form and performance a lot. There are many option 40's here (only a few know of this forum), and about 13 more contracts came available for RASP. Arc is here with my company waiting for Airborne as well. I decided to take the "team player" route and told everyone I could about this forum. My thought is if I make the group better, the better it will make me. Discipline dropped here though. Lack of Drill Sergeants make for a lack of discipline it seems. Many people talk in formation and are just generally "sloppy". So much fraternization. It is all very aggravating. I just keep to my lane and make corrections when the opportunity presents itself. I honestly cant wait for more people to slack and get recycled or get whats coming for holding hands in formation (much worse happens out of formation). Terrible to say, but cancer is better out than in.

I am pushing hard as I can, I just hope that my efforts can turn a 16:00 (I hate this number with all of my being) two mile into a 40:00 5 mile in a little more than 10 weeks.

On family day for basic at the last minute my family said they were unable board their flight, worst feeling I had all basic. Thought I was gonna spend the day alone while everyone else celebrated. My girlfriend couldn't make it due to work. When we fell in for Honor Grad presentation on the drill pad, right in front of me on the bleachers, sat my girlfriend! She flew out and surprised me. Standing at attention with her right in front of me and our Command addressing everyone was the hardest thing I had to do all basic! My Army career has been a great experience so far, proud as hell to wear that over my heart everyday. Thanks to all here for helping me be where I am at so far. Very much appreciate the guidance Rangers! Good start to the long road ahead of me. Excited for all the knowledge and learning that is to come.

[G.I.434]

Rangers, do you think that the Company runs/sprints 2-3 times a week, combined with extra cardio (low impact type bike or elliptical work for 30-60 min) 3-4 times a week, and a long run or ruck (at least an hour) on Saturdays will be enough for me to achieve the goal of 5 miles in 40 min in 10 weeks? Pushing hard and trying to make the most of the time I have available.

[Jim]

Ensure that BAC goes smoothly. You should be prepared for both BAC and RASP. Please encourage any of the other students who are not already part of the armyranger.com family to log in. Never, never quit!

[G.I.434]

Roger Ranger Jim! A few of them look forward to joining, but others don't seem to fully appreciate what they have gotten theirselves into. Took my diagnostic pft and was happy to see an improvement across the board, still much work to do

Push ups: 66
Sit ups: 67
Two Mile Run: 15:20

Almost a minute off my run in about three weeks. I'm confident in taking off two more before I leave here. Striving with all my efforts to have a 300 in that time. Found out today I have had nuemonia, respritory infection, and allergies for the last few weeks so with those taken care of my time should improve even more.

Waking up at 0430 tomorrow for a seven mile ruck before first formation at 0630. Looking forward to an all day "finance brief." NREMT final this coming thursday, then the real fun begins!

[Jim]

Please keep us up to date on what you are doing. Never, never quit!

[G.I.434]

This week marked the end of EMT training and the beginning of Whiskey phase. "Hell Week" as they call it. Studying took away from my time in the gym a bit since we had testing for 5 or 6 days straight. I was fortunate enough to pass all of my final tests, practical evolutions, and the NREMT on my first go. Huge weight off of my shoulders to be on this side of the testing. There were many people who didn't take the time to go through the practical skills or study, and it was detrimental to all of them. We lost around 30 Soldier Medics and another 60 or so are on the bubble to be recycled or reclassed if not successful in their next attempt. The company is much smaller since we started. The Whiskey instructors all seem very squared away, top notch even. I feel very fortunate and look forward to their instruction. Walking around in breaks I passed other companies using some of the training areas we will get to use and I am pumped up for that opportunity! Very cool stuff. LPC is interesting so far, but not very exciting. Appreciate the application of injections, and soon IV's, but I can't wait for the field craft portions!

In the past week my name came up for blood donations. Perfect timing. Give blood and then in the next 4 or 5 days take all sorts of tests and the record pft. Unfortunately, my scores are an embarrassment to myself and dropped in pushups and the run. I would like to think this is from the cumulative stress of testing, lack of sleep, and lowered rbc count, not lack of effort. Even though the numbers don't support it I am pushing very hard, every day. Nonetheless, a loss is a loss, and this was definitely a loss.

Pushups- 60
Situps-67
Two Mile Run-15:40

I was able to pass every event, and accomplish the entry Airborne standard. Checking this box ensures that I will keep moving forward with my training. Monday, am I going to begin the 12 weeks to RASP program in the evenings, in addition to the pt I do throughout the day and in the morning. I am still confident to achieve the goals I have set for myself while here in AIT.

