Introduction from a grateful parent

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SilentService
USN Veteran
Posts: 10
Joined: November 9th, 2012, 10:15 am

Introduction from a grateful parent

Post by SilentService »

Hello and good evening fellow veterans, Rangers and as always lurkers.

I am a veteran of the US silent service, the USS Billfish SNN676, from 1988-1992.

My son oh my son is the reason I have become familiar with this incredible resource. There are many truly selfless and knowledgeable posters on this site. I would do a disservice thanking all that I have been able to glean nuggets of information and invariably leaving out a few. So let me preface this by saying thank you Rangers, contributors, fellow parents, and even a few Grandparents, your advice whilst unbeknownst to you have been wonderful help to me and my son.

A little over 18 months ago my son became disillusioned with the life of a college student, he felt that call that so few young men do nowadays. He felt his duty was to don the uniform of his country and meet the enemies of our freedom head-on.

So we first had to figure out what he wanted to do, which branch was the right call of arms to answer his yearning soul.

He quickly eliminated the Air Force, while there is nothing wrong with our brothers in blue he felt he needed a more direct form of engagement.

Next was following in his father’s footsteps, the US Navy. Upon seeking my guidance I recused myself from giving him a definitive answer, but I did advise him of shipboard life. He quickly realized that this was not for him.

Our fellow devil dogs were ruled out also rather unceremoniously as they did not possess the freedom of thought that he sought in his quest for a challenge.

So that has left todays modern Army, an army that has sadly seen so much bloodshed. This final prospect terrified his mother and as she wept openly of the thought of her “baby heading off to war”. I said “well if you’re going to do this lets make sure you are surrounded by the best you can be surrounded by”.

That fateful statement led us on a search of what that meant exactly, which gratefully lead us here to this bastion of understanding and patience.

We learned the terms, oh the many many terms, Option 40, MoS, 11B, 13B and on and on for today’s modern fighting Army.

We went to the recruiters armed with college credits, an unflappable desire for the option 40 and a very high ASVAB. My son would not be deterred from the Rangers. The recruiter was forthcoming, he warned him that there slots were few and far between. My son was not swayed, he went to his classes, hit the gym religiously and waited for that call.

After 7 months the recruiter called “we have a slot, be here tonight to sign the paperwork”, he bolted out that door signed the papers and low and behold waited for his ship date. When that date finally arrived his mother was beside herself with worry, his sister hugged him valiantly and left tear stained spots on his t-shirt and his dad, well his big tough ol dad suddenly realized that wow is it so much harder sending your son of to war than it is walking into that unknown yourself.

So here we are today, I am a slightly superstitious man, after all what submarine sailor isn’t, so I will not jinx him in anyway with premature salutations.

However he has finished his boot camp, completed his MoS training (He is a 68W), finished paratrooper school, and now as I sit here and type this he is in Pre-RASP with a final PT date on Tuesday 13th November. He doesn’t have a guaranteed slot in RASP, he said “I need to wait until some kids fail before I can get it”. So I can’t tell you when his RASP will be.

But he is ready, he is ready as much as he can be for what you Rangers and Ex Rangers will put him through.

I have one final request though for the cadre, be hard on him and his classmates, be so very hard. Bend them until those of weaker will break, bend them until they can’t stand up but still do, bend them until they laugh at you and help their teammate up, refuse to lower your standards even an inch. My son and countless others depend on your strength of character to return them to their parent’s arms. We will all laugh together at the scrapes and bruises, the stitches and scars at the end of their enlistments. But please I beg of you, train them, teach them and bring them home to us, we want our sons not a perfectly folded flag back when this is all over.

And finally happy veterans day to all of us, I would pat myself on the back but i find old age has rendered me not as flexible as I once was.
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Jim
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Re: Introduction from a grateful parent

Post by Jim »

What a great post. Obviously, you care for your son. That is great, my daughter (actually, she is a step-daughter) is a patent attourney. Your chlld has to find his way. If he wants to be a Ranger Medec, he is in a very small world. I wish your son all the best.
Ranger Class 13-71
Advisor, VN 66-68 69-70
42d Vn Ranger Battalion 1969-1970
Trainer, El Salvador 86-87
Advisor, Saudi Arabian National Guard 91, 93-94
75th RRA Life Member #867
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CharlieRanger1FFV
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Joined: July 5th, 2010, 12:36 pm

Re: Introduction from a grateful parent

Post by CharlieRanger1FFV »

Welcome to the site.


