Long story short...I had an academic scholarship to Law school with my deposit down and everything. I said f### it and went against my whole family. Im going to do what I have always wanted to do.
Scout...good luck with your wife
Interrupting Your Life Plan to Serve
Moderator: Site Admin
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The Holmchicken
- Ranger
- Posts: 3943
- Joined: July 29th, 2003, 3:17 pm
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The Holmchicken
- Ranger
- Posts: 3943
- Joined: July 29th, 2003, 3:17 pm
The rest of you DEPshits need to take an example from Scout78. You think uprooting your life at the wisened age of 19, 20 is tough, just look at Scout78's post, realize what a bunch of crybaby worms you are, than shut the fuck up. I felt humbled by reading his post. Especially you Rock and Roll Santa. And Lawyer Boy. Strider, we all have something to sacrifice, some not as much as Scout78, others will sacrifice more than they could ever imagine.
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BeerForMe
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Ranger2
As most of you don't realize you really have nothing tying you down, so it is the perfect time to join.
I was a college grad when I enlisted. I had no idea what I wanted to do and my dad finally said "Get the hell out of my house" I looked around saw nothing I wanted to do and decided to do what I always wanted to do.
Join the Rangers. My family thought I was doing it to piss my dad off and that I wasn't serious because I would just be wasting my degree.
Fvch That!
I learned more in the 4 years I served than in any college or job. Besides serving with the best men in the world, traveling all acrossed the world, shooting and blowng up stuff. Every Ranger I meet is a brother to me, no matter if I served at the same time or not.
When we were in Cuba waiting to invade Haiti and we were 20 minutes from the invasion before it was called off. I looked at my squad leader who had 3 kids at home and thought. Holy shit he has a lot to lose if he gets hit. I was married but no kids and I knew my wife would get along without me but his family was a different story. Their are men serving in Iraq and Afgan right now who are giving up way more than any of you. In fact just think about the millions that a certain Ranger right now gave up to serve his country.
You aren't giving up anymore than any of us did and probably a lot less than many men serving right now. As far as the guy with the wife in chemo, drive on. Your pain will not be as bad as hers.
The best man doesn't always win, but if you never give up you will get far. That is what kept me going many times as a Ranger and when I was trying to become one. While becoming a Ranger is hard, staying one is far harder.
Ranger2
I was a college grad when I enlisted. I had no idea what I wanted to do and my dad finally said "Get the hell out of my house" I looked around saw nothing I wanted to do and decided to do what I always wanted to do.
Join the Rangers. My family thought I was doing it to piss my dad off and that I wasn't serious because I would just be wasting my degree.
Fvch That!
I learned more in the 4 years I served than in any college or job. Besides serving with the best men in the world, traveling all acrossed the world, shooting and blowng up stuff. Every Ranger I meet is a brother to me, no matter if I served at the same time or not.
When we were in Cuba waiting to invade Haiti and we were 20 minutes from the invasion before it was called off. I looked at my squad leader who had 3 kids at home and thought. Holy shit he has a lot to lose if he gets hit. I was married but no kids and I knew my wife would get along without me but his family was a different story. Their are men serving in Iraq and Afgan right now who are giving up way more than any of you. In fact just think about the millions that a certain Ranger right now gave up to serve his country.
You aren't giving up anymore than any of us did and probably a lot less than many men serving right now. As far as the guy with the wife in chemo, drive on. Your pain will not be as bad as hers.
The best man doesn't always win, but if you never give up you will get far. That is what kept me going many times as a Ranger and when I was trying to become one. While becoming a Ranger is hard, staying one is far harder.
Ranger2
The comment made about most of the DEPs being high school kids who aren't really giving anything up struck a chord with me. While it's very true, it is these young men who need to think long and hard about their goal to become a ranger. I've also been struck by how many of you do not mention JROTC or other high school-associated links to the military. While I respect someone who just walks down to a recruiter one day and elects to join one of our fine services, no one gets anywhere overnight. I hope that a number of our kids who are cadet officers--doing the full four years--in JROTC are thinking about becoming rangers. And I hope for that matter that today's JROTC is still what it was when I was in AFJROTC in the 1980s.
This post may be straying from the original mark, but I have recently been involved in research concerning how the services (Army, Navy, AF) can retain more non-line officers, 'cause we're losing dentists, lawyers, and other professionals in bucket-loads. You might laugh about this, but it takes a hell of a lot of time and money to train these people, taxpayers pay for it, and once they're useful to us, their time's already up and they leave for civil sector. Which brings me back to the topic at hand: I would be interested in knowing how many rangers or those who plan to become a ranger have considered what they may do to serve their country beyond their active duty years. I would love to see more rangers who complete college, get an advanced or professional degree, go OCS or direct and fill those hard-to-retain slots. If you're going to learn leadership in the military and then end up in a demanding professional field, why waste your efforts in the civil sector when we need the same services in the military?
Just a thought.
This post may be straying from the original mark, but I have recently been involved in research concerning how the services (Army, Navy, AF) can retain more non-line officers, 'cause we're losing dentists, lawyers, and other professionals in bucket-loads. You might laugh about this, but it takes a hell of a lot of time and money to train these people, taxpayers pay for it, and once they're useful to us, their time's already up and they leave for civil sector. Which brings me back to the topic at hand: I would be interested in knowing how many rangers or those who plan to become a ranger have considered what they may do to serve their country beyond their active duty years. I would love to see more rangers who complete college, get an advanced or professional degree, go OCS or direct and fill those hard-to-retain slots. If you're going to learn leadership in the military and then end up in a demanding professional field, why waste your efforts in the civil sector when we need the same services in the military?
