User Panel
Joint he Marines. At least youll get the pride .... even if you end up a cook.
|
|
i don't care if he signs up or not. thanks to the internet, the military can now experience Free Market Capitalism and its effects. If they treat people honestly and fairly, they will sign up. If they've treated people poorly, others will go elsewhere. It's what this country is all about, right? |
|||||
|
If you think a time of war is a bad time to enlist, we don't want you. Not now, not ever. Nobody in the military gets a paycheck to be a coward. If you even think that you might have an issue with going to war, keep walking. They can put an MOS in your contract. It will usually be a career field, and will always be subject to the needs of the Army. Getting it is simple. When you go to MEPS, don't sign without getting the option you want. If they won't give it to you, and you are otherwise qualified, thank them for their time and ask them to contact your recruiter to take you home. Recruiters are at your mercy. We can only do as much for(or against) you as you are willing to take. If the recruiters you are dealing with won't help you, find another one. If you can't,IM me and I will find you one. |
|
|
Wasteing your breath. He does this on all the enlisting posts. |
||
|
that's a hell of a position to put a 17 or 18 y/o in. i was raised in a family that was above board and honest, almost to a fault. To expect an 18 y/o to be street savy is unreasonable, and some of these recruiters know it. Fortunately for me my recruiter was very honest and straight forward. It was the military organizaiton istself that screwed me. They need to make a few changes. |
||
|
Luckily, as a National Guard recruiter, I am typically filling established slots in a unit. My recruits are able to see the job they will be doing and occaisionally meet the people they are to be working with. Thusfar, I haven't had any that had high enough scores to pick from more than a couple of jobs. I have been recruiting for about 3 weeks now, and have learned one very important thing. Dishonesty here will ruin your pool of recruits. Everyone here knows someone in the Guard, and all of them seem to base their decisions on what these people tell them. If you screw one of them, everyone in town will know about it within a few weeks. The active duty recruiters don't have to deal with this problem, and are able to be dishonest with little, if any, problem. That said, it pays to do research, and it pays to read everything you sign. Do not let recruiters push you around, and do not let them pressure into doing anything you aren't comfortable with. |
|||
|
That's why this is such a great place for him to ask questions. A lot of people have been through and know how to direct him better than anyone else. If I had this forum when I joined who knows how things would have turned out for me. Can't say I'm complaining... I got what I wanted but a little moe knowledge would have been a little more power.
|
|
And you base this particular piece of bullshit on what, exactly???????????? |
|
|
Mine didn't, nor did I know of any who did. |
|
|
I want all of you who posted on this thread to go to your local recruiter and enlist or re-enlist!
move out and draw fire! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sorry about the late reply.. Fridays are long for me. I was looking for a long while at going for Ranger, but they require a score of 1 in the eye category. I need correction to be able to see 20/20, so that pretty much screws that idea (for now, at least.. dunno if they would accept a candidate with laser surgery). I know this sounds bad, but I never signed up for 11X because I doubt I would ever measure up. I've never been tested to the extremes physically and mentally-wise, and I really don't think I have the stuff. |
||||
|
You're right. A piss-poor attitude like that won't fly in the Rangers. If you believe you don't have the stuff...You don't have it. No shame in that though. |
|||||
|
Unless you are really soft, you can make it. I made it through Marine Corps boot camp, and all the other training with asthma, not to mention being completely out of shape. If you don't believe you can do it, it will be much easier to quit when it gets tough. If you don't have physical problems, you can be built up physically. The Drill Sergeants at Ft. Benning get thousands of recruits a year that have never wored out or run a day in their lives. They will start you out at a level you can handle and build you up to the level you need to be. It will be challanging mentally, but again, nothing that millions of others haven't been through successfully. If you want to be an infantryman, suck it up and be an infantryman. It is hard. In fact, it may be the hardest thing you ever do. But if you can get your mind right, you can get through it. That said, there is no shame in serving as something besides an infantryman. At least you are serving. |
|||||
|
Still waiting on why it is a bad time to enlist. (Marine 0311) |
|
|
I assume that he thinks the only time military service is a good idea is when there is no chance that you may have to earn your pay. Luckily, cowardice is not contagious. |
||
|
Goonboss - I know it sounds strange, but it's one of those irrational feelings I get. I'm completely willing to take on something like the Rangers (eye issue?), but the Special Forces has been so completely cloaked in story almost to the point of legend, I just feel like I can't compete.
|
|
Regardless, if it is something you want to do, man up and do it. The worst thing that can happen is you do your best and fail. There is no shame in that. Not doing something that you want to do is a different matter entirely. If you want to do it, you will regret not even trying. |
|
|
This is true. You take a practice test and then can pick from what jobs you qualify for. Only if you get the same score or better on the real test, can you get that job. As well as passing the physical. It helps you know exactly when you can ship. |
|
|
Not true anymore. The recruiter actually reserves the training seat now. |
|
|
Your right he doesnt need to answer you.