Anyone who attends 68w AIT, be aware that a blood donation usually happens right before "Hell Week." If you sign up to make a donation and your name is pulled for that day, you won't be able to back out. I don't want to discourage anyone from doing so, just letting you know what may be ahead of you. I would also suggest you practice and study no matter how squared away you feel that you are. In my cycle, there were Paramedics and EMT instructors who were given "no goes" because they were over confident. Any one single no go will take you out of the ranks for honors, regardless of gpa. No sympathy to anyone above training or practicing their fundamentals.

My battle buddy for injections is barely passing and prone to talk rather than pay attention. Need less to say, the injections he gave me were not much fun, especially the IM. He went very high on my shoulder, didn't squeeze my arm, started slow and then violently pushed in hard. It felt like he hit my joint and my whole arm went numb! When I said "Holy ****," my Sergeant looked at me and just said "oh yeah, that one hurt, he's in there real deep." Looking forward to IV's on Monday!! (Of course, my battle buddy is no longer going to be talking in class haha).

It is very hard to find people to work out with here. Rucking is near impossible, and even evenings at the gym are fought for. Luckily, I have yet to be left high and dry, but I fear the day will come. Even the other Ranger hopefuls won't participate. Very aggrivating. I was able to convince my roommate to tag along for a 10 mile ruck today though. It was great to finally be able to stretch the legs out a bit with decent distance. Now that my company is phase 5, we have a much greater area to take advantage of. I am looking to incorporate swims into my weekend pt in the very near future as well. Need to stretch and roll more though.

Overall, I wish I had more time to pt, really enjoy my company (mostly) and command, and have been very lucky with instructors. Very good place currently, love what I am here to do.

[gRavepc]

Good SITREP. You need to improve that run time drastically if you're gonna have any chance in RASP.

[G.I.434]

Roger Ranger gRavepc, I feel as though my run time is my largest obstacle and definitely my first priority. I am giving my heart and soul to cardio here, roughly 10-15 sessions a week, 3-6 of which are actual running, the rest low impact. I just pray this is enough to get the job done. I can not allow myself to fail for something as simple as a pt test, a test that I was given all the answers to.

I am a wide open book if any Ranger reading can see flaws in my planning, or things that may improve my system, and has a few moments to comment. Company/Platoon pt in the mornings, 12 week RASP prep in the evenings, pushups and planks during POI, and additional cardio and/or rucking saturday. Stretching and foam rolling in the mornings and evenings before bed. Copious amounts of water and veggies.

Tomorrow is LPC test and a 4 mile ruck in the evening. Finally, some of the hopefuls have asked to join. Going to do my best to break them in. Saturday is a 3 mile run to pool, swim, and run back. Great weekend to look forward to! Thank you Rangers!!

[Dreadnought]

Your 12 week plan is not bad. The foam rolling and all prehab will be essential and is overlooked by most people. Do not overdo the rucking, be careful of increasing more than 10% per week.

[G.I.434]

Roger Ranger Jim and Ranger Dreadnought. Pull ups are 2-3 times a week, usually done in a ladder from 1-6 for 2-3 sets followed by a couple sets with a lot of assistance to muscle failer. I've had little time until recent to work on them and have gotten weak, but I can still do the minimum 6. Ranger Dreadnought, roger on taking my time with rucking, I will pay close attention to my rate of increase and condition of my body. Thank you both for your direction!

Speaking of injury, it's worth noting the amount of injuries and profiles that are here at 68W AIT. These are soldiers who are also doing very little extra, if any at all, pt. Some of them, pt studs even. Hip fractures, stress fractures, extreme cases of shin splints and plantar fasciitis. Your body will take a decent pounding just from the minimum here. They are all going to be recycled since their profiles prevent participation in training. It is a definite reminder everyday for me to take a few minutes to stretch and roll.

Passed LPC with an 88, I did ok. I need to slow down during my exams, I make simple mistakes on the easy questions. I'm going to be hitting the pool every possible saturday to work on swimming and treading water. Once I get those basics down I plan to incorporate drown proofing to really build my water confidence. Right now I imagine that my swimming form is pretty close to that of a fish trying to walk on land. But what a leg workout! Really hit some places I don't ever remember being sore before.

