Greetings RANGERS and DEPS

[Ray]

Ranger Neves,

I will do that and get back to you ASAP. Also, my dad is a doctor and every now and then he has to teach med. students. Well earlier this summer my dad had one that just so happened to be a Ranger from 3rd Batt. (I believe he said he got out in 00', don't really remember). But when I got home one day there was this guy standing in my kitchen with 3rd Batt. PT sweats and I was like "HOLY SHIT!." My dad surprised me and introduced me to him. I talked to this guy forever and got a lot of good info. He was former Capt. Eric Oliver. All else I know is that he went to West Point and played football there. I didn't ask him many personal questions, mostly about RIP, Battalion life, Ranger School, and other typical DEP questions. That was pretty cool of my dad since he doesn't approve of my Army future and I learned a lot. Just thought you'd be interested. I'll try to find that info for you on Capt. Hardy.

[Earthpig]

Ray-
Sounds like you're getting some good exposure and are off to a good start. Don't loose focus. Keep up the good work.
RLTW
EP

[MikeChan]

Hey Ray,

I apologize if this is the wrong form (or thread), but there's a question I've been wanting to ask the DEP kids for some time: Why have you guys elected DEP over JROTC in high school? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but when I was in high school in the 1980s, everyone I knew who was serious about a military career and knew it at the time went JROTC. If you go JROTC and DEP both, what advantages would DEP give you since three-four years of good performance in JROTC gives an automatic enlisted pay grade promotion or, in my AFJROTC at least, got a number of academy appointments.

BTW, welcome to the board. It sounds like you're off to a great start.

Mike

[Ray]

Mike,

I've been on the board a while I just don't post much. Anyway, we didn't have a JROTC program in my H.S. But believe me, if we did, I would have been a part of it. I always wished we did have something military-related that I could have been involved with, besides my Civil War Re-enacting. To answer your question, I think that JROTC in some ways is better than DEP. For one, we like I said, we rarely have had DEP functions in the past, until the recent one I described. Second of all, JROTC seems to be a lot more disciplined and active. But I wouldn't be the best person to ask on the subject since I was never involved in a JROTC program.

Brad,

Thanks a lot. But like a lot of the Rangers on this site have said, don't worry too much about your score, just bust ass to get in the best shape you can, the scores will come. If you want, I can PM you a basic week of PT that I might do if it will help. Also, use your search button to get as much info as possible to let yourself know what lies ahead. By the way I ship Feb. 26 (11x Option 40)

[Slowpoke]

Ray, your dad sounds like a pretty good guy in that he supports YOU even if he doesn't agree with your life choices. You have to follow your own path as you are the one who will have to live with your decisions. Naturally, everyone here thinks you've made the right choice. Never quit!

[MikeChan]

Ray,

Thanks for your response. A lot of high schools don't have JROTC, and that's a shame but explains a lot. Part of my work as an analyst is to examine military training on a very broad basis: I look at everything from JROTC to executive war college courses for O-7s to O-10s. DEP is an area I don't know very well, but want to learn. How we recruit and train our military is really the core of how it will perform, in my book.

You seem to be off to a great start, and aside from your PT scores, I salute your well-spoken manner: often the DEP kids have bad writing skills which will only come back to haunt them sooner or later in military service. Communication is key and you've got it. Go, go, go.