day to day life

[DGhost]

Skyline - accidents like that happen everywhere, not just in the military, not just in the Rangers...

look at the odds of dying in a car accident... shit... i would rather die working for something (even if it is in a training excercise) knowing that i have been something than be killed on my way to work by some asshole who doesn't stop for a red light. as long as i have a chance to take some motherfuckers down with me i'll be happy.

death is a part of life. to have one you have to have the other. in order to live, you must risk dying. people who let go of their fear of death go further than those who don't. in all aspects of life.

personally, i agree that the 18 and 19 year old kids don't know shit about what they are getting into. this is real. life and death. pain and anger. killing without hesitation. the chance of catching a bullet in the head and being dead before you hit the ground. yeah, lots of shit that the recruiter doesn't mention. lots of things that people conveniently don't mention.

and did anybody you know go out and not come back?

shit, son... that hurt me to read... and the question wasn't even addressed to me...

fuck... talk to just about any random civilian of a decent age and they will have known someone who has died. talk to anyone in the military for long enough and i guarantee that they will have known someone who has died. this is no different, except the quality and caliber of the men involved. this is part of life, and an even larger part of any soldiers life. let alone a warriors.

last i checked "I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy" is still in the Creed.

Rangers never forget.

[Skyline]

The questions are for anyone interested in replying.

Im asking because Im curious and I want to know.

If the response invloves emotion, thats fine. I am indifferent to whether you want to share that or not.

I am not interested in how the question makes you feel.

Im struggling with fighting to maintain the exclusivity and repetitiveness of a federal government I dont always agree with, which is staffed with those that will never see the direct effects of war firsthand,

and helping Americans stay alive; my brothers, cousins, friends, and their family, all of whom will be directly affected on the front lines.

Dont call me son. Dont get condescending. Dont tell me that I hurt your feelings. Because I dont care if I did. Im not trying to make friends. Im gathering information.

Go get a maxi pad to dry your eyes with. And you can use the little wings on it if theres no one else around, to give yourself a hug.

Have a nice day.

[Sniper]

Let me break it down like so a kindergartner could understand.

When you guys were all in, how often did you come across people that would have been interested in killing you (given the chance)

Now if you know the mission and role rangers play that question is self explanatory , but if you really need an answer just about every scumbag I came across off of US soil wanted to kill me or any of my Ranger Buddies. When we go somewhere excluding training we aren't going to have tea and friggen krimpets with them we are there to KILL them so naturally they are going to want to KILL us and as many of us as possible.

did anybody you know go out and not come back?

Let me give you some insight here we train hard everyday and believe it or not we loose a few of people in training as we do in real combat. so most of us with some extensive years in Batt more than likely have loss a ranger buddy , friend and ultimately a brother.

so hopefully that does answer your questions.

[Earthpig]

Earth Pig,

How common are accidents like that?

.

I would say very common. On every battalion airborne op, there are 2-3 (at least) who get injured. In static line jumps, for instance, a guy five people in front of you can throw his static line to the jump master (instead of hand it) and it can potentially bounce back and wrap around YOUR arm, just as you're leaving the aircraft. If that happens, you just have a bone for an arm, as it rips all the meat down to your lower forearm.

It's a hazardous profession......if that worries you, you might want to re-think your motives for enlisting (or at least for going Ranger).

RLTW
EP

[DGhost]

listen up, son...

first off, i can call you whatever the fuck i feel like...

second off, I understand curiousity and I understand wanting to know, but some questions (like the one i quoted earlier) are just retarded to ask... of course people here know people who have not come back. that is the nature of the duty. seriously, are you so clueless that you acctually had to ask that question? not only is that fucking stupid, its also incredably tactless... you sounded like a clueless teenage girl who just found out that there are poor people in this world - *shocked* "You mean there are acctually people who don't have any money? that, like, sucks!"

you are dangerously close to pissing on the graves of those who have died in the line of duty by asking stupid questions like that. not just Rangers, but any soldier in any branch.

get a fucking clue... think twice before you post shit...

and here is where i insert a hearty "Fuck Off"...

