Greetings Rangers

[Conack]

Hello Rangers,

Many of the questions I will have are related to the information that will be in my intro, but I'll preserve the intended nature of this posting as an introduction and save the questions for other forums.

So gentlemen, its a bit lengthy - I'm 26, and my name is Travis. I went to the US Naval Academy straight out of high school. I was a Midshipman for about 1.5 years before several factors culminated in my decision to seek voluntary withdrawal in order to go to Israel and serve in the military. Now before everyone starts to hate me, let me explain briefly that I am and always have been a loyal American patriot. When I applied to and was accepted into the Academy I was entering into what I thought was a career of the traditional Navy role of defending American interests abroad by show of force and respectable but courteous presence abroad, peacekeeping operations, and the like. All that changed when I was called out of Chemistry class one morning and huddled into the ward room to watch the World Trade Center burning. I soon began to question what I had gone to the Academy to do in the first place; which was to be a Nuclear Propulsions Officer. Amongst many considerations that factored into my very difficult decision to leave the Academy, the major factor was that, as I saw the daily terrorist attacks in Israel that were happening at the time, I looked around and thought, America has many high-caliber individuals ready to serve it, but Israel is a tiny nation besieged by the same enemy facing America today. I thought: If I was good enough for the Academy, maybe I can do some good over there- more than I could as just another SWO. Surprisingly, in my separation interview, the Superintendent of the Academy, a Vice Admiral, said that it was the best reason he had heard for voluntary separation, and he allowed my request.
So I, moved to Israel, learned the language and was drafted. I attempted every test they would throw at me and was accepted into Special Forces. I completed the training and served my time, getting plenty of CT work and even a war. As the end of my service approached I opted against officer training in order to finish my degree, and thats where I'm at right now, 1.5 years away from completing my long overdue bachelor's degree. I've been in Israel for 6.5 years now, and the more time goes by, the more I realize a few important facts: 1) I'm an American at heart and in my character, 2) When I left the Academy, I missed out on my opportunity to pay the Country back for all that It has given me and allowed me to become. and 3) I absolutely miss the Military; I miss the field, I miss the camaraderie, and I miss that special quality of individual that only seems to exist in an elite combat unit, heck, I even kinda miss getting shot at. Therefore, I've decided that when I finish my degree, I plan to join the US Army.
While I was serving in Israel, I had the opportunity to meet some US Army SF from 10th SFG that came here to train, and perhaps a bit influenced by them, my goal right now is, during the summer vacation from university, to go back to the states and fight tooth and nail for an 18X contract DEP. I never got to train with any Rangers, since they never visited my unit while I was serving, and I was not allowed to go to the US for joint training because of my US citizenship (though I'm not sure if any of our guys did train with Rangers there either) but I am also weighing the idea of requesting Option 40. Security clearance is an obvious possible hurdle but I do believe it can be done, because although I haven't confirmed it, I have heard stories about a former member from my unit that moved to the States and became a Ranger. Could be all rumor, but it does leave me hope. The important thing for me is to serve the Country, hopefully with the type of person I so miss, the kind that, even though all the rations ran out days ago, no one's slept for almost as long as they haven't eaten, and the blistering heat makes that 90 kilo pack feel like 180 on your prickly heat covered back, they still argue over the last ten raisins someone just discovered in his pack- not because everyone wants his share, but because everyone wants to give his share to someone else.

[Ranger Bill]

Welcome. Interesting introduction, but not all that easy to read with those long paragraphs. Unless I misunderstood, you still have U.S. citizenship, so perahps you may be able to qualify for secret security clearance.

[Jim]

Welcome, Travis, Either 11X Option 40 (Ranger) or 18-series (SF) will require a security clearance. I like your attitude. Never, never quit!

How was Israel Conack? I was on the fence between enlisting in the US and going for Garin Tzabar. Clear which way I went but it's interesting to see someone going the other way and deciding to come back and serve as well. What unit were you with in Israel?

This kind of discussion is best completed using the PM feature.

[Conack]

Ranger Bill- Thank you, I am a US citizen and I hope that everything will work out! I do apologize about the format- I made paragraphs when I wrote it but for some reason they disappeared and all the text was aligned to the left when it was actually posted. Probably something to do with the fact that my computer is primarily formatted to Hebrew, which reads right to left. Lesson learned, however, and I'll be using spaces between paragraphs from now on.

Veggiebone- out of respect for (and agreement with) Ranger Bill, as we are guests in his domain, I will respect his recommendation.

Ranger Jim- Thanks for the motivational support, I definitely plan to fight for that clearance.

[RRDTm3]

dude, you sound like your shit is wired tight, go Ranger. SF will serve you better after you have put some time in.

[Conack]

Thanks for the advice Ranger RRDTm3. As I said my primary concern is not with whats on my head or what tab is on my shoulder but with the high-quality individual which I know I'll find in either Ranger or SF. My concern, however, is considering I'll be 28 when I enlist (assuming everything goes as planned) I need to get as much information before I make my first choice, because that is probably going to be the only choice I'll be allowed to make. I realize my knowledge of the Rangers is almost nil, and my knowledge of SF is only from my experience of them when they came to train, so I'm hoping I can gain a little more insight here. Hopefully, the recruiters will be able to get me in contact with a Ranger or SF who can sit down with me and discuss it.

I guess my major considerations is where I would be best suited (after I prove myself and earn it of course). In my unit in Israel we're notorious for our civilian mountain boots, non-existent grooming standards, individually modified gear, and erroneous rank structure: when a Warning Order is given, we all sit down and plan the operation together, the officer collects our plans and brings it for input from the unit commander, in contrast to the typical procedure (in Israel) in which the officers plan together with a few Staff Sergeants and then present the plan to the enlisted. If we disagreed with a general, we flat out told him. I never actually got around to sewing on my rank when I made Staff Sergeant, because they didn't bother ordering the stripes until one month after I made the rank, and by that point I already didn't care because it had no effect. I know every unit is different and I'm that the US Army operates quite differently and I'm well able and willing to adapt to the differences, I'm just trying to understand what they are.

[al_2ndWolfhounds]

Welcome. Very interesting background.