Introduction

[Disinfertention]

Sounds like a solid plan. What are your contingencies?

[J031]

Ranger Disinfertention,

If for some reason I'm not able to get a degree online while I'm in I plan on attending college after I get out. If all else fails I'll use a veterans transition program offered by the American Petroleum Instsitute to get into the oil and gas industry. My mom works for API in governmental affairs, and I know a couple guys who went through the program and now have stable jobs in the industry. Oil is enticing to me because most of the places where oil fields are located have great hunting areas near by, and are secluded for the most part. One of my long term goals is the be able to buy a good piece of land thats out in the middle of nowhere. Good hunting, and not having to deal with stupid crap most people put up with in a suburban neighborhood is my idea of a good life.

[Jim]

Joel, Please continue to prepare yourself for IET, BAC, and RASP. Never, never quit!

[J031]

Roger, Ranger Jim.

In 43 days I'll be sitting in the hotel waiting to embark on the adventure of my life. I intend to utilize every one of those days productively. With my ship date approaching I've begun to reduce the amount of heavy weightlifting I'm doing and focusing more on APFT and ruck improvement while still utilizing the most productive lifts with a barbell (back squat, front squat, cleans, bench, presses). I feel like my PT scores plateaued somewhat because I was on my schools weightlifting team and the season only ending 2 weeks ago, and while heavy lifting might initially help APFT scores from my understanding when you consistently lift heavy you sacrifice endurance muscle growth for fast twitch muscle fiber growth, fast twitch being what is used in heavy lifts. I expect to see my scores only improve until I ship due to the focus on endurance muscle in APFT and ruck events.

[J031]

PT 20170601

Push-Ups: 83
Sit-Ups: 88
2-Mile Run: 11:38
Pull-Ups: 17

SITREP 20170601

I spent my Memorial Day laying down 8 pallets of sod in the backyard with my stepdad and spent the rest of the day remembering the reason for the three day weekend. I've been out of town for going on a week now on two different family trips, one with my dad and one with my mom. Both trips have been at the beach so I've been able to get in plenty of runs on the beach, which is a change from the tracks I usually run on at Fort Jackson. Also, without being able to use weights for so long I've seen improvement on my push-ups and sit-ups, but since my latest PT test was last Wednesday morning it isn't evident in my PT numbers yet. Ranger IntelToads and Ranger fatboy's Land Nav and Map Reading class is going great. My ship date is approaching soon, but much like most things I'm excited for time is seeming to slow the closer I get to shipping. I can't wait to get started on realizing my goals.

[Jim]

Joel, continue to prepare yourself. About a week before you ship to IET, please open a SITREP in the letters from school thread. Never, never quit!

[J031]

Roger, Ranger Jim.

[Disinfertention]

Both trips have been at the beach so I've been able to get in plenty of runs on the beach, which is a change from the tracks I usually run on at Fort Jackson.

Did you burn blisters in your feet running on the beach? I've only ran long distance on the beach once and when I did...yeah, I thought I cut my foot on glass. Finished the run to find out that I had burned blisters in both my feet. Yikes.

[J031]

Ranger Disinfertention,

I did not burn blisters in my feet, which could've been due to multiple things, but I like to think its because I've been building up callouses on purpose. I forget who told me this, but I was instructed to soak your feet in rubbing alcohol after a ruck or run to dry out the skin and build up callouses. My feet are already pretty hardened up on the spots that used to flare up on rucks.

[J031]

SITREP 20170617

Yesterday I drove to meet up with Arch51 and Rednovember. Both of those two are squared away and great guys as well. I took my OPAT a couple weeks ago which was pretty easy. That was the last administrative task I had to knock out before shipping. Speaking of the OPAT; I do appreciate that the army is trying to make a test that will more accurately determine someone's level of fitness, but I've never seen somone max a PT test who wasn't in shape. The lack of a core strength measurement also worries me because aside from your legs your core is the most important part of your body for moving around.

I went to a clays shooting tournament a couple days ago and won a Sig Sauer 1911 TACOPS, but the rep from Sig who donated the gun to the competition was formerly a Ranger before taking that job. By the time I'd found that out he was long gone, but I found it interesting that at least from my perspective guys from Regiment are respected in that industry a lot.

Still PTing everyday, still improving where I can, I can't wait to ship.

[J031]

SITREP20170701

I recently got back from a trip to the west coast. Stayed in San Francisco for five days,then stayed in a small beach town for a day before heading to LA for a night and then Vegas for five days. My mom said she wanted me to see the west coast before I shipped out, and as of today we have a tentative plan to visit Washington DC and Arlington Nation Cemetery in the next week or so. If that trip does come together I am very much looking forward to visiting Arlington and the war memorials in DC. I believe success in anything hinges firstly on your ability to perform at whatever the task is, but also on being in the right frame of mind for performing the task. I do think a day at Arlington would serve as a stark reminder of the journey that I'm about to go on, and the price many have paid for making the protection of this country their life's mission.

While in San Francisco I was able to get a lot of miles in running wise, and a good bit of my transportation around the city was on a bike. Even with the added cardio in the last two weeks my run times haven't really improved that much. I credit this somewhat to the mild weather on the California coast right now because 65 degree weather doesn't really make running any more strenuous especially when compared to the weather during my PT test today which was 90 with 63% humidity. Mostly though, I would have to say my weight is probably causing this plateau; when I started thinking about joining the army I was 205 pounds and lifting daily, I lost a good bit of that weight and got down to 174 at one point after the season, but now I've gone back up to 187. That added weight isn't making my number go down in any PT events, but I feel like dropping about 10 pounds would help me shave some time off my 2 and 5 mile run times.

To any mentees or people about to sign a contract I was once sitting where you are thinking my ship date would never come. Going into the DEP was only beneficial to me; I got more time to train, and the army has provided some basic knowledge through the online future soldier training, but the most critical information you pick up will be from the Ranger Handbook and the Rangers on this site. I would be jumping into a world with almost no idea of what to expect if not for the men on this site. But, going back to feeling like your ship date will never come; don't let the fact that your ship date is 6-7 months away (as mine was when I got my contract) fool you into blowing off on any of the training you'll need for OSUT, Airborne,and RASP. No one is born able to run sub 12 minute 2-milers and push out 80 whenever they feel like it. I began my journey running a 14 minute plus 2 mile, and only being able to do 60 push-ups and sit-ups in 2 minutes, if that. The PT sessions from 6-7 months ago to now are what got me to this level of fitness, and I expect the self smoke sessions from now until RASP to continue my progression. Don't slack because of how far away shipping is,because sitting here now I can say it comes faster than you think and no one is going to care how many workouts you "planned on going to".

PT Update 20170701

Push-Ups: 85
Sit-Ups:85
2-Mile Run: 11:14
Pull-Ups: 13

[Jim]

Joel, Do you feel like we have provided you with a good basic understanding of the Ranger life?

[J031]

Ranger Jim, I would say y'all have provided more than a basic understanding. While most of the information hasn't been about the everyday life of someone in Regiment, which you might have been referring to, but I have picked up a wealth of knowledge compared to someone going in sight unseen. The five mentees thread, land nav class, and information picked up in other threads has definitely given me a heads up as to what to expect throughout the pipeline to Regiment.

[Jim]

Joel, I feel confident that you and the other mentees will be glad you did the work ahead of time. When you enter IET, you will be amazed at the attrition among your peers. Never, never quit!

[J031]

Roger, Ranger Jim. I'm confident of the same. Most guys go in wholly unprepared, and while I don't know everything I do know that my time on this site has prepared me for what lies ahead.