[Skyline]

Sniper and EP,

Thanks for your insight. It is appreciated.

And other guy, whatever your name is, I hope you dont ever get your face shot off. Seriously.

[Creeping Death]

......... fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession ...........

This ain't the Butt Pirate Bowling League you're going out for, Skyline. You need to be sure this is what you want before you commit.

Ranger training is dangerous. It is meant to be dangerous. Sure, I have my own stories, just like everyone else does.

I will say that during my three year enlistment, I never saw combat. I have no confirmed kills. I have gotten to know the Grim Reaper, though, cause I did look death square in the face more than a couple of times, and walk away practically unscathed. I have my scars, just like everyone else. During my enlistment, there were Rangers that were seriously injured in training, and some that died. Luckily, nothing ever happened to me that I could never walk away from - but my asshole did pucker up a time or two, though.

I should caution you about one important point. Glory hounds will get people killed. That is one reason that few glory hounds make it in Bat. Men that need the glory should explore opportunities in the SEALs, or some other unit. Rangers are silent professionals.

I have seen men injured. I have seen dead bodies dragged out of the water. And, most recently, I have seen grieving mothers and wives, sitting before a flag draped coffin. And I have damn near had to shed a tear myself as they folded that flag and handed it to this man's very young son - who will never know his father. And, to be honest, at that moment I felt like killing every fucking war protester in this country. My friend will never know his son because he gave his life so some stupid bitch in Seatlle can talk shit about GWB. But, if you fight for freedom, you sometimes fight for things you don't agree with. You have to keep politics out of it. Rangers are warriors, not ambassodors or politicians.

You must decide for yourself if you want to volunteer to do a very dangerous job without hesitation, or without asking questions. Rangers depend on their Ranger buddies for survival, and if you stop to question anything, your Ranger buddy dies, and if your Ranger buddy dies - you die. If you sit there thinking how dangerous something is, you are thinking instead of doing. This means you are hesitating. If you hesitate, your buddy dies. If your buddy dies, you die. Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Get it?

[Sniper]

Preach it Creeping.


Amen.

[DGhost]

fookin Hooah CD/Leatherneck.

Amen.

[PaleHorseRider]

question, jsut to clarify so i know if i see one i can steer clear, but what do you mean exactly by a glory hound....what does one do that gets people killed?

[Creeping Death]

My definition of a glory hound is a person who seeks admiration from others by associating witha certain group of people.

Glory hounds want to be CALLED Rangers, or SEALs, etc. They want to have stories to tell so that everyone thinks they are a tough guy. The guys that are the real deal don't care what they are called, they just want to do the job.

If all you are interested in is coming home in your Tan beret to make all the girlies wet their panties, stay home. If you want to be miserable. If you want to be hungry. I you want to do a shitty job, cause somebody has to do it, why not you - then Bat. may just be the place for you.

Glory hounds care more about how they are being perceived that what they are actually doing. In Ranger School, they are also called Spotlight Rangers. A spotlight Ranger is a buddy fucker 99% of the time. But when the RIs are watching, he is the most squared away guy around. He doesn't give a fuck about his buddies, he only cares about himself. And that, my friend, is why he get's people killed.

[Earthpig]

Thankfully, there are not many of those in Battalion (at least in the ENLISTED ranks).

RLTW
EP

[PaleHorseRider]

thanks for the clarification....i know a guy EXACTLY like this who has ranger option in his contract as well......for instance...he has the "airborne'" license plate on his jeep already, has about three Ranger tab stickers on it, for some odd reason has a SEAL sticker on it as well, he's always acting like a complete nerd, i.e. asking our recruiter if he can write his own cadences for the next run us dep'ers do, my friend metal66272 simply refer to this guy as 'the tool'....we honestly dont even know his real name he's just 'the tool'.