He is stepping up to defend our country. Make sure you select Airborne Infantry Or if you dont want Infanrty get what you want and if you dont get it walk out of the MEPs station because until you raise you hand you are not obligated to jack. If you are a HS grad you should be getting a $10-20K bonus more most shortage MOS'es. Im me if you need help or have any questions. FREE
|
|
|
Oops. I meant 18X in those posts, sorry about the confusion. What does 11X do? |
||
|
Are you just pulling this stuff out of your ass? |
|
|
I did and they all went to Parade rest and said..SFC you are already in the ARMY
FREE
|
|
|
I think Slaughter's afraid they dont have Tampex dispensors at Basic.
FREE
|
||
|
Special Forces is tough to get into, but you will have a long way to go before you even get started in that pipeline. Infantry and Airborne training will give you plenty of testing both mental and physical. |
|||
|
Exactly. It is all in your mind. You feel as though that you are unable to compete, but if you set your mind to it, and prepare yourself physically and mentally you should be able to make it through. I'm not saying that it is going to be easy, 'cause it won't be, but you will be capable of it. Not every member of the SF community was a lean-mean killing machine from birth. For most I believe that it is all a learned skill. Sure there is talent, but most saw that they wanted it and grabbed for it. You will always kick yourself if you don't try, you'll never know how it would have worked out. The worst thing that can happen is that you wash out, but you tried. You won't have to be a gun show SEAL for the rest of your life either. BTW: Rangers aren't quite Special Forces A friend of mine is finishing up AIT with the Army Reserves. He is/will be an 11B who will be attached to the 415th CA BN in Kalamazoo. I've been told that Civil Affairs types often have priority when it comes to schools like Airborne and Ranger (not sure if that's true, you might want to look into it). I think that it comes from the fact that they are often deployed in small groups with other units (including Airborne and Rangers) so the training is made more readily available. I do know that my friend was offered a shot at Airborne school straight out of basic, even before he went to AIT. He turned it down because he wanted to be going to school next fall (ROTC). This is something that I heard pretty much straight from the horse's mouth. My CAP unit meets at the same Reserve center that the 415th is based out of, so we heard it from the Maj who offered the slot, not from my friend. You might want to look into Civil Affairs or Psy Ops. However, you might want to take anything I say with a grain of salt because I have no real military experience (and therefore I might just be speaking out of my @$$). !@#%ing asthma! After I told an Army recruiter that I had asthma, he was off the phone within 10 seconds. So asthma is still a big deal for recruiters, at least up until about a year ago. |
|
|
I know Rangers aren't Special Forces, but my sentence structures might have screwed that one up. To clarify: I definitely would plan for Rangers if my eyesight was a 1 on the physical right now, but be it as it is, I have to plan for something else and go for it if the opportunity arises. If I get the chance for laser eye surgery, and the Ranger school accepts candidates with laser eye surgery, I will sieze that opportunity. SF is a whole 'nother enchilada.
And no, no jobs like that for me. I want to be in the middle of the action (or at least in the general vicinity). That's why I'm leaning towards 19D. Second choice is 91W, third choice is 11B. |
|
Ranger Battalion soldiers and Ranger school graduates are not the same thing. If you can get your vision corrected, do it and try to get a Ranger option contract. This will give you a shot at RIP after Airborne school, and will give you a shot at getting into one of the Batts. And get that defeatist shit out of your head. You either want it bad enough to give it a shot or you simply don't want it bad enough. |
|
|
Is infantry the only MOS that can go for the actual Ranger Battalion? Say I finish my scout and airborne training. Does that mean I'm not eligible for a Ranger Battalion? |
||
|
I'm sure you could work your way into the Batts from just about any MOS. However, there are two things that you need to know.
