I was one of the few non-11B DEPs on this site back in the summer, but I figure I'd return with an update...and some interesting news.
I'm in week 3 of AIT here at Ft. Gordon. Basic at Ft. Benning was pretty tough while going through it, but looking back you realize it wasn't that hard. The first 3 weeks were, of course, the worst. At that point I thought all 9 weeks would be that way and started to question my ability to keep up physically. Once we got to BRM, though, the non-stop smokings became just...very frequent smokings.
Having battle "buddies" who didn't give a shit, or take anything seriously, or fuck up on purpose to get all of us smoked was the most frustrating thing. Why join the Army if, a) you're not going to give everything your 100% best effort, and b) not try to get the most out of every training session? It seemed over half my platoon were kids who thought Basic was some silly summer camp. I actually got yelled at for taking things too seriously and not "loosening up." I tried to stay as squared away as possible and stay away from the fuck-ups.
Our BT company was the first to do alot of things: we were issued rubber duckies on day 2 and M16A2s in week 2. We went nowhere, besides church and the latrine, without our M16s. Everywhere we went that M16 had to be on our body. At night we hung our weapons on our bunks. While you shined your boots, did laundry, ate at the d-fac, you had to have your weapon. Instead of marching to chow, we moved tactically with weapons at the low ready. We learned about IEDs, vehicle hardening, and practiced convoy operations. D&C was almost completely dropped. Unfortunately, we only got a day of MOUT training. It was fun as hell, but practicing the correct position kicked my ass!
I am thinking, once again, about the opportunity to join the elite and become a Ranger. I was told that if soldiers from my MOS want a RIP slot after Airborne its guaranteed...this is still to be confirmed. Before my goal was get an assigment with the 112th Signal Bn, a Special Ops support unit at Ft. Bragg.
I'll be here for the next 6 months (then back to Benning for Airborne) so there's nothing but time to get in better shape and memorize the Creed, history, etc. before going to RIP if I decide to go that way. In the mean time I'll just keep my head down and continue to pick up on the nuggets of knowledge dropped by the Rangers here.
SITREP from AIT
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Bell
This SITREP is truly appreciated. We get a kick out of watching you guys mature in the short time it takes to go through training.
If you're in shape and want to be the best soldier in the United States Army then take that RIP slot and go all the way. You'd be a fool to turn it down. The best troops, the best training, the best of everything. If ya just want a job then ignore it. You're going the right direction.
RLTW
Bell
If you're in shape and want to be the best soldier in the United States Army then take that RIP slot and go all the way. You'd be a fool to turn it down. The best troops, the best training, the best of everything. If ya just want a job then ignore it. You're going the right direction.
RLTW
Bell
