Introduction - James

[ibjames1118]

Hello Rangers and everyone else. My name is James, I am 25 years old, and have a bachelors degree in Psychology. I finished a college baseball career in the spring of 07 and got my degree in the fall of that same year. After college I moved back home to work on our family farm and save money so I could attend language school for 9 weeks in Mexico which I did last fall. For several years I have planned on working for the highway patrol to gain the needed experience to someday work in federal law enforcement. Sometime while in Mexico I decided that I would rather go through the Army to gain that experience and have spent the last 4 months researching my options. I have decided against OCS and feel that the enlisted route with the 18x contract would be better for me at this time. I took the asvab last Monday and scored in the 91st percentile so the recruiter said we could continue with that contract. We are now waiting on my line scores so we can set up an appointment at MEPS. The recruiter also gave me a pre Ranger workout to start while he looks for a pre SFAS workout. I start week 2 tomorrow with a 8 mile ruck march.

My question at this point is: What are the chances, if succesful, of being sent to the DLI to learn Spanish and being sent to the 5th SF group? I understand that there is a very high demand for other languages right now, but given the number of Spanish speaking people in the world, and the increasing levels of violence in Latin countries including Mexico, soldiers speaking Spanish would seem to me to still be needed. I may be completely wrong though, for I have no experience in this area. I thank you for the opportunity to be a part of your site and any responses, answers, and/or corrections will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

[Jim]

Well, James, a man has only one opportunity to make a favorable initial impression. So far you are doing well. Here at ArmyRanger.com we focus ourselves on assisting young men prepare themselves to earn a place in the 75th Ranger Regiment. We have had a few go the 18X route, but most are option 40, Ranger. That said, Yes, you can qualify for a shot at Spanish at DLI. However, 7th SFG is more oriented toward Latin America. Never, never quit!

[Ranger Ron]

Welcome to ArmyRanger.com. Please read and heed the ROE PM I just sent you.

[Ranger Bill]

Welcome. Your desire to serve our country is appreciated. After you enlist and proceed through the training pipeline, which in your case will be long and with the odds of making it slim, your language skills and your preferences will be considered, but the needs of the Army will ulitimately dictate the language training you will receive and the Group to which you'll be assigned.

[ibjames1118]

Thank you Ranger Jim, Ranger Ron, and Ranger Bill for the replies. I have read many helpful post on ArmyRanger.com and remember seeing all of your names several times. I appreciate the three of you taking the time to post. Thank you Ranger Jim for the correction on the SF group that is oriented toward Latin America. Exactly the reason why I added that I would also appreciate any corrections. I had a feeling I'd get something confused. Thank you RangerRon for the ROE PM. I will follow as best as I can. Ranger Bill, thank you for the post. I have heard and read about how long the training is and parts of it sure sounds rough. I just started a book called "Masters of Chaos,The Secret History of the Special Forces" and was reading last night about the Q course. Regardless of the length and difficulty I am looking forward to getting started. Thanks again for the post.

Also, I spoke with the recruiter yesterday. He informed me I scored a 125 on the GT section of the ASVAB. We will try to go to MEPS within the next couple of weeks. I also completed day 1, week 2 of the workout he gave me which was an 8 mile ruck march with 1/3 of my body weight (68lbs) in under 2 hours 40 minutes. I made it just under the time limit at 2 hours 35 minutes. I wish I could say it didn't bother me that much but that'd be BS and everybody would know it. I stopped for 3 or 4 minutes at 4 miles to remove a sweater and drink about a half a liter of water. The foothills of these Ozark Mountains started giving me fits around mile 6. I slowed to a pace that felt like it could have been timed with a sun dial but didn't come to a stop. Once again I appreciate any assistance, tips, corrections or guidance.

[Earthpig]

James, nice intro. We have actually had several intelligent intros lately...which is not par.

I would personally suggest laying off the roadmarching. You'll get plenty of that in your training. What we've seen with Future Soldiers doing a lot of rucking is that they all end up with shin splints, stress fractures, and other ailments. You don'tt want to enter the Army...especially in the SpecOps end of it....with injuries.

Instead, I would suggest looking at Ranger Nomad's PT workout. He's almost as flashy as a Navy SEAL, and he knows his shit.

As mentioned, we have several members here who went the SF route. It would be good to research some of their posts. Leatherneck comes immediately to mind as one of our most recent ones.

