Introduction - Stephen

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Templar
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Introduction - Stephen

Post by Templar »

Hello Rangers,

My name is Stephen, I'm 17 years old, and I just finished 11th grade. I have been to my local recruiting station twice and told them my intention is to enlist with an 11X Option 40 contract. I am hoping to enlist soon but I doubt my parents will sign off for me, so I will probably be enlisting sometime in early 2021 when I turn 18.

I am currently training with a friend for the cross-country team in the fall. My preparation for RASP includes running on the cross-country team as well as doing calisthenics and rucking on my own time, taking cold showers, and making my life suck in other fun ways.

I hope to learn as much as possible from this site to prepare myself mentally and physically for RASP and Ranger Battalion.

PT scores will be uploaded within 72 hours.
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Disinfertention
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by Disinfertention »

Hey Stephen,

Thanks for your interest.

Why do you think your parents won't be supportive of you joining the Army?
Why do you think you need or want to join the 75th Ranger Regiment?

This site has decades of experience for people like you trying to join.
USASOC 2015-2023
HHC 2/75 2012-2015
HHC & Cco 1/75 2010-2012
OCS Cadre 2007-2010
Cco 3/75 2003-2007
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Templar
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by Templar »

Thank you for the reply Ranger Disinfertention,

I recently told my parents about my desire to join the 75th Ranger Regiment. My mom is worried (of course) but overall accepting of it. My dad thinks I am too close-minded and that I should keep my options open, especially because I have good grades. He is more concerned about mental illness than me getting killed. He also doubts I will be able to complete RASP (which he knows very little about).

In summary, I think they will ultimately allow me to join, but they are not ready for me to "rush into" enlistment.

I have been thinking about the Army for 2 years. I originally wanted to join the 82nd. My interest in special operations started once I read online that most "big army" infantrymen mostly mop the floors and don't do their actual job. (However I don't want to be a Ranger simply to avoid mopping floors.) After I learned more about the intense training, frequent deployment and special skills of the Rangers, I was hooked. The reasons I want to be a Ranger are because of the high adrenaline, strong commitment/discipline and service to country. I always have striven to be the best I can be at any task I pursue, and after thinking about this for a few months I cannot picture myself doing anything else.

I also forgot to mention that I am currently working on my Eagle Scout project. I am planning to build a picnic table for my local VA hospital.

I will conduct a PFT test tomorrow and upload my scores.
11X OPT 40
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by CharlieRanger1FFV »

Welcome to the site, Stephen.


RLTW!!!
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C co (Ranger) 75th (Abn) Inf, II Corps Rangers, 70 - 71 Viet Nam
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by IntelToad »

Welcome here Stephen.
S-2, HQ 75th, 1985-1987
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by Templar »

Thank you Ranger CharlieRanger1FFV and Ranger IntelToad.

These are my current PFT scores:

APFT:
Pushups: 43 (61%)
Situps: 70 (88%)
2 mi. run: 16:48 (48%)
TOTAL: 197

Pullups: 12

ACFT:
Leg Tuck: 12 (84%)
Hand-Release Pushup: 35 (75%)
2 mi. run: 16:48 (78% in contrast to 48% on APFT)

I assume you are not as concerned with the ACFT scores as the APFT scores. Obviously I could not complete the whole ACFT because I don't have the equipment.
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by Disinfertention »

Templar wrote: July 10th, 2020, 7:54 pm Thank you for the reply
There is always lots of doubt that people will give you. People naturally have aversion to things that are preconceived as hard or very difficult or especially those things that have consequences. If it was easy, everyone would do it and no one would doubt that you could make it. It is a natural reaction for people to doubt you. It's up to you to ignore it, show up to the selection, and give it what you can. The processes of selection exist for a reason. It's not simply a pass or fail thing although those events do exist. You can show up at a selection, do nothing wrong, but not make it. That isn't failure.

Generally I consider it healthy when folks show up and want to be apart of the community and want to avoid the rest of the Army. It's a form of motivation for each of you. But it also gives you a twisted view of the conventional military. Sometimes it is true. Based on the requirements that Regiment has you are definitely going to train to your profession most every day. But you're definitely going to do plenty of things that are distractions and not just grunt work or cool stuff. I'd say the military in general is about 10% doing the stuff you thought you'd do and 90% of "what the fuck am I doing here" type of stuff. No one wants to see recruitment videos of how to file EO violations or why being a jerk is bad... but we do all that training too.

ACFT scores are better... The Army is going to it eventually. Although I am not sure of that timeline now considering recent events with COVID and whatnot. Train to both the best you can and within your abilities. Those are great scores and good starting points.

Have fun with your Eagle Scout project. Let us know how it goes.
USASOC 2015-2023
HHC 2/75 2012-2015
HHC & Cco 1/75 2010-2012
OCS Cadre 2007-2010
Cco 3/75 2003-2007
Ranger School 09-04
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by Templar »

Roger Ranger Disinfertention.
11X OPT 40
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by Templar »

Rangers,

I have a good amount of updates. Firstly, my parents and I went to the recruiting office today, mainly to answer any questions my parents had. It was my third time, my mom's second time and my dad's first time there. We met with two recruiters, one of whom is a former 1st Batt infantryman and sniper. He spoke with us for a while and then he had to leave early, so we continued the discussion with a prior big army infantryman. They both cleared up my dad's presumed stereotype that most infantryman are dumb and have no other choice but the infantry. Both of my parents are accepting of it now, although my dad still is and always will be skeptical.

