Intro- Matthew

[MattPJA]

Hi all, my name is Matthew and like alot of people that come to this board, I wish to achieve the Ranger tab someday.
What separates me from everybody else trying to do the same thing? Probably not much, but that means spit. I was a nerd most of my life, out of shape most of my life, I was home-schooled and never got to participate in High School level sports.

I couldn't do a single pullup last year, I can do 14 on a good day now. (pt scores below)
Pullups: 14 (only 12 with palms facing away)
Pushups in 2m: 55
Situps in 2m: 59
2mi Run: 14:41

I've learned alot about training and nutrition, currently I'm undergoing a training plan from stewsmith.com.

I have always wanted to serve in the military to some degree, a quote from Ronald Regan sums up my thoughts "Most people spend their whole lives wondering if they've made a difference, the Marines don't have that problem".

More than that, something changed in my life about a year ago. Funny or not, my drivers ed teacher was a Navy Seal in Vietnam. He changed the way I looked at things, and over the past year I've slowly been turning my eye to infantry or special ops.

I'm training everyday, I graduated High School and currently studying for CLEP tests/ASVAB and plan on taking college courses in the winter. I have braces on and they will be off in a little less than 2 years(I'm 18 now, will be 20 August 2012).

This means that I have from now until I decide to go to the recruiter next year to push myself and ace the PFT, and ace the ASVAB. My plan is to enter on DEP with my braces, so hopefully by the time they're off I'll get shipped out quickly.

Before I end my introduction I'd like to thank you for your service and for creating this website. -Matthew

[Earthpig]

Welcome to the site, Matthew, and thanks for your interest in our community.

RLTW
EP

[al_2ndWolfhounds]

Welcome and thank you for your interest in serving our great Country.

[goon175]

A tip... If you have a home school H.S. Diploma, you will probably need 15 college credits to enlist.

[Ranger Ron]

Welcome to ArmyRanger.com and thanks for your interest in serving our great country. Please read and heed the ROE document I sent you by PM (Private Message).

[Ranger Bill]

Welcome. It seems you have a decent plan. Now it's up to you to make it work.

[MattPJA]

Hello again; I'm looking for some advice from a Soldier's point of view.

It's been a year since my last introduction, and I'll make this update curt as to not waste your time.

I turn 20 in August 2012, and my braces are scheduled to be off sometime in 2012.
I did very well at a blue-collar job, but left to go to school full-time.

I have been running on the cross country team (division III), and improved my running times accordingly:

2 mile: 11:51
3 mile: 19:20
5 mile: 32:19 in snow, hills, and mud.

I've kept myself in line-- but I did receive a speeding ticket (mistake on my part, and it won't happen again).

Goal:
Military: To serve as a combat medic in the Rangers.
Post/Pre Military: To be a flight paramedic.

Question:
I'm going to school full-time, and I'm taking an EMT-Basic course in January.
I have the option of entering my school's paramedic program in Fall 2013, and in the meantime I am taking gen-eds/EMT courses/getting a part-time job as an EMT.

Which would you advise:
Joining the military a year from now (after the fall semester) and going in with an EMT-B cert/better PT.

Or joining the military 3-4 years from now, and have experience as a paramedic/be a PT stud.



Thank you for your time, and your service, -Matthew

[goon175]

RFR certification, which you get in RASP, is the equivelant of somewhere between EMT-B and EMT-I (not quite an EMT-I, but you do IV sticks, nasal pharangeals, etc. that you don't do in EMT-B). If you are going in as a medic, you will doing SOCM which is at or above the EMT-P level. So, honestly you will have to do this training in the military regardless, whats the point of doing it as a civilian too? And instead of paying for it, you will be payed to do it in the army. Just my thoughts.

[CharlieRanger1FFV]

Welcome to the site, Matt.


RLTW!!!

[goon175]

And actually, just remembered that as a Medic you get EMT-B certified in AIT anyways. And from what I found online, you leave SOCM as a nationally registered USSOCOM EMT-P.