1. Rangers are light infantry. No Bradleys, no Cav, no need for 19Ds. 2. 19Ds are not going to be anyone's first choice for Airborne school. If you want Airborne, the Infantry is going to be your best shot. I don't think there are any Airborne slots in Cav units, and I am almost certain that there are none in heavy infantry units. As a 19D, your chancess of getting into a Batt are going to seriously drop if they don't disappear completely. |
|
I can't help you with your fear. Go out and beat it. |
|
|
|
|||
|
Mine didn't lie to me. I also knew exactly what my MOS would be prior to MEPS. (I went to MEPS once w/my recruiter and then went home because they didn't have the available slot. My recruiter let me take all the tests I wanted prior to signing anything. His son was in my Battalion and we became good friends. He did play patriotic videos every time at I met with him though... |
|
|
Well crap. Do the enlistment contracts generally give you a choice of initial station? If so, I'll probably scrounge around the net a bit more and find units that consist of light scouts. I'm pretty much set that I'm going for 19D, the rest is optional. If a Ranger Battalion would take an airborne-qualified 'light scout' (AKA, hoofing it), then I know what my life's goal is. |
|
|
No 19Ds in Ranger Batt. You may still be able to get Ranger School and, Airborne. Ask for it at MEPS. |
||
|
Recruiters do not do contracts, MEPS does Here's how it works: 1) You go to MEPS, get your physical, take the ASVAB, and eventually make it to the Army office... 2) Army office personell go over the MOSes that are available and which you qualify for -you pick one of these. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE CHOICES, YOU CAN ELECT NOT TO JOIN AT THIS TIME, AS YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED UP YET! 3) It is written into your contract that you are enlisting for MOS (whatever), but if you fail to complete your training you will be reclassified to meet the needs of the Army (eg if you bolo out of 13F (Arty Fwd Observer) AIT they may send you to be a 15G (helo repair)).... 3) You sign contract at MEPS (which WILL include the MOS), go to BCT, then AIT, then your unit... What your recruiter was talking about is his ability to make sure that the MOS you want will be available the day you go to MEPS, so that you can sign a contract for it... MOS-in-writing is SOP for the Army (due to size and an extreme need for people), but NOT SOP for the other services, with the AF & Navy not being as needy for the people, and the USMC being too small to support such a program.... The only cautionary statement left is that if you are being promised a school (such as, say AIRBORNE) than make sure that is written as well.... Anything they say you 'can do' after BCT or AIT (such as OCS or WOFT - although you can enlist for either (instead of a MOS) if you qualify) should not be expected to happen... |
|
|
Dude, you need to decide what you want to do. If you want to be a Ranger, start out right and get an 11X contract with a Ranger option. If you ever want to do more than just talk about being in Special Forces, this is probably going to be your best bet. Being in the infantry and being a Ranger will do a damn sight better in preparing you for SFAS and the Q-course than you could ever hope for as a 19D.
I'm still somewhat new to the Army and to Army recruiting, so I'm not completely familiar with all of the available jobs, but I don't think there even is such a thing as a "light scout". Regardless, you aren't going to get a duty station preference in an initial contract, unless you join the National Guard, in which case they will plug you into an available slot that will be more or less predetermined. You can't have it whatever way you want it. I am telling you this as an honest recruiter. If you want to be a Ranger or an 18-anything, 19D is NOT going to be the best route. You can probably make it to Ranger school one day, but there is still a world of difference between the tab and the scroll. |
|
The Army, by-and-large, does not link performance in BCT to MOSes... They tend to treat contracts as set-in-stone and unless you fail out of BCT (eg get kicked out of the Army) or AIT (get re-classed) you WILL keep your MOS... Whereas other services (Air Force, for one) link the award of a job (AFSC, i beleieve they call it) to performance in basic, the Army does not... I joined the Army in November of 04, and everyone came to BCT with their jobs locked in, and everyone was told 'we can't change your MOS, don't ask'.... I have met a few folks who were re-classed for being injured or being too stupid to pass their AIT. 'Injured' was an 11B and is now a 15U (Chinook crewman) in Korea. 'Stupid' is awaiting being kicked out of his 2nd AIT for continuous misconduct.... And of course, myself, who should have known better than to sign up for OCS with zero military experience..... I was going to be an Armor LT, now I'm an E-4 15G... |
|
|
As of now, they are enlisting folks to go straight to SF, ergo 18X... FAIR WARNING: Like any special program, you had better be able to excel in all aspects or you'll end up re-classed 'needs of the Army' ... So if you bolo a PT test, or get hurt in training, you may find yourself pumping gas or fixing Blackhawk engines.... I have personal experience with this - had I enlisted 19K I'd be in a tank in Iraq (or just coming back) right now... But instead I thought 'I can become a LT right off the bat' and signed up for OCS... I am now a helicopter mechanic. Enlisting for SF, like enlisting for officer training or flight school, WILL give you a career kick-in-the-pants (read more rank and pay quicker) if you can make it thru... If you don't,, well... best have 5 other MOSes you'd like to do in mind for your re-class memo... P.S. SF Isn't what the movies make 'em out to be... You're right about the myth & legend... The primary mission of SF is to advise/train/lead freindly foreign forces... Yes, they are very capable of ass kicking on their own, but the primary mission is more along the lines of what we saw in Afghanistan, where the Northern Alliance suddenly went from 'barely holding on' to taking over the entire country.... Rangers aren't SF - the Army consideres them a special operations component - they report to SOCOM (as opposed to FORSCOM (Forces Command, the command responsible for 'line' combat units such as 82nd ABN or 3rd INF)) and basically fit the shock-trooper/ass-kicker mission moreso than the actual SF does.... Ergo when you want to capture some warlord in Somolia, you send in Delta & the Rangers... When you want to alter the course of a civil war, or change the government of Afghanistan with minimal overt US troop involvement, then you call SF.... That said, I agree with the above poster - you have a better chance of success if you start out with a contract for 11X & Ranger school (get the school in your contract too, not just the MOS), then go SF when you have some genuine experience under your belt... I know... Oh, have fun at Benning... You'll get to experience the full range of wonderful Georgia weather .... |
||||
|
Didja go to school at 29 Stumps?? I trained there because I was promised avionics and wound up in freaking radar operators school! |
||
|
There are a other MOS's in the Ranger batts. I know a former supply guy (net the supply sergeant, but his assistant whatever their position is), and cook from 2nd batt. They also need medics too, as well as the admin types at headquarters. Until it was opened up to all MOS's last year, it was the only way for some MOS's to get into Ranger school.