Please advise us if/when you obtain an 18X contract. Best of luck to you.

RLTW
EP

[ibjames1118]

Thank you Ranger EarthPig for the reply. I appreciate your assistance. It is always nice to hear from experienced indivinduals. I will check out that workout in depth and some of the posts you suggested tonight.

I was supposed to go to MEPS in St. Louis today but I haven't heard from the recruiter since Friday. Thursday I stopped in his office to sign some paperwork and he said that he would call me Friday morning to let me know for sure if we were going, something I thought certain already. By 8:30 Friday night I still hadn't heard from him so I called him. He said he would call me first thing Saturday morning and let me know. We were supposed to leave around one o'clock Monday morning so by 6:00pm Sunday when I still had heard nothing I again tried to called him which only got me his voicemail. Not knowing what the heck was going on I called the other recruiter who worked in the office and asked him what the story was. He said he would call the recruiter I've been working with and one of them would call me back. Well, here it is after 7:00pm Monday and I still haven't heard anything from either one of them. Is there anyone who has suggestions about what I should do?

[Kilted Heathen]

Thank you Ranger EarthPig for the reply. I appreciate your assistance. It is always nice to hear from experienced indivinduals. I will check out that workout in depth and some of the posts you suggested tonight.

I was supposed to go to MEPS in St. Louis today but I haven't heard from the recruiter since Friday. Thursday I stopped in his office to sign some paperwork and he said that he would call me Friday morning to let me know for sure if we were going, something I thought certain already. By 8:30 Friday night I still hadn't heard from him so I called him. He said he would call me first thing Saturday morning and let me know. We were supposed to leave around one o'clock Monday morning so by 6:00pm Sunday when I still had heard nothing I again tried to called him which only got me his voicemail. Not knowing what the heck was going on I called the other recruiter who worked in the office and asked him what the story was. He said he would call the recruiter I've been working with and one of them would call me back. Well, here it is after 7:00pm Monday and I still haven't heard anything from either one of them. Is there anyone who has suggestions about what I should do?

Jesus...you like to talk, don't you?

Here's a suggestion, never wear a sweater on a ruck-march again. As for the recruiter...find another one. Leave a polite voice-mail informing your current recruiter.
Try and keep it less than 300 words.

[ibjames1118]

Ranger Kilted Heathen, I was simply trying to give all the details. Thank you for the advice although for some strange reason when I saw you had posted I was actually looking forward to a "shut the fuck up". Maybe another day. Thank you again for the advice.

[Kilted Heathen]

Ranger Kilted Heathen, I was simply trying to give all the details. Thank you for the advice although for some strange reason when I saw you had posted I was actually looking forward to a "shut the fuck up". Maybe another day. Thank you again for the advice.

Since my current mentee has chosen the SF route and is currently kicking ass at the Benning School for Boys there's more than an average chance I could also be of help to you. Also, if you decide on the SF route you will sooner or later cross paths with myself and several other members of the board on your way to Ranger School.
You may want to proof your responses prior to posting from now on so as to minimise the risk of sounding like a sarcastic smart-ass.

Now then, although we all appreciate your desire to serve I'll still remind you that the current conflict is in the middle-east not Central-America so please don't be too heart-broken if you don't get your station of choice as we may still need you to lend a hand in the the actual war.

[ibjames1118]

Ranger Kilten Heathen, I apologize for the way my last post appeared. Being disrespectful or sarcastic was not my intention and I will do my best to make sure I don't sound that way in the future.

[Kilted Heathen]

Ranger Kilten Heathen, I apologize for the way my last post appeared. Being disrespectful or sarcastic was not my intention and I will do my best to make sure I don't sound that way in the future.

There was no disrespect in your pervious posts but I yet again encourage you to proof your responses since you've spelled my fucking name wrong.

Pay attention to detail.

[ibjames1118]

Ranger Lunch, thank you for posting. I apologize I wasn't more clear in my intro. By "If sucessful" I was meaning through the point where the individuals were assigned to a group. I have heard that as a person begins sf training they are allowed to submit a "wish list" of groups they wish to be assigned to. I was just wondering what the chances were of getting the top choice on the list. I mistakenly wrote down the 5th group and was corrected by Ranger Jim who told me the 7th group was the one oriented towards Latin America.

[RRDTm3]

I believe you can test out in basic and get paid for being fluent in Spanglish. you get this and it'll up your chance of getting what you should pass SFAS etc................



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