The recruiters informed me of a new development that may prevent me from obtaining my Opt. 40. They explained that most high schoolers around the country graduate in May, ship out in early June, go to 22 week OSUT and can be done with RASP by December. However in NY, we graduate in late June. Now that they are switching to 22 week OSUT, I would be finishing OSUT in Nov/Dec, and RASP wouldn't start until January, therefore the army won't want to pay me to sit around for 2 months and they won't give me an Opt. 40. He is probably telling the truth but I will call 75th Ranger Recruiting to be sure.

So, I could either volunteer for RASP in OSUT, enlist later in the year to get an Opt. 40, or graduate high school early. To my surprise, my mom is in favor of the latter. I wouldn't mind graduating early since the plan as of now is we will only be going to school 2 days/week. 3 days/week will be online and I am not looking forward to it. I really only need to take two more classes to graduate so I will ask my counselor about it.

I conducted an APFT today. The scores are as follows:

Pushups: 45 (64%)
Situps: 56 (65%)
2 mi. run: 17:02 (43%)
TOTAL: 172

Pullups: 15

The pushup and situp scores did not shock me, but the run time did. I haven't been doing calisthenics as much as I should, but I have been running quite a bit. This was a wake-up call for me. I will make no exceptions to avoiding training in the future.

My friend and I are still training for the cross-country team. He has been on the team before and I haven't. From what he says, once the season starts, I should be running 6 min. miles in no time. (We are one of the top teams in New York State.) As of now, sports are still set to run, but it all depends on what King Cuomo of NY says. I believe Cuomo is making an announcement on sports on Monday.
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by Templar »

Thank you Wazzle and Ranger Lunch.

I live on Long Island, suburban area about an hour from NYC.

Like you stated Wazzle, I've been told that it shouldn't be difficult to get a RASP slot at OSUT, but I will definitely do my best to obtain an Opt. 40. If I must wait a year, I will make the most of it and take some college courses.

This morning Cuomo stated that lower-risk sports, including cross-country, may begin on September 21st. The virus in my area is pretty much over, so unless there is a major outbreak I don't see this plan changing.
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by Templar »

Rangers,

Let me know if my posts are too long. I will try to only include the relevant details.

I called and emailed 75th Ranger Recruiting about what my recruiters told me regarding Option 40 contracts. All I was told is that I can volunteer at OSUT. I also DMed @75_ranger_recruiting on Instagram and received the following reply:
"Ft. Benning does not close, yes there is a Christmas exodus but that does not effect anything training wise. You would graduate OSUT and then go to RASP from where you would then go on Christmas exodus but it does not stop you from getting the contract or attending RASP. More than likely your recruiter doesn't see any contracts available and is just making up reasons."

I told my recruiter this and he said that 75th Recruiting told him the opposite. A day later he told me that he had made a mistake, and the 75th was right. I went to the office yesterday, and a new recruiter introduced himself and told me something new. Apparently, USAREC deals with civilians and 75th Ranger Recruiting mostly deals with current soldiers who want to become Rangers. To sum it up, this new recruiter said he can and will get me an Option 40 as long as they are available, but that HE is the only one I can trust, and other recruiters' information is false. He also called Ft. Knox so I could hear them say that there are no Opt. 40s shipping out in July 2021 as of now.

The only thing I am skeptical of is that he told me the fiscal year plays no role in new contracts. I am pretty sure that new Opt. 40 contracts are released in October.

So, the recruiter and I agreed that I won't enlist until an Opt. 40 becomes available, at which point he would call me and we would be going to the MEPS hotel immediately so the contract doesn't disappear.

As of now, I am no longer considering graduating from high school early.

A mere 10 days before the cross-country season started, all sports were postponed until January. I will continue to train independently. I ran 2 miles in 15:12 last week. (70 points APFT, 88 points ACFT). I am happy with the progress.

Regarding the miscommunication between different recruiting commands, I would have liked to call the Rangers with my recruiter, but I'm not sure who to call. I previously called and left a message at (706) 545-5124, the number shown on 75thrangerregiment.org, but they never pick up and it seems that that number is more for soldiers than civilians. I saw in a different post here that I should call the 75th Ranger Regiment RASP contact phone number, but that doesn't seem like it exists from what I searched online.
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Re: Introduction - Stephen

Post by Templar »

Rangers,

Today I did my first real ruck in several months. I did roughly 4.4 miles (flat, paved) in 1 hour with a 25 lb. ruck. I was surprised because I wasn’t even trying that hard, just a brisk walk.

I have not been to the recruiting office since my last post, but I plan on starting the enlistment process soon. I will keep you all posted.
11X OPT 40
SHIP DATE: 20210713
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