INTRODUCTION - Brian

[Kamikaze10]

Hello Rangers!

My name is Brian. I am 23 and a recent graduate of The Ohio State University in Geography. I initially looked at joining the Army back when I graduated high school, but after talking it over with my parents I felt that I wasn't mentally mature enough to handle the strictness and stress of that lifestyle. I went to college and worked on obtaining my B.S. instead.

Around September 2011 I again started looking at a military career. I felt I had a better understanding of both myself and military life based on what I had seen of campus ROTC and read online, and to be honest the idea of working behind a computer or desk for the rest of my life just didn't sound appealing to me. I began to do research into all of the branches just so I didn't miss anything, but eventually I decided that what I wanted was to serve my country on the front lines as a soldier. This decided, I began to look at the Army and Marines for possible MOS, as well as talk to people in my classes or near my home who either served or had served in either branch. After a lot of researching - and even more soul searching - I decided the Rangers was what I wanted.

Around April my schedule cleared up enough to speak to a recruiter about joining, but I had heard that contracts were hard to come by and wasn't expecting much. I still intended to join, but should Opt40 not be available then I would go Opt4 and bust my butt in OSUT in hopes of getting an chance. Imagine my surprise once my ASVAB scores came back to find that there was an Opt40 available. I requested it immediately and got my MEPS date within a few days. By Thursday of that week I walked away with my contract and a ship date of Nov 6.

That being said, here is what I'm doing to prepare. Around the time I got my contract my recruiter gave me and several others a PT test to see where we're at. I can't recall the exact numbers, but I was low 50's on pushups, high 60's on situps, and under 14 minutes on the 2 mile run. I mainly wanted to get a good feel of the proper form for pushups and situps, which I made sure to practice henceforth. I also began looking into possible workouts I could do to prepare, and I happened to read on this site about the 12 Week RASP Prep. Looking over it I felt that it would work perfectly for me, and just last week I took the initial PT test without 12 mile ruck (needed to find a good pack first, but that's taken care of now). My PT test was self administered, but I tried to keep my form as close to what my recruiter recommended as possible at the expense of higher numbers.

My current APFT is:
Pushups - 60
Situps - 72
2 mile run - 13:46

Additional requirements:
Pullups - 12
5 mile run - 39:19

My current training schedule is:
Mon-Sat: 12 Week RASP Prep with swimming on Saturday.
Thursday: Recruiter PT with fellow recruits (this is mainly to get us used to the Army's way of doing PT, but us 11x and 18x recruits try to push ourselves anyway.).
Mon-Thurs + Sat: Krav Maga (I started earlier in the year for fun but couldn't attend as much due to school. I'm hoping to be able to attend all the training days by the end of July at the latest.).

Aside from PT, I'm also looking into the Ranger handbook, as well as working on the tasks our recruiter assigns us before basic. I'm also going to continue to look through the forums to see if there is any other information I can use to prepare myself beyond what I've already found.

I want to finish by thanking all the Rangers and soldiers on this site that have served their country, and I humbly ask for any guidance or support that you may offer me as I begin this journey.

Thanks,
Brian

[Steadfast]

Welcome Kamikaze10 & thanks for stepping up & enlisting to serve our country.

Please post your updated pt scores at your earliest convenience.

I've sent you a PM.