Just a thought.
"If I settle for less than my best effort, then I must live with less than my best self."
--Brigadier General Malham M. Wakin
--Brigadier General Malham M. Wakin
To answer you question, yes I do have goals for my future. My college degree is all but finished. I only have a handful of classes left until I graduate.
BUT, my goals at this moment are to get through BASIC FIRST then AIRBORNE and then RIP PERIOD. These are tasks that to ME are harder than any college class I have ever taken. Myself and my family must learn to adapt to new (military)ways and then produce on levels different from most civilians. I agree with you that a degree is a important part of life. I also believe that serving your country in anyway is invaluable asset not only to the individual , but to OUR country as well.
Thank you for the time.
(Ranger2, read and understand. Hooah.)
BUT, my goals at this moment are to get through BASIC FIRST then AIRBORNE and then RIP PERIOD. These are tasks that to ME are harder than any college class I have ever taken. Myself and my family must learn to adapt to new (military)ways and then produce on levels different from most civilians. I agree with you that a degree is a important part of life. I also believe that serving your country in anyway is invaluable asset not only to the individual , but to OUR country as well.
Thank you for the time.
(Ranger2, read and understand. Hooah.)
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Ranger2
In my platoon we had 5 or 6 guys who had college degrees. Two of us had played college football. One Ranger went to USC and another to University of Georgia. Did that mean they were better Rangers, no but it meant that they were older and more mature. Which does help.
When I was in my last year in Batt I was 26 and I had to do extra PT to keep up with my Squad Leader who was a stud. There were 18 year old Rangers who should have been able to run me into the ground but they couldn't because I wouldn't let it happen. I also knew they would quit before I would. So while they may have been younger, I beat them with my mind. Once you have run 10 miles or humped 25 miles you basically feel you can do anything. The young guys don't know that yet. Their minds would quit before their bodies.
As I said in my previous post, the strongest, fastest, smartest doesn't always win or graduate from RIP or Ranger school. It is the guy who refuses to give up that does.
Ranger2
When I was in my last year in Batt I was 26 and I had to do extra PT to keep up with my Squad Leader who was a stud. There were 18 year old Rangers who should have been able to run me into the ground but they couldn't because I wouldn't let it happen. I also knew they would quit before I would. So while they may have been younger, I beat them with my mind. Once you have run 10 miles or humped 25 miles you basically feel you can do anything. The young guys don't know that yet. Their minds would quit before their bodies.
As I said in my previous post, the strongest, fastest, smartest doesn't always win or graduate from RIP or Ranger school. It is the guy who refuses to give up that does.
Ranger2
Ranger2 and Scout78, thank you both for your replies.
My point, however, wasn't so much the merits of a college degree, but my personal desire to see more people who start off in the military (often prior to college or to finishing a degree) stay with the military. This has been a matter close to my heart because a lot of the work I do centers around how we keep the military fit for fighting and I always find that we lack non-line people (mainly docs, dentists, nurses) who are adept in their professional fields AND who understand what officership is all about. Some of the people whom I've talked with consider the military "just like any other job", detest wearing a uniform, and can't wait to leave. I don't want these people, but frankly, we're lucky to have them. Instead, I want to see people who start off military perhaps leave for college and come back with BOTH their degrees and everything we've given them as military men firmly intact.
Retention of quality people is one of the biggest problems facing an all-volunteer Army today.
Mike
My point, however, wasn't so much the merits of a college degree, but my personal desire to see more people who start off in the military (often prior to college or to finishing a degree) stay with the military. This has been a matter close to my heart because a lot of the work I do centers around how we keep the military fit for fighting and I always find that we lack non-line people (mainly docs, dentists, nurses) who are adept in their professional fields AND who understand what officership is all about. Some of the people whom I've talked with consider the military "just like any other job", detest wearing a uniform, and can't wait to leave. I don't want these people, but frankly, we're lucky to have them. Instead, I want to see people who start off military perhaps leave for college and come back with BOTH their degrees and everything we've given them as military men firmly intact.
Retention of quality people is one of the biggest problems facing an all-volunteer Army today.
Mike
"If I settle for less than my best effort, then I must live with less than my best self."
--Brigadier General Malham M. Wakin
--Brigadier General Malham M. Wakin
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Saltbitch
Personally, I have always hated the afformentioned 'soft-skill' officers for basically the reasons you listed above. The entire officer/enlisted divide needs to be reexamined. It's based on an archaic, outdated, system started back before our forfathers.
A butter-bar LT with realitively little time in service makes more than a Squad Ldr who's actually BTDT. Yet the LT is in charge? It's like giving a private command of the platoon, just because he went to college; and paying him disproportionately more for his ignorance.
In my opinion, fuck the ROTC program and the idiots it sends out as 'leaders' of men. I've put more than one 1LT in his place when the shit hit the fan, because when it comes down to it your 'book' training isn't gonna save you like extensive OJT training will.
A butter-bar LT with realitively little time in service makes more than a Squad Ldr who's actually BTDT. Yet the LT is in charge? It's like giving a private command of the platoon, just because he went to college; and paying him disproportionately more for his ignorance.
In my opinion, fuck the ROTC program and the idiots it sends out as 'leaders' of men. I've put more than one 1LT in his place when the shit hit the fan, because when it comes down to it your 'book' training isn't gonna save you like extensive OJT training will.
Last edited by Saltbitch on November 12th, 2003, 1:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
