Why? You just said he's an adrenaline junkie.. I'm pretty sure he'd rather be airborne, than chairborne.

A father can wish..

No call yesterday. He called his girlfriend who messaged my wife and told her he loved and missed momma.

Not many letters coming in, still waiting to schedule a flight to Atlanta or better yet Columbus and get us an Abnb in Columbus so we can cook and relax with him and whoever he can get to come with that have no family coming.

He wants to go to Ranger Joe's for some better gear (if approved during OSUT)

I sent this to my son when he was in 11X OSUT.

The backside had some "army wife, hardest job in the army" stickers, the card said "sorry for your loss....of your mustache" and was signed by everyone in my unit.

His drills loved it and gave me a call.

Attached File

That there is funny..!!!
How far into training did he know if he was 11C or 11B..? My boy had a minute where he wasn't sure which one he was. He hasn't griped about it and I'm pretty sure he is 11B..

My kid knew at the start of AIT phase of OSUT, black phase I think.

“Shit is fluid”, now it’s a poop thread.

Friends don't let friends pay full retail at Ranger Joe's.

Take him to Commando's, Tier 1, and Gibson's.  His buck will go WAY farther.

I watched a bunch of my young cadets and lieutenants throw hard-earned money around like Saudi princes on a bender.

Thanks for the advice @Sinister  

Can anyone suggest a good pair of cold weather gloves that will stand up to rope work/mountain training that are also warm/waterproof and of course Army approved?

That's what's up..!!
Going into OSUT he should have over ten grand saved between checks and half his bonus (minus taxes)
His girlfriend is flying with us and I'm sure he will be wanting to shop although he wants to get a newer truck that will be allowed on base as his has a cam kit and sounds like a Nascar dragster which I told him they probably won't approve of at his first duty station
(again my info is dated according to him)

How does the Army decide who becomes 11B and 11C..?
He was adamant to me that he really did not want 11C but to be honest neither sounds appealing to me..
I think he believes 11C doesn't do the cool kid shit. But the few searches online I did about it says they still get to kick doors in (gwot)
Things may be different now and that info is dated.

He won't get the first half of his bonus until after graduating AIT.

I've never heard of a post restricting vehicles with mods. I've seen some monstrosities on post, too. Posts don't do vehicle stickers anymore, so there's really no mechanism to restrict a specific vehicle. His unit might make fun of him, but he can probably drive it

But tell him the most important thing is to buy a two year old charger for 20% more than new, and to get a 23% loan on it. When he can't afford the insurance he needs a payday loan to cover it. He also needs to ditch the girlfriend and marry a stripper or he's not a real soldier.

My dad sent me a musical card while I was in OSUT to mess with us.

We got smoked.

I was 11C for a little and we got to kick in doors, albeit less than the 11B guys. As an 11B he can be assigned all sorts of jobs, a lot of which aren't glamorous, either.

One bonus was while they were pulling security in the patrol base, we were set up in the middle with the patrol leader and tubes, so we didn't have the normal shenanigans of patrol base ops to deal with.

best advice in this thread.  he will NOT fit in with his unit if he does not do this.  bonus points if the stripper has 2 or more kids from other men.

...

JUST KIDDING.  do not do this.  

hey OP -- congrats and thanks for the updates.  glad to hear everything is going okay.

Great info.. thanks...lol.. I was under the impression he was going to get his first half at turning green but what your saying makes more sense.

As for this truck...
It has a HUGE STEREO and he loves blasting pantera and slayer and anything else that sounds like cookie monster with a mouth full of pussy, it has a long stroke cam, 3000rpm torque converter, bottom end is built, so it constantly sounds like its about to die until you step on the gas, zero cats, straight pipes and wants to hook up and go sideways .. did I mention it shakes windows...lol
It gets about 7mpg..

I've been hotrodding around in it periodically since he left (he put alot of money into it that he earned since he was 13) he almost lost it when he rolled his brothers truck back in May.
Luckily for him he had money saved to pay his brother back or I would have made him sell it.

It's loud and he drives these dirt roads fast.. spooks his momma bad. 17yr old me would have loved a truck like his. He earned every bit working for ranchers and for me out of my shop.
But..
My nearest neighbor complains about it and they live a mile up the road. I doubt he really wants that as a DD on a post..lol
It's a young desert rats dream truck. His same birthyear. It's his pride and joy, but we live in the boonies with very little police and the cops here are all laid back vets.


