Sitrep

[kensongakusei]

Hi Rangers and future soldiers,

I'm on my 48 hour pass from OSUT. 11 weeks down and 5 more to go before turning blue.

Here's a quick perspective on Basic Training so far:

30th AG:
You will spend the first 10 days of your Army career at 30th AG. In a nutshell 30th AG is the most boring place I have ever been to. You will do virtually no PT (unless you do it on your own at night in the bay). A 30th you get issued all your gear for basic, you get your shots updated, and dental and vision tests. Here's what you can do at 30th. Use the time to practice marching instep and standing still at the position of attention (these skills helped me a lot in the beginning of basic). Also don't listen to the retards. There are a lot of immature kids here and at 30th the DS aren't really allowed to disciple you like at basic. Just suck it up, do your own PT, and practice marching and standing very still...there isn't much else to it at 30th.

PT:
The PT is really easy here. We have taken 4 APFT's so far. Right now I'm sitting at a 292/300 (82 pushups, 83 situps, and a 13:37 run). Almost everyone has improved their APFT score in the company. We take our final APFT next Saturday. I have no excuse to not get a 300. Each bay in my company has kettlebells and some bays have small barbells. The way to get better at PT (in my opinion) is to do your own PT at night. We got smoked a lot the first two weeks, but since then we are lucky if we get smoked 3x a week. Each company seems different when it comes to PT, but the general opinion, especially from the option 40 guys, is that the PT is wicked easy. We have done 2, 4, 6, 8, and a 13.5 mile ruck marchs so far. The load is between 40-55lbs. The pace is pretty slow on the rucks and you take breaks every hour. I wouldn't sweat these too hard, because they aren't bad (except the 13.5 mile which was rough).

Blisters:
A lot of guys, including myself, had bad blisters the first couple weeks of boot camp. You will wear your boots everyday, so it's normal to get blisters. Your DS will issue your platoon moleskin I would suggest using it, especially during the first couple weeks. The trick is to cut the center out so you let your blisters breathe and so you don't pull off the tender skin when you take them off. I took the soles out of my boots (you will get issued boots, but they are made by the cheapest bidder and aren't very comfortable) which helped with my blisters and has also helped toughen the s**t out of my feet over the past 11 weeks. Expect to get blisters if you aren't used to wearing boots. The good news: they go away over time and your feet will get tough.

Infantry knowledge:
A lot of basic seems like the DS's are just trying to get training events crossed off the list. We usually get a crash course on our training for the day, but there isn't a lot of teaching after. The DS have to get the whole company through each days training which doesn't leave a lot of time to teach. Understandable, but expect a lot of hurry up and wait. My advice is to buy a copy of the Ranger Handbook from the PX and bring it with you everywhere. I occupy my down time reading it (and if you have questions, the DS's are happy to answer them, but be specific!) The next 5 weeks though we start room clearing and urban operations. This should be a good block of training.

So far we have touched on land nav, basic rifle marksmenship, advanced rifle marksmanship, patrolling, patrol bases, walking and shooting with NODs (night optic devics), first aid/9 line medevac, radios, financial planning for you future, and we are now getting more into squad and fireteam movements.

When we actually learn things, it's intoxicating. When we stand around on the range, its up to you to educate yourself on your craft.

General recommendations:
1. Do your own PT. Straight forward
2. Buy the Ranger Handbook and read it daily
3. Don't listen to the retards. A lot of dudes here have maturity levels of a 5 year old. They are just a speedbump in your journey.
4. LEARN THE SOLDIERS CREED and INFANTRYMANS CREED. We yell both before each chow time. If you come in knowing them you will save a lot of time not having to learn them both in one night, like we had too.
5. If you have a 40 option, don't drop it! A lot of guys have dropped their 40 options so far, but it's their loss.

If you have any questions about OSUT, please post them here and I'll be happy to answer them in 5 weeks, when I turn blue and graduate.

[Jim]

Good SITREP! Did the five mentee thread help you? Never, never quit

[GoldCoast]

#3 is pure genius. Keep it up, and remember, we expect you to complet what you have begun...

