Introduction - Rowdy

[MindMelter]

Greetings Rangers,

My name is Rowdy. I'm an Engineering student at Edison State College. I'll be receiving my AA degree at the end of this spring semester. I spent 11 years on a US Naval Base where my mother is (and many other family members have been) a civilian contractor. My father and grandfather were both in the Army and both paratroopers; my father was in the 101st Airborne and my grandfather was in the 82nd. Many of my best friends and mentors are retired and active servicemen.

I have always known I would serve in the military, but I have never known which branch or when, until recently. A few months ago, one of my oldest friends (we'll call him John Doe) broached the subject of enlisting in the Army. Since then, we have talked at length about enlisting and done a great deal of research. We have been going through everything together but we are clearly heading down our own paths. John's is leading him to Big Army (as a combat engineer, if all goes well) and mine has led me to the Rangers. This has not been a lifelong dream of mine and it didn't hit me like a ton of bricks, but through hours, if not days, of search and research I have realized my #1 goal is to be a U.S. Army Ranger. I want to be serve my country as part of a team with camaraderie, discipline and a commitment to excellence. I won't say I have what it takes to be a Ranger, but there is only one way to know if I have 'it' and I intend to find out.

John and I are heading to the recruiter's office this afternoon to work on our contracts. In all likelihood we will be going in again tomorrow and many more times after that. The main issue, at this point, is with getting Option 40 in my contract. Normally I would just wait, but John and I had hoped to go through Basic together and he's looking at shipping out around July or August (no dates set yet). I'm considering, if nothing comes up soon, simply signing without Option 40 and committing myself to stand out in my company at Basic to earn a slot there. The MOS I have been looking at until recently is 12B (combat engineer) like John. It has technical training I'm interested in, demolitions and construction, with the work environment I prefer, allowing for field work. However, I had read and heard that leadership positions in the Rangers are most often given to Infantrymen (which, I admit, makes a lot of sense). In this case, I do not mind at all with sacrificing the technical training in favor of the career path I desire. I have heard that 11X w/ Option 40 is very difficult to obtain, so the thought of simply enlisting as 11X and working to be top of my class once again seems like a decent strategy.

Note: Obviously, I am also trying to get Option 4. However, Option 40 is much more difficult to obtain, from what I've seen, so that is what I focused my discussion here on.

I have no criminal record, have been in two minor car accidents (one of which was my fault) with no injuries and have had one speeding ticket (less than 20 mph over). I know that is probably more in-depth than necessary but I would rather submit a little too much than to leave out something that may prove crucial. I've never done drugs (I have two of my mentors, one Navy and one Army, to thank for that) and have no legal, genetic or health conditions (other than my vision, which I will discuss next) that would disqualify me. My vision is the only roadblock I might face. My vision is -6.00 in my left eye and -5.00 in my right eye. I read through (Ranger?) hit_it's post:
http://bit.ly/hC6keg
and if I understand it correctly, I believe I am still eligible with my vision as is. If not, I will need to serve in a conventional unit until I can get the Army to provide me with LASIK. Not my first choice, but I understand it might be unavoidable.

While taking classes for the past three years, I have, much to my embarrassment, let my fitness slip. I have resumed training over the past six weeks since I decided to enlist and will continue to do so. PT results from yesterday are as follows:

Push-ups: 35
Sit-ups: 73
Pull-ups: 6
2-mile run: 17:22

I realize this is extremely poor, especially by Ranger standards, and I will drive myself to reach acceptable levels.

I've also been studying for the ASVAB. I've taken two practice tests and have mixed feelings about my results. My AFQT is high (only missing one or two questions due to careless errors) but my score in the other sections has been rather poor. Right now, I am focusing my studying on the Automotive, Shop and Electrical sections, as I have little experience in those areas.

As a side note, I am conversational, though not fluent, in Colombian Spanish and have begun studying Arabic.

Thank you very much for you time, Rangers. I appreciate any comments, suggestions and criticism that you all have to offer. It's an honor to be privy to such knowledge and experience. I look forward to future discussions with all of you and in, hopefully, joining your ranks.

Rowdy

[Steadfast]

Welcome MindMelter.

Good intro and your mentors have done you good.
We on armyRanger.com do thank your family, mentors & friends that have done (and are doing) military service for our country.

[MindMelter]

Thank you Ranger Steadfast,

Yeah, I owe a lot to the people in my life. I hope to join many of them, and the soldiers on this site, in service to our country very soon.

Right now I have a small update and a few questions.

As far as the update goes: My friend and I went to the recruiter Thursday and Friday and found out that we will only be going to basic together if I decide to go combat engineer as well. A bit obvious now that I think of it, but it just hadn't occurred to be before then. With this in mind, we will probably go through the rest of the recruitment process separately (I had to drive four hours to make the meeting with him and the recruiter. There's an office right in my neighborhood, but the things we do for friends, right?) He is the one that turned me towards the Army so we'll make sure he gets credit for the referral, but other than that we'll be on our own.

And for the questions, I have two: I know there is no best MOS. It's all about matching the MOS with the soldier. My question is, if I want to make a career out of being a Ranger, which MOS, 11X or 12B, would be best suited for that path? Also, as I continue to move forward on my path, should I continue to post updates in this thread until basic or is there a better place for them?