RLTW!!!
Silencium Mortium

B /1/504 82nd Abn 69 - 70
C co (Ranger) 75th (Abn) Inf, II Corps Rangers, 70 - 71 Viet Nam
12th SFG (A) 76 - 78
75th Ranger Regiment Association, Lifetime Member # 2776
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blueskiesalways
Ranger Mom
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Joined: November 30th, 2004, 4:12 am

Re: Introduction from a grateful parent

Post by blueskiesalways »

I have one final request though for the cadre, be hard on him and his classmates, be so very hard. Bend them until those of weaker will break, bend them until they can’t stand up but still do, bend them until they laugh at you and help their teammate up, refuse to lower your standards even an inch. My son and countless others depend on your strength of character to return them to their parent’s arms. We will all laugh together at the scrapes and bruises, the stitches and scars at the end of their enlistments. But please I beg of you, train them, teach them and bring them home to us, we want our sons not a perfectly folded flag back when this is all over.

And finally happy veterans day to all of us, I would pat myself on the back but i find old age has rendered me not as flexible as I once was.[/quote]

Thank you for your service and that of your son. I too am happy that my son (s) are surround by the best. I have no doubt we will be seeing you behind the doors of the Ranger parent section!
Mom - One former 1/75 Ranger warrior......One current 3/75 Ranger warrior
SilentService
USN Veteran
Posts: 10
Joined: November 9th, 2012, 10:15 am

Re: Introduction from a grateful parent

Post by SilentService »

Good morning everyone, thank you for all the hopes and well wishes.

So my son passed his PT with no problems and incredibly others did not. How you volunteered for Ranger school, have months to prepare and then on PT day you encounter problems is beyond me. Granted I know that some of the candidates are deployed soldiers and as such probably didn’t have as much time to prepare as the big Army school soldiers did.

So bottom line is his date of RASP is now November 19th, strangely he seems to be incredibly excited over this news :lol:

Course as I type this he has told me that he will get a pass on the 21st for a thanksgiving break. So to me it makes no sense to start their class on the 19th and then release them 48 hours later. But naturally never having been through your incredibly difficult Ranger training perhaps the first 48 hours is mostly housekeeping/admin stuff.

I will update when he actually steps into the program.

A quick question, what do the training cadre call the students at RASP (I mean besides the usual unprintable stuff), is there a nickname like tadpole or something. Just looking to evoke that term in jest when we see him over the holidays.

Finally, my wife would love the invite when/if he makes it through, thank you very much for the perspective invite, she is definitely very ummmmm high strung over his military future.
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Sleepy Doc
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Joined: September 19th, 2006, 4:54 am

Re: Introduction from a grateful parent

Post by Sleepy Doc »

First, let me thank you for your service to this great nation. I have a brother who served 23 years in the Navy and all of it on submarines. I know through him just how tough it is being in the Silent Service. It may not be as physically demanding, but being a submariner requires a mental toughness and maturity that few realize. Their corps are just as elite as any in the special operations community.

Second, let me assure you that at no time will your son be allowed to just skate by. He will be tested physically and mentally at every opportunity. Even without him knowing and when no one is around, he will be required to go the extra mile and prove that he really wants to be there, and does not end when one finishes RASP. Something as simple as whether he lives up to the Ranger Creed will show how motivated he is. The paradox is that it really takes no more conviction than to walk out of your front door. Just as in the Chinese proverb, the journey is but made up of small steps, and the meaning is in the journey itself. I will forward to you some words I wrote to a young man I have just mentored to finish and graduate in the RASP class just before your son. Having been a platoon medic in the Ranger Regiment myself I can tell you that he has chosen one of the toughest, but also most rewarding paths, and can take it as far as he wants to The world is literally his oyster.

For what it is worth, he is probably getting released for the holiday due to the fact that the dining facility will be closed on those days and they have nowhere to feed him.

Thank you again, and thanks for raising a son of such convictions. It is an unfortunate rarity in our times.

Welcome.
B Co 3/75 '95-'99
4th RTB '00-'01

"ahh, Daniel-san.. When balance good, Karate good...everything good!.." K. Miyagi
KW Driver
Ranger/Moderator
Posts: 6581
Joined: December 8th, 2004, 2:20 pm

Re: Introduction from a grateful parent

Post by KW Driver »

As Doc said, thanks for your service, and thanks for the words of encouragement to the Cadre. That's always how we trained, and I'm sure they conure to. It's nice to hear the sentiment from a parent, even one who's been seasoned by service. Rest assured, he'll get it, and serve in the best possible place in this man's Army if he earns his place. As doc said, once in, he'll earn it daily.

Tell mom to come on I'm, the water is fine. Or... Translate and filter as yo user for. :)

Good luck to your son. As Ranger Jim defines it, "luck is opportunity meeting preparation."
A Co & HHC 3/75 '93-'98.
RS 10-94.


200 meters of green shit next to a river in the desert does not qualify as a "Crescent of Fertility" -me

"The meek shall inherit the earth, one meter wide and two meters long" -Lazarus Long
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