Almost couldn't make my ruck on Friday. All of the hopefuls bailed on me, opted for the fatty cakes and civilian clothes. Luckily, I ran into a guy looking for a battle to make it to the PX a few miles away, I rucked, he walked, win/win for everybody. I can't help but be aggravated by the lack of respect the other hopefuls show for the challenges they are going to face. Generally, I think most of them feel they are just going to show up and be handed a scroll. On the opposite end there are a few who already plan to drop RASP after they pass Airborne. Even a couple who want to drop the Ranger option for SFAS, but even they still perform at most some bench pressing and arm workouts. Wastes of space. Stealing dreams from some great guys out there praying for an opportunity. Everyone reading who will be where I am now, be prepared for the aggravation, but do your best to just put it in your fire and drive you.

Going forward, I am going to use people going places to get my rucks in. It's much easier to find someone who will go the long way to the PX, than who will go for a ruck. Wish I would have thought of this earlier!!!

Starting casualty carries and drags tomorrow! The fun begins!

[Jim]

Good to see you are continuing to work hard on your PT. Continue your journey to earn a place in the Ranger Regiment. Never, never quit!

[G.I.434]

Rangers,
The last few weeks have been great. Yesterday marked the completion of class room training and testing. This Sunday we leave for the infamous FTX of whiskey training, for 2 weeks. Looking forward to applying my skills out there, as well as getting to soak up more knowledge from the instructors. The PNN tells of some very informative, high speed medics at the camp. I have made it through all skills testing, and the combat casualty assessments with great remarks, and completion times so far, so I am still on track to graduate with honors.
This week our leadership held boards for Soldier Medic of the cycle and leader of the cycle, which I was fortunate to participate in. Originally selected for Soldier Medic, three weeks ago I was made squad leader and moved to the leadership category. Going in, I was given great comments on my bio from several Platoon Sergeants, and new every answer to every question they could have asked me. Unfortunately, another very squared away Soldier new many of the answers as well, only he had a pt score of 316, trumping my one easily. I placed second for the leadership category. I'm proud to have participated and receive the commendation and experience, but I hope all the hopefuls are picking up on how much pt reflects on you as a soldier, and the opportunities you maybe provided. This is the second time in my short career I have placed first in the competition, but made second because the organization wants to represented by someone with a high pt score. Which makes sense. Do more pt.
Going further in pt, I was told I have to perform another pft and meet the Ranger standard of 70 in each event to move further in training. My previous runtime was a few points shy. Originally scheduled for this week, it has been pushed back till after the FTX due to our busy schedule getting ready to leave. I've been running a lot and last week finished in 14:35, which is almost a minute off in about 2 months, and a good ways below the 15:12 standard of 70 points. I will have to look for every way to sustain that time while at the FTX, I hear we don't get any free time and generally not allowed to do pt while in field. I hope my instructors will allow me to at least do sprints a few times in the evenings. I am not far from my goal of reaching the 13 minute range by completion of AIT, I could make it if allowed to train until my test. May even be able to max pushups and situps.
I changed my workout some splitting runs and legs, and calesthenics into separate days to allow for a better focus on the separate events. It has shown to be a good decision; getting a lot more accomplished this way. Met with a running coach to review my form and using hills for runs and sprints has played a big part in improving my run time.
Graduation is getting close and I can't wait for Airborne. The Platoon Sergeant in charge of the Airborne holder overs here is going to give us more intensive pt sessions and classes on Airborne skills before we leave which should put us a little ahead of the curve when we get there. Can't wait to learn this "Airborne Shuffle" I hear so much about! Next sitrep will be on completion of FTX, hope to report much running tool place while away.

[Grim666]

OK first good on you for making it thus far. The FTX is all about which instructor you wind up with. At least when I went through (not all that long ago but heard they made a number of changes) you had one main instructor the whole time. Do not get too bent around the axle with what they do there at AIT. Your world will totally change once / if you go to the schoolhouse. Also good on you for going to the board. I hope you learned 2 things from it. First how to act during a board, it is a good chance if nothing else for practice, second to PT your ass off. Your run time is getting there but needs some work. Again based on when I was there you can not do PT but that doesn't mean that you can't run to the showers and to the latrines and things like that. Take advantage of the few opportunities you do get there. Keep up the pushup and sit-up workouts no reason you can't do that there at all. The are talking about Airborne standard of 70% not Ranger standard as that would be 80%. So make sure that while you are in holdover you work on the run. Don't count on someone else to make a plan for you, just do it. Also I have seen a few people post this so I will comment what is drown proofing??? I have no idea. Just fucking learn to swim well and you will be fine. Don't play games with trying to drown proof yourself or any other such nonsense. Listen to what Dreadnought has said regarding rucking, don't go crazy on the weight that is how people hurt themselves quickly. Don't be in a hurry to ruck 100 miles with 100 lbs. And run and post a 5 mile time as well. See where you are at after the FTX.

