SITREP - Veronica

[Itsronni]

Hello Rangers! Long time no see! It’s been five months since I last posted here, not sure if anyone remembers me but I figured I’d update everyone on my progress so far!
I graduated basic training back in August and now am in the last five weeks of 68W AIT. It’s been a long road but I’m almost there.
Currently I have one of the best GPAs in my company. Nothing is too difficult here mentally, physically it drains me, though. I love it anyways.
My best PT score was a 289, the only thing that’s stopping me from maxing is the run. My shin splints I spoke about in my intro gradually worsened and it turns out they’re level 3 bilateral shin “injuries”, which is 75%+ bone marrow edema, so unfortunatey I landed on profile for the rest of my time here. It sucks because I want to get stronger since I’m supposed to deploy next year, but I know I have to heal up first lest they turn into full on fractures. I’m still on track to graduate and that’s all I could’ve asked for, honestly. I’m ready to get my ass home!
Whiskey training is a blast! Definitely a lot better than basic. This is getting pretty long but I just wanted to let y’all know how I was doing and that I’m officially a soldier now. Next month I’ll earn the title of medic, too, hopefully! Whenever I lose my motivation I think of the Rangers and I power through. They had RASP slots available and you best believe if I wasn’t broken and in the Reserves I’d be there in a heartbeat!
Anyways, I’ll wrap it up here, thank you for reading Rangers! I hope in a couple years I’ll head to Ranger school and earn myself a tab. That’s a 300m target, though

[Itsronni]

Rangers,
I apologize for double posting this, I hit the submit button twice

[cams]

Good sitrep young lady, keep at it and be smart. Sounds like you have a great attitude and will be a credit to your unit. One step at a time as they say.

[Disinfertention]

Awesome, really happy you decided to follow up with a SITREP. It's easy to lose track of the world when you are in Basic/AIT and training. We'll be here, get to us when you can and try to follow up now that you have found time to check in.

We all have great memories here, don't worry about that. Ranger Lunch made a short statement but it's pretty important. If you're injured, heal. It is what it is. Coming from a time not that long ago, and even today still, where it may feel like you are letting the team down to get yourself some treatment... it's not worth it to power through. Get fixed, get right, come back stronger. And keep doing great things.

[Itsronni]

Thank you for all the replies Rangers!
Well, I’ve only got one graduation requirement left: Camp Bullis. I’m not too nervous about it, it’s supposed to be pretty easy. For those who don’t know, it’s a 12 day long FTX, with a final hands on test at the end. The company that just got back from it had a 100% pass rate and I’m hoping we will, too.
I did my final skills testing last week and it was a lot easier than I expected. I did nogo one, though, because I stuck the needle in the third intercostal space instead of the second. I beat myself up for it but I ended up flying through it on my second attempt. Mistakes are what makes experience is what one of my EMT instructors always said!
Being on profile blows. The trainees here hold us in a really poor light because they think we’re all just shamming out of PT. I got in an arguement with a kid yesterday over it. It sucks being broken. :( I know I’ll be stronger once I heal up, though, and then I’m hitting that 300 mark!
Not much has been going on lately since we’re so late in the cycle. I’ll definitely update after Bullis and let you all know how it goes. We don’t get our phones for the duration of it, which sorta blows because I heard it gets boring since they release you pretty early over there, but I’m sure I’ll find something to do. Probably practice my combat casualty assessments a lot, since that’s our final test.
I’m excited to finally be over with TRADOC. 27 more days!

[Itsronni]

Oh, I forgot to mention my company commander was a Ranger. He has his tab and scroll. Had a conversation with him the other day because it turns out we’re both from Jersey.

[Itsronni]

Rangers, I leave for Camp Bullis tomorrow, so this is the last day I’ll have with my phone. Doesn’t bother me too much since I bought a lot of books yesterday for the trip. One of them is American Sniper, which I’m excited to start. I looked for the Ranger Handbook but they didn’t have it. I’ve also seen the Ranger Medic Handbook and was wondering if any of you recommend it? It’s around $50 on Amazon, I’m planning on getting it once I get home. I already finished one of the books I bought lol, forgot how much I liked reading.
I’m officially off profile as of today as well. The training at Bullis isn’t supposed to be too bad, lots of litter carries and rucks. We’re also supposed to get out after 1500 so we have a lot of free time over there. I plan to use it for reading and practicing Combat Casualty Assessments, maybe a little PT, too. We can’t run over there, apparently, because of the uneven terrain causing too many recycles. Not a big deal since I’m not really supposed to run for a couple more months anyways.
Anyways, that’s pretty much it around here. It’s been slow end of the cycle stuff. Two in our company got alcohol poisoning yesterday and are in the hospital. One was being MEDboarded, his benefits are most likely getting stripped, the other was on track to graduate but not anymore. Can’t believe they threw everything away 19 days from graduation.
I’ll update once I return from Bullis, which will be the Friday after next. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving also. :)

[Disinfertention]

People do dumb things all the time, really. No one is immune to it. Just gotta watch out for situations like that and not let them take over.

Glad you are off profile. Make sure you fully recover. I can't recommend the Medic Handbook but I am sure it is worth something to you if you can spare the 50 dollars - that seems a bit steep.

What is Camp Bullis? I guess I'm not very familiar with 68w training.

[IntelToad]

Sounds like you are doing well, keep driving on. You will encounter many that will do retarded things in the future, don't be one of them.

[Itsronni]

Rangers, I just got back from Camp Bullis, passed first time go! Only 60 people in my company got first time goes, but we all ended up passing eventually.
Ranger Disinfertention, Camp Bullis is a 12 day FTX which is basically a role play deployment. We practiced our skills as combat medics and did some warrior tasks and battle drills. Can’t say I enjoyed it too much because most people ended up pulling security for the whole day since only around 12 could play medic for the day. I tried to be medic as often as possible because I get insanely bored doing security. We did night ops last night so currently I’ve been up for about 37 hours lol.
Ranger Lunch, I’m definitely avoiding the stoopidity. A lot of us are talking about getting smashed this weekend and I’m staying far away from it. I just want a nice, relaxed out processing week before I get home.
Roger that Ranger IntelToad!
Now that I’m finally back at the barracks, it’s time for a little R&R until graduation Friday. Can’t wait to get started being a real medic at my unit, deploy and get some real experience under my belt!

[cams]

As Ranger Lunch stated, outfuckingstanding. Well done young lady.

I understand your desire to deploy and get some time under your belt. We’ve all been there, but trust me, take your time, enjoy your youth, train and get comfortable, most of all, be very careful what you wish for. It’s not what you’d expect, it’s not what you’ll look forward to after doing it, and it will stay with you forever.

Stay young as long as possible, I wish you the best, you seem like a good soldier.