What sticks with you?

NeverSayDie · Post by **NeverSayDie** » May 29th, 2011, 1:03 am

Rangers and Vets,

What is your most memorable experience from Regiment/RS/Combat?

why does it stand out?

Flesh Thorn · Post by **Flesh Thorn** » May 29th, 2011, 6:27 am

Door blast on my 19th birthday. Best present I have ever had.

rgrokelley · Post by **rgrokelley** » May 29th, 2011, 7:32 am

NeverSayDie wrote:Rangers and Vets,

What is your most memorable experience from Regiment/RS/Combat?

why does it stand out?

Regiment...
Death of a private in my squad. It defined who I was and the reason the way I act the way I do, afterwards.

Ranger School...
Able to have a cup of coffee and an MRE pound cake or chocolate nut roll each morning. I went out of my way to make sure this happened. When I was chosen as the patrol leader in the desert the R.I. said "what are you going to do now?" Usually, the West Point cadets that surrounded me would go into ultra-ping mode and begin running around with their heads cut off. I sat back and said "I'm going to make a cup of coffee and figure out how to do this". The R.I. grinned and said "see you in a few minutes" and walked away to do the same.

Combat...
Behind lines with 12 guys in three DMVs looking for a Speical Forces team that supposedly had been over run by an Iraqi tank regiment. Twelve guys versus a tank regiment, and we went. On the drive there the sun was just going down and the wind was whipping through the vehicle and we were all heightened to an extreme level.

It felt incredible. We would all be dead most likely in a few minutes, but the feeling was nothing I had ever felt before.

CharlieRanger1FFV · Post by **CharlieRanger1FFV** » May 29th, 2011, 10:48 am

Same, the death of Brothers . . .

scar · Post by **scar** » May 29th, 2011, 11:16 am

The death of brothers will never leave a man who is in our line of work, it will change the way you think and the way you go about things, or atleast it did for me. Ranger BN has taught me to never make the same mistake twice, figure out what you did wrong and fix it. This lesson I'm sure will stay with me forever.

RangerX · Post by **RangerX** » May 29th, 2011, 11:45 am

You are NEVER done running the gauntlet.

Ever.

scar · Post by **scar** » May 29th, 2011, 2:21 pm

RangerX wrote:You are NEVER done running the gauntlet.

Ever.

Truth. A RIP instructor told us one day "you are always going to be a cherry. When you get to BN your a cherry PVT, you go get your tab and you have to prove yourself because you are a cherry SPC 4, then you get a team and your a cherry TL" and so on, I am working on that cherry TL part right now.

fatboy · Post by **fatboy** » May 29th, 2011, 4:24 pm

First time being shot at- hearing the rounds actually crack by my head. First casualties after an IED strike. I remember running back to the truck that was hit and seeing the face plate from an ASIPS radio laying on the ground outside the vehicle.
Having a mortar land 15 yds from me. Talk about puckering...

There's a lot more things like that. Some good, some bad, some just there.

mortar_guy78 · Post by **mortar_guy78** » May 29th, 2011, 5:27 pm

Most memorable experience in Regiment...jumping into JRTC at the end of June and busting brush for 22 straight hours. Our section leader went out on a leader's recon by himself and got lost (he was an import from 82nd). Our mortar section had 4 heat casualties and one worthless scumbag who couldn't carry his weight (Baseplate's roommate) which meant that we all had to take on a shit ton of mission essential gear from the other guys. I jumped in with an 85 lb ruck (11B's had assault packs with max 25lb packing list) and ended up with well over 100lbs. The section ran out of water and I remember thinking to myself "Just one more step and I'm gonna fucking collapse" for about 2 hrs. We ended up toward the last little bit walking 20 min and resting 10. We walked 4 OCs into the ground. Afterwards, we found out that the entire rest of the BN had busted brush for a couple of hours and then said, "Fuck that. We're tactically road marching the rest of the way." To top it off, it was a NEO and the mortars didn't even get called. Our AAR was basically, "Man, you guys are some walking motherfuckers."

Most memorable thing from combat...yeah, dead brothers figures high on this list. On the other hand, I remember watching the sun rise in Kurdistan after jumping in with 173rd and thinking, "Holy shit, we just fucking invaded a country. This is awesome." It was definitely a cool feeling.

Baseplate · Post by **Baseplate** » May 29th, 2011, 8:23 pm

mortar_guy78 wrote:Most memorable experience in Regiment...jumping into JRTC at the end of June and busting brush for 22 straight hours. Our section leader went out on a leader's recon by himself and got lost (he was an import from 82nd). Our mortar section had 4 heat casualties and one worthless scumbag who couldn't carry his weight (Baseplate's roommate) which meant that we all had to take on a shit ton of mission essential gear from the other guys. I jumped in with an 85 lb ruck (11B's had assault packs with max 25lb packing list) and ended up with well over 100lbs. The section ran out of water and I remember thinking to myself "Just one more step and I'm gonna fucking collapse" for about 2 hrs. We ended up toward the last little bit walking 20 min and resting 10. We walked 4 OCs into the ground. Afterwards, we found out that the entire rest of the BN had busted brush for a couple of hours and then said, "Fuck that. We're tactically road marching the rest of the way." To top it off, it was a NEO and the mortars didn't even get called. Our AAR was basically, "Man, you guys are some walking motherfuckers."