[Jim]

Nice SITREP. Sounds like you are doing well enough. Ensure you continue to focus on PT, and drive on to victory. Never, never quit!

[G.I.434]

Rangers, once again I have a bit of catching up to do. I always get submerged into my training, I'll do my best to recollect my past few weeks. It's been going very well, with exception to this past one.

Camp Bullis was a great time overall. Not a lot to say about it. The first week orientation, the second is application. Ample time to put to use medic skills in pretty realistic situations. The environment can be rough, lots of gravel and rocks on sharp changes of elevation, while carrying casualties and litters. Lots of IV's and NPA's. Everything is always dusty, and you are generally at mercy of the weather. Nothing too hard at all. Stay focused, apply yourself and the time will fly by. You don't have much time with the Cadre here and the days are busy so try to take advantage of the few chances to ask questions. We had an individual put a blank in someone's rifle as a joke and our Cadre exploded on us for the blatant risk in safety. Lots of smokings, staying up very late in formations, freezing to try and unearth that person. Turns out, it was the same individual who would be awarded distinguished honor graduate. Funny how that works. After that incident our Cadre basically refused any interaction with us. Try not to let anything like that happen.

I was able to find time to run at the FTX regularly. Since I was generally squared away, my Platoon Sergeant was able to give me blocks of time where I could leave my weapon with someone in order to run, and the other Cadre just kind of "didn't notice." I was very fortunate to have a Platoon Sergeant who did everything he could when it came to his soldiers trying to better their selves. I hope everyone can find leadership like that. Because of him, my endurance runs are beginning to be where they need to be.

Of course, the pt test after FTX was no sweat. The Sergeants who administered it didn't keep count after passing, but I passed and got my green light to Airborne School! The hold period after AIT was a but of a let down too. People showed up late for training formations and the Sergeant who would have gave us training felt disrespected, and decided he would spend his time doing things he had to do, rather than help those who didn't take it serious. Unfortunate for the rest of us.

Graduation was exciting and it was great to have earned a spot as one of the Honor Graduates there as well. My uniform was awarded best in company, and earned the right to be seen inspected by CSM and given a coin of excellence, but CSM was too busy to come see our class! I think I find more pride in knowing my uniform set the standard than I do in the award for honors. Neatness of dress!

The 18 hour bus ride to Benning was more than worth it though. This place is amazing. I love it here. Infantry museum is amazing, the food is unbelievable, and so much history everywhere. To top it all off, majority of the people you meet here have a Scroll, tab, or are working to achieve those things, so they are a wealth of knowledge and encouragement. People here seem like they are trying to do great things, and they want the same for you. They want to answer your questions. That's what I wanted to find in the Army, and the closer I get to 3rd Battalion here, the more of it I find. I know I'm in the right place, and I'm going to find my spot to call home here. I will earn that.

To elaborate on the food for a second. Every meal is delicious. All you can eat berries, fruits, salad bar, sometimes all you can eat boiled eggs. Nutrition is easy here and protein is everywhere. The DFAC is nothing short of amazing.

Unfortunately, I messed up a bit last week. The cause is debatable, but in the end, while training on the swing landing trainer, I was made to take my harness off to go to the hospital. The doctor determined I had a concussion and gave me a 7 day light duty, recycling me back a class. It was frustrating. Especially because the doctor refused to elaborate on his decision or my situation at all, he flat out refused to come to the room. The next morning the TMC gave me a RTD but my Platoon Sergeant flat out said he didn't care, no risk would be taken when it came to head injuries. So now I find myself sitting at cq all day, and rotating the night shifts with the other holdovers since the students jump tomorrow and are released from cq for jumps. Its annoying, tedious, makes for long days, and they won't let you do pushups. But, thank god it wasn't serious, and I'll still get my wings and a trip to pre-RASP.

For those of you behind me, do everything to avoid being a hold over. Stay awake, pay attention, take it seriously, and always, always, tuck your chin! We had many dropped for failing the pft, and even a few quit on the 34ft tower. Remember why you are coming, be ready, and eyes to the horizon. No Black Hat is gonna let you get hurt. Trust and listen.