[CharlieRanger1FFV]

Keep focused on YOUR goal.


RLTW!!!

[Steadfast]

Keep focused on YOUR goal.


RLTW!!!

X's 2

[kensongakusei]

Rangers, Thank You for your continued support. I just earned my Blue Cord today and officially graduate from OSUT tomorrow. A good feeling, but also only the first step.

Good SITREP! Did the five mentee thread help you? Never, never quit

Ranger Jim,

The 5 mentees thread was a big help. I felt like I had a leg up on most of the other trainees at OSUT. The homework assignments were all directly applicable to training I experienced over the last 14 weeks. I semi-knew how to make a poncho hooch from the previous assignments, which paid off in spades the night it poured on us while we were in the field. I also felt comfortable looking at a map for land nav, since I had seen it before in the assignments. I would recommend the thread to any DEPérs out there looking to be ahead of the game going into OSUT

#3 is pure genius. Keep it up, and remember, we expect you to complet what you have begun...

Ranger GoldCoast,

I'm still motivated and driving on toward my goal. I'm also very much looking forward to training with more motivated soldiers than most of the guys were at OSUT!

OSUT sitrep part two...
The last 5 weeks of OSUT was divided into 3 parts:
1) Urban Ops
2) FTX
3) Cleaning and Inventory

Urban Ops- This was by far the best block of training (in my opinion). We spent about two weeks learning the fundamentals of room clearing, breeching, and taking down buildings. You'll learn room clearing drills first in fire teams, then squads, then multiple squads, and finally platoon and multiple platoon sized elements. We mostly ran daytime ops, but we broke out our NODs for a couple familiarization run-throughs of room/building clearing. This training was intoxicating, and seems like the backbone for most of the work infantrymen are doing in combat right now. All my DS's had their CIB and were all super dialed into Urban op training, saying how much of this they actually did in Iraq and Afghanistan. You could tell from the tone of the training they took Urban ops extremely seriously. My advice is to try to get with a fire team of guys who are all willing to train. The guys I was with were all on board to get as many iterations as we could. Some of the fire teams would just stand in the shade when the DS weren't there. Don't be in that fire team. Work with the guys who want to work.

FTX- FTX for us lasted 6 days and 5 nights. We spent this whole time in the field running missions 14-18 hours a day. Here is where you'll put together everything you've learned. Your DS will be there, but they more or less let the platoons run their own missions. If you F up on a mission they just make you pay with mass casualty evac in the form of buddy carries. You'll plan the whole mission from the OPORD to the sand tables to the actual execution of the mission. I'm not going to lie, the learning curve is steep in FTX as you (and your platoon) is/are expected to run through every step in the planning and execution process of real world missions. Expect add-on missions and never get complacent. Even when we hunkered down for the night in a patrol base, we would sometimes take indirect "mortar" fire and have to evac to our rally point in the middle of the night, yes rucks and all. Overall though FTX was awesome. It really puts into perspective what to expect as an infantryman in the Army and just how broad the spectrum of combat really is. Learn as much as you can here. Expect to fail and expect to make mistakes, both individually, and as a group. Learn from those mistakes and fix them for the next mission (that's what the DS are really looking for)

Cleaning- After FTX you'll spend about two weeks cleaning your weapon, cleaning the bay, cleaning equipment, inventorying equipment, cleaning your weapon, cleaning equipment, and inventorying equipment. You'll have more time to do your own PT at night though. I would use this time to get familiar with cleaning the M240B and the SAW (if you're not already a gunner). Ask your gunner to help him clean. There isn't much else you do with your time in the last two weeks. I'd rather clean my M4, or any of the machine guns, than clean the latrine any day. Just know that at this point the end is near. Take time to heal any injuries you may have gotten and to let your body recover for the next phase of training.

Overal OSUT was a good experience. If you show up in decent shape you'll be fine. Expect to deal with a lot of little "kids" who have never been away from home, but take it in stride. Learn as much as you can from the your DS, but do expect a ton of FRAGOs...basically changes in your orders. They happen all the time so just roll with it and drive on.

If anyone has any questions about OSUT feel free to post them here and I'll answer them the best I can.