Most memorable thing from combat...yeah, dead brothers figures high on this list. On the other hand, I remember watching the sun rise in Kurdistan after jumping in with 173rd and thinking, "Holy shit, we just fucking invaded a country. This is awesome." It was definitely a cool feeling.

Funniest skits of the entire time I was in the army were from that mission.

As for what sticks with me. Well I don't talk about it. you either know what it is or you don't and can't know

Grifter · Post by **Grifter** » May 30th, 2011, 3:35 am

Baseplate wrote:
mortar_guy78 wrote:Most memorable experience in Regiment...jumping into JRTC at the end of June and busting brush for 22 straight hours. Our section leader went out on a leader's recon by himself and got lost (he was an import from 82nd). Our mortar section had 4 heat casualties and one worthless scumbag who couldn't carry his weight (Baseplate's roommate) which meant that we all had to take on a shit ton of mission essential gear from the other guys. I jumped in with an 85 lb ruck (11B's had assault packs with max 25lb packing list) and ended up with well over 100lbs. The section ran out of water and I remember thinking to myself "Just one more step and I'm gonna fucking collapse" for about 2 hrs. We ended up toward the last little bit walking 20 min and resting 10. We walked 4 OCs into the ground. Afterwards, we found out that the entire rest of the BN had busted brush for a couple of hours and then said, "Fuck that. We're tactically road marching the rest of the way." To top it off, it was a NEO and the mortars didn't even get called. Our AAR was basically, "Man, you guys are some walking motherfuckers."

Most memorable thing from combat...yeah, dead brothers figures high on this list. On the other hand, I remember watching the sun rise in Kurdistan after jumping in with 173rd and thinking, "Holy shit, we just fucking invaded a country. This is awesome." It was definitely a cool feeling.

Funniest skits of the entire time I was in the army were from that mission.

As for what sticks with me. Well I don't talk about it. you either know what it is or you don't and can't know

damn straight, funny ass skits..

If memory serves that was the DZ that had horses and shit roaming around on it. My PLT had to med evac a couple of Rangers halfway into that walkabout. We also took a med drop of IV's for the guys near the end. We didnt carry assualt packs for that one though. Ruck heavy for the entire time except the bullshit assualt (only reason I remember that is because I took one of the best power naps of my life on that ruck pad outside the hotel after they Xed that mission and we started the hurry up and wait game). Thats also where a certain 1sg supposedly used a tazer on a chic playing a part out there.

Grifter · Post by **Grifter** » May 30th, 2011, 3:42 am

As to the original post. Fallen brothers...all day everyday. wear em on my wrist as if i might ever forget em.

Life habits. My wife will tell anyone that listens that we are all brain washed the same. Regardless of time frame. Get us together in the less then secure location and we rarely look at each other but carry on full bown conversations. Always scanning for threats. She swears we "go on patrol" anytime we get with another Ranger in public.

RangerX · Post by **RangerX** » May 30th, 2011, 4:03 am

Grifter wrote:
Life habits. My wife will tell anyone that listens that we are all brain washed the same. Regardless of time frame. Get us together in the less then secure location and we rarely look at each other but carry on full bown conversations. Always scanning for threats. She swears we "go on patrol" anytime we get with another Ranger in public.

I've actually had other BTDTs spot
Me because of this at public events.

Head on a swivel.

cbiwv · Post by **cbiwv** » May 30th, 2011, 5:44 am

During Desert Storm we were refueling and we were ambushed by a Republican guard tank unit. A big battle broke out. We destroyed several of their tanks very rapidly. I clearly remember the tank turrents flying into the air. We also lost a few tanks, however, some of them got hit by friendly fire in the confusion. A couple got damaged from enemy fire. One got hit by a T-72 Russian made tank around the motor and it caught fire. After that we were sent out to recon a area for artillery emplacement. I was on a small recon team. We ran into Iraqi Infantry and they pinned us down. We called in artillery fire and it was a sight to see. I got lost by myself for several hours during the night in that desert due to confusion and carelessness on my part and a NCO who was terrified to do his job. I also clearly remember the non stop fire missions the two weeks prior to the main operation. I think I got one hour of sleep a night for a week. I remember all of this like it was yesterday. I don't share these experiences in person. People just don't get it.
I want to add I got through this because of my sense of humor. It still gets me through difficult times, however, I do get misunderstood especially on some of these forums because people can not read into the tone of a message on a message board. Some take what I say way too seriously. In life I have a relentless never give up attitude. I keep going when others turn to alcohol or medication to get them through their day. I understand that life is not fair and not easy. I take it as it comes.

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