Thanks again, Ranger Steadfast, and to all Rangers.

[Jim]

Rowdy,
Let me begin by reminding you that there is only one opportunity to create a favorable inintial impression. So far you seem to be doing well enough, although you need to step up your PT standards. Next issue, please review the attached websites and you will find that the 75th Ranger Regiment has a wide variety of MOSs.

http://www.soc.mil/75th%20Ranger%20Regi ... iting.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.goarmy.com/ranger.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MindMelter]

Thank you for the advice and the links, Ranger Jim. I'll make my fitness and PT scores my top priority.

I'm familiar with the goarmy.com and have gone through the Ranger portion of the website, as well as several others. soc.mil, however, is new to me and I've already found a great deal of useful information from it.

For my future MOS, I had merely picked 12B (aka 21B, depending who I ask) and 11X because they were the two that I was most interested in. However, I'll use the list from soc.mil and review all the possible MOSs to see if I may have passed over something that I might be better suited for.

Thanks again Ranger Jim.

[MindMelter]

I have a quick SITREP, Rangers. John and I decided to enlist separately, since the cons were beginning to heavily outweigh the pros. I talked to my local recruiter today and am scheduled to take the ASVAB at 0830, Thursday morning. He told me Ranger slots are rare right now but I made it clear I was willing to wait for what I want.

Still working on my PT and studying for the ASVAB. I will have another SITREP after I receive my test scores.

[goon175]

Keep in mind, there are alot of MOS's listed that Regiment has slots for, but alot of them are for only NCO's or there is only a very limited number of those slots per Batt. / Regiment. To answer your question of which is best if you want to make a CAREER out of it, I would say 11X, as this is where all the leadership positions are. Close behind 11x, would probably be 68W and 13F as you can advance to the MSG level in these MOS's while in Regiment. All the other MOS's.....you more than likely will have to go somewhere else at some point.

[Jasper]

MindMelter,
Do your research and make sure that the MOS you select has slots for a Skill level 1 (E1-E4) and get airborne in your contract at least.

As far as getting RASP in your contract, some recruiters need to be puched in the dick because they are trying to fufill certain needs.

When you are in AIT you can fill out a 4187 to get RASP added to your contract there. OR... when you are at airborne school, there is a full time Ranger liason there that should meet with everyone on the inprocessing day and ask who wants to go Ranger. If for some reason he doesn't make it, just tell your blackhat that you want to go to patches to get RASP added to your contract.

So don't give up hope and think you NEED to have an option 40 contract joining the army. I filed my 4187 in AIT.

[Jasper]

PS... as a shameless plug... you should look at being a 25B... Regiment is hurting for communicators at the moment

25B's will work on computers
25U's typically do radios, but can potentially work in the computer section based on need and personal past experience
25C's work with radios

[MindMelter]

Thank you both for the info and advice Ranger goon175 and Ranger Jasper.

Ranger goon175, a career as a Ranger is my #1 goal. I'd like to have the chance to make myself more than just a blip on the radar; if you know what I mean. I will definitely do some more research into those three MOSs. I should be finding out what MOS(s) I qualify for tomorrow, after the ASVAB. I'll make sure to get info on all three then.

Ranger Jasper, thanks for the heads up. I was vaguely aware of the Skill Levels associated with each MOS, but I'll look further into that until I understand how it works. I had heard that recruiters can be very difficult when they have a quota to fill and I've started to see this for myself. Even after I told my recruiter exactly what I wanted he kept trying to steer me in completely different directions. From all I've read and seen so far, getting an Option 40 seems like the more desirable way to go, but applying once I'm in BCT/AIT seems like the simpler and more straightforward approach. Also, I'll look into 25B and such, but it doesn't seem like something up my alley. I won't strike it off till I've looked closer into it though.

Thank you very much Rangers. I really appreciate all of the help.

[MindMelter]

I've got another SITREP, Rangers. Took the ASVAB today and did well. I'm not sure what the etiquette for posting scores would be, so for now I'll refrain from doing so. Got a large deal of paperwork filled out and will be turning in my background check info tomorrow. My recruiter was supposed to call me before he went home today and that never happened. But I am going back in tomorrow so I'll talk to him then.

Also found out that there is a Ranger that works at the recruiting office. He randomly asked me if I was interested in the Ranger Battalion. I found that an amusing coincidence. I will definitely be picking his brain over the next few weeks as my contract gets worked out.

Hope everyone is doing well. Until next time.

Quick question - Should I start posting these SITREPs in the Recruitment Process board?

[Jasper]

MindMelter,
The only ASVAB score most people concern themselves with is the one labeled GT. If it is >110, you're solid for any job I know of

[MindMelter]

Ranger Jasper,
I got my cut score (better than I expected), but I haven't gotten my official score yet. Thanks for all the info.


And here is what should be one last SITREP before I head of to MEPS. My recruiter reserved a slot as a 68W for me. He said that there were not any Option 4 or Option 40's available. I'm not sure I buy that, but I read Ranger cdwdirect's post on DEP'ing into the Army and from what I understand it's the MEPS liaison you really have to play hardball with. I've committed to not signing anything without an Option 4 and they're going to have to really sell me on signing without an Option 40.

Thanks again, Rangers, for you help. Hopefully within the next week I will be joining the ranks of the Future Soldiers. Just another step on a long road.