They all have to be airborne qualified, and go through RIP to get into a batallion. They also do a lot more infantry type training than any other pogues, almost to the point that they aren't true pogues anymore. From what the two guys I know told me, they really almost should just get 11B as a secondary MOS. Hell they know more than a recruit just coming out of OSUT, or a NG MOS qualification course. |
|
He is correct... What the recruiter MAY BE ABLE TO DO is call MEPS and make sure that that MOS will be available for you when you go (assuming you pass physical/ASVAB requirements).... The 'career counselor' at MEPS is the one who actually makes your contract & puts the MOS (and follow-on schools (eg Ranger and/or Airborne), if any) in... A final note: The ARMY does not, as a rule, micky-mouse with MOSes like the others - it's standard practice to put your MOS in your contract, and they DO follow that contract. The only folks who join the Army without a MOS in writing are commissioned officer candidates, there is no equivalent to the MOS-at-basic setup (Air Force) or 'striking' (Navy) in Army terms.. HOWEVER, the 'get it in writing or be duped' schpele DOES apply to (A) BONUSES & INCENTIVES and (B) FOLLOW ON SCHOOLS. If your recruiter promised you money for something, or a date with the 11th (Airborne or OCS) or 75th (Ranger) make sure that's what's on paper, or it doesn't exist..... |
||
|
+1 I got an 85 on the ASVAB and my recruiter tried to talk me out of going Infantry. |
||||
|
Why would you come to the Internet to ask this when you simply could have had the Recruiter explain what this system is. Now you have 4 pages of mostly uninformed responses. The answer is yes this is for real. The Recruiter makes a MEPS training seat reservation over the internet. My laptop will have a wireless broadband cell card shortly to use for this new system. You only have 7 days to enlist thereafter because if you do not enlist, your Recruiter just locked a Basic/AIT combo that might have been used for another enlistment. Each training seat is $75k. A non shipped seat is something like $15k. People who hesitate over a confirmed seat just possibly made another soldier wait 45days more before they can ship out. So yes this is legit. Now go sign up. |
|
|
awesome! |
||
|
I enlisted as a 19D on my second trip to MEPS, first trip no school seats where available. With a high ASFAB score the counceler tried to talk me into other more technical MOS, as I was getting up to leave without enlisting for the second time a seat suddenly opened up for 19D OSUT. If you are qualified you can get the job you want, you may have to wait for new classes to be scheduled (end of fiscal year is a bad time to go) but eventually there will be an opening.
Get jump school, air assault, ect in your contract if thats what you want, almost imposible to go later if you go to a heavy unit. AFAIK there is no way to know what kind of unit you will go to, jump schools increase the chance of going to a light unit but dosnt ensure it. (had one new troop with shiny new wings get realy disapointed showing up in Gary Owen and seing the Bradleys). As a Cav Scout you can end up on Bradleys, HMMWVs, Strikers or on foot. If you want to step up to SF they are almost always trying to recruit those already through with training. At Carson I knew two Scouts that went SF (wonder if the one still shaves his chest and dates fat chicks?). See ya on the high ground. |
|
That would be 1st, 3rd or 4th ID. 2nd(with the exception of 1 brigade and DivHQ) will be all Stryker BCTs. Also, you will probably be riding a Bradley. |
||
|
I'ld bet there are certain MOS's that Recruiters can put on the contract for you. Chronically undermanned MOS's, plain old everyday Infantry, I'm sure there are MOS'sd that are so sad that if a Recruiter can get somebody to agree to, ain't nobody going to try to talk him out of it. |
||
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.