I tell him constantly that in the "normal" world he can not do the things he does here, hence to keep his nose to the grindstone and when he gets all this out of his system to utilize his schooling and take a weld class and come teach me a thing or two..lol (he loves welding)

His girl is a err uhmm a "sweetheart" one of those annoying teen girls that trys to act tough,  bless her little heart. A stripper may be just what he needs...lol he needs to toughen up and stop trying to impress girls.

Even his recruiter told him if he is to finance then do it 500 miles away from any military installation, his credit union is a great bank but I'm sure he shouldn't "need" to finance shit, he's been building vehicles with me for the past 6 years in our shop. His mom likes fancy, not so much us.


Sorry for the Long wall of text.. coffee has me on one this AM..

*Laughs in 155mm howitzer*

If he's an idiot and can't turn down the radio he might get a noise citation, but I seriously doubt anyone will stop him driving the truck. Most army installations are in or very near the sticks, so there will likely be a lot of opportunities for him to go crawling/mudding/whatever, and frankly it will probably be healthy for him to blow off steam when things get stupid. Peacetime 11 series... Things will get really stupid.

It's his truck and his money, so he can do what he wants. I'm just saying to maybe wait until he finds out where he's going and what the rules actually are before making any multi-thousand dollar decisions. But why be a 17 y/o 11B e-nothing if you're not going to make some dumb decisions?

If you don't drink away your paycheck in one night, are you really a young 11B?

True, but best believe when he fucks up he fucks up royally..lol
As his father I hope he minds his manners..lol

Our 11Cs basically never left the FOB. They covered shifts at the mortar pit just waiting for someone to make a call for fire.

It probably varies depending on a few factors.

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That's him on the ground, the pic looks like everyone is laughing at/with him.

Great kid, great sense of humor and everyone who meets him adores him. I miss him around and I pray he has only peaceful experience.

He is the youngest one in his company.

My wife signed up for one of those photo services that follows the company around and photographs them, it's absolutely worth every penny. We are downloading and printing every picture of his unit to give to him in several photo albums for his graduation.
He may appreciate it when he is an old man.

His momma hates when I describe what his music sounds like..lol

LOL.. six kids with her.. we munch often..
Edited to add.. she NEVER swears outside the bedroom..epitome of Lady~like..!!
I'm an old salt filled drunken sailor who is landlocked in a forsaken land where the only kraken I see is tattooed on some blue haired gypsy of a thing that takes my money as I buy beer.

Sounds like he could add mufflers to the truck and be good to go and still have one of the cooler rigs on post.

Or not. 🤣

Country boys would appreciate it..lol
Or not..ha

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I'm good, 1tb of dic pics from these leg humpers would gag a whore in the Philippines

Fort Moore (Benning) has a great auto shop.  There are a whole lot fewer strip clubs here than there used to be, so on-the-job training opportunities are fewer.  It's been a while since I was at Bragg, so there's that.  

Don’t Air BNB Columbus get a house in Uchee Creek. The MWR campsite.

Truth.  One of the B&Bs we used in Columbus was worse than horrible.  The MWR cabins are a bargain.

That looks nice, I like secluded though... 0Nothing worse than some bullshit low IQ family screwing up a good weekend. Figured a BnB on the river would be killer, not sure how many we will have, told my kid to bring whomever he can with him and enjoy steaks on the grill and just have a chill weekend.
I'll Uber the whole company over if needed..lol

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/37501737?adults=4&children=0&enable_m3_private_room=true&infants=0&pets=0&check_in=2023-10-22&check_out=2023-10-27&source_impression_id=p3_1697589135_KBeAYcaSaUemL22y&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=d2092947-5710-4a14-9333-3ffbab055122


Looking at something like this, have 1 beer with my boy on the dock as we fish. Not sure what he needs for a license to fish.. active duty and all in GA.

Been down that road bud...lol
I'll pass..ha

I wonder if that wasn't the MSG recruiter at Ft. Campbell who told me I'd end up in the infantry if I got called up out of the IRR, back in 2004.  He was about as friendly as my First Sergeant was when I replied "nothing" to his question of what could get me to reenlist.  I kind of wish I had stayed active and gone to task force, the National Guard wasn't all it was cracked up to be, other than the fed tech job.

Not gonna lie, that looks like a great bargain, and not too far from grocery and liquor stores in Smith's Station.

Uchee Creek is out in the sticks.  Maybe a little far when you consider back-and-forth for beer and groceries.

He can get a fishing license almost anywhere with his ID, but he might have to show orders as to where he lives on post (i.e., the barracks). I think he can get a license and rent fishing gear at MWR Outdoor Rec.