Charlie Rock!

[Jim]

Great SITREP! Now on to BAC then RASP. Never, never quit!

[kensongakusei]

Great SITREP! Now on to BAC then RASP. Never, never quit!

Roger that Ranger Jim. Looking forward to both BAC and RASP.

I just checked into BAC yesterday.

Inprocessing for BAC took about 6 hours. All we did was get issued linens and our kevlar, find a bunk/locker in the bay, and start CQ duty. We got briefs from the Colonel, Sergeant Major, and our senior Sergeant Airborne. The day was straight forward.

I start ground week on Monday. We kick it off at 0330 with an APFT. I'll post sitreps about BAC as I get through more of the training.

[kensongakusei]

Quick sitrep about Airborne School...

I just finished ground week of Airborne school. The instruction we receive here is top notch. The week starts off literally getting thrown right into the training. We've practiced a lot of PLF's (parachute landing falls), emergency procedures, and jumped off the 34 foot tower. We practice on both the T-10 and T-11 parachutes. Our senior Sergeant Airborne told us we will jump 1x with the T-10 and 4x with the T-11. I'm stoked either way...

The 34 foot tower is pretty cool. The intent is to simulate exiting the airplane and build confidence with heights. The first time up, before you jump off was nerve racking (at least for me), but after that it's pretty fun. You learn how to get over any fear of heights and gain confidence for the actual jumps.

Our days so far have ended about 1700 every night. It's a nice change from OSUT. You have the option to walk around and hit up the gym or go eat at the local restaurants.

However, don't let the extra time and freedom of Airborne throw you off your goal. A couple guys that I went through OSUT with (who were all good dudes) quit because they didn't want to be trainees anymore.

I'll post another sitrep next week, after tower week.

[Jim]

You finished ground week on Thursday?

[kensongakusei]

You finished ground week on Thursday?

Roger Ranger Jim.
All we did today was a 3.5mile run and did duties for the cadre (moving their HQ office to the new office). We start jumping next Sunday. It seems fast, but I'm looking forward to the 1st jump...in both a nervous and excited way.

[kensongakusei]

Airborne Sitrep Part two: Tower Week

We finished up tower week yesterday and are ready to do our first (and I believe second) jumps this Sunday.

In Tower Week you will practice PLF's from the suspension harness. You are strapped into a harness, sort of "fall off" a 10 foot platform, swing in the air and practice your PLF's from every direction. We had to have two good plf's per direction to move onto the next one. In total I did about 20-24 practice plfs off of the harness. This is good training and will make you feel much more comfortable with the landing portion of a jump.

We also continued using the 34 jump towers, but this time for mass exits, with combat load, and with either partial or full malfunctions with the parachute. Half of the mass exit jumps you perform will be with a mock ruck sack and a mock weapons bag, but all of them will be with some sort of malfunction in your chute. The idea here is to be comfortable if things go wrong, before pulling your reserve chute. With the combat load you learn how to drop the equipment just prior to landing. Only 1 out 5 of our jumps is scheduled as a combat jump, but this was still really good practice. Here's a word of caution: You pass or fail as a team with these jumps, so do try to get with a couple people you know are competent (there were some groups who had to re-do 10+ jumps because of one bad egg).

The last thing we went over in Tower week was how to react to other jumpers in the air, coming in on power lines or trees, and what to do if we land in water. Overall I feel confident going into my first jump. The instruction here is world class and the Army has turned parachuting into a really safe event.

I'm looking forward to jumping on Sunday. I've heard skydiving/jumping is the most fun you can have with your pants on. I'll report back with more about that after all 5 jumps... :)

Anyway, as always, if anyone has any questions about OSUT or Airborne School so far, please post them up here (as other people might have your same question). I'll do my best to answer it.

[Jim]

They are really pushing you because 4 July is coming. Enjoy, and never, never quit!

[kensongakusei]

They are really pushing you because 4 July is coming. Enjoy, and never, never quit!

Roger that Ranger Jim.
There was also a Battalion change of command so we lost a day due to that too.

Have a great 4th Ranger Jim!