Smooth..!! Thank you for the advice..!! @Sinister
We will look at those cabins but man some of these houses on the river are smooth, found one with pool tables and salt water swimming pool as well as a dock, looks like they even have poles and tackle.

Just recieved 5 letters from him. He's sailing along good, bitching some about being treated like children..lol how some in his unit won't shut the fuck up and they get smoked over punk shit. So normal life....

They are being told osut may be getting cut from 22 weeks down to 16 weeks, possible skuttlebutt..?
A quick search has shown that the Army likes to change that around periodically depending on needs, I take it the Army feels they have the luxury of dropping 6 weeks worth of training.
Reading just now how short some basic training was during ww2.. just a few weeks for even front line infantry.
On the job training I suppose..

Not a HSLD dude. Combat Engineer. Squad Leader during Desert Storm. 10 years AD. No regerts.

That said, if I had do overs, I'd re-class as a cook. Absolutely.

The Army went from 16 weeks to 22 because they had to physically condition off-the-street American kids to pass the PT test as well as traverse terrain over distance with combat loads without foot, knee, hip, and back injuries.  Today's eligible-to-enlist kid (many with some kind of waiver) tends to be soft and fat.

Add "Stoopy Camp" (those whom English is a second language, or need to have functional or remedial reading, writing, and 'rithmetic instruction) and/or "Fat Camp" (dropping some LBs and getting some base physical conditioning).

Because the Army has been short on recruiting mission two years in a row, they are considering-planning on sending some of the un-tasked Drill Sergeant bodies back to the force early.

Great explanation, thank you.

So the scuttlebutt may be true, several famalies on his units FB page also claim their SIT is telling them the same.
He is being told they may be the first ones to cycle through at 16 weeks. He is hoping so.

He has mentioned there are a few in his unit that had to go to the remedial basic training before going to actual basic training, claims they are slow in every possible way. They just can't STFU. Some are 2~3x recycled, trying to make a career out of training. At some point they need to just be sent home but that's out of my wheelhouse.

Just got off the phone with him, he asked for some books. I'm sending him Richard Marcinko "The Rouge Warrior" and Stephen Ambrose "Citizen Soldier" plus some stationary.

Got an Abnb reserved and flights will be reserved this week, his girlfriend asked us if we can take her to N.Carolina in the rental like it's just a hop and skip to see her brother.
I really hope my boy does not breed with this girl..lol
She is a sweetie but damn she is lacking common sense completely.

He said he has two buddies rolling with him, they all want to go to the infantry museum on post and they all want to sleep half the day away the first day and they all want to go to some all you can eat buffet.
I'll get a ton of shrimp, steaks, homemade mashed potatoes and stuff to BBQ one of the nights and FISH...!!!
I decided not to give my boy a beer, I trust him but I don't know how the others will react and frankly I forsee bad shit so I'll not offer any to anyone, I'll have a few in front of them...lol

He mentioned he wants to hit up a car lot one of the days to look at what they have, I told him I can't tell him no anymore but I can strongly advice against it. I told him wait till his block leave and we can use a day to go look around.

I was a welder (HT).. I tried selling him on a being an MM in the Navy or even a seabee but he wants to outdo me...lol

I was 08/13 RASP and went to Abn before RASP but while I was in airborne I had "leg" Rangers with tan berets in my Airborne class. So I guess Batt can't make up their mind which way they want to play it.

Definitely had some Opt 40 guys I was in with VW first day of pre RASP because they just wanted to go to the 82nd or 173rd.

RASP was a good time. You'll learn a lot about yourself during Cole Range...bleeding from your nipples, groin and dick simultaneously from sand chafing is an experience you'll look back on with a smile

Tell your boy to stop listening to the rumors. They aren't going to shorten his cycle. Shorter cycles will come after his, not his. There is too much training and resources scheduled for each cycle to reduce one midcycle.

Makes sense to wait till the next cycle.

Some SIT got caught with a vape yesterday and he said they are all getting smoked bad for it, his phone time was real short, must be frustrating for the DS, knowing what needs to be done but have their hands tied.

I think he is looking forward to that...lol
He said they have been spending alot of time out in the field overnight and his woobie has been keeping him warm..lol
He thinks they have land nav courses this week.

If he really has an Option 40 contract and has spare time to read, reading Ranger history would be the smart thing to do. Once upon a time, you got tested on it. You also had to have certain things memorized, like the Ranger Creed. The Regiment version not the big army version.

Recruiters have a very tough time, it's high stress with impossible quotas to meet and difficult to complete that tour without mucking up your career.
I spent a few years providing counseling to recruiters to try to keep them from shooting themselves because of the pressure (US Army Chaplains Corps).