Introduction - Robert

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C0LDY
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Rangers,

Today my brother and I rucked for 6 and a half miles, we used logs to initially get our packs to 35 lbs and then used towels as padding to fill in the extra space inside the pack. With all our gear plus water our packs weighed in at 50 lbs. Believe it or not the Molle II held up quite nicely which impressed me, it was comfortable on my back and I had no trouble with the pack whatsoever. Today I also began breaking in my new pair of boots which seem to be a Jungle variant of the standard issue Navy boots, their lightweight and for the most part comfortable other than some minor heal rub which I assume will disappear once they've been properly broken in this caused a blister on my heel on both feet in the same spot. My brother and I have been working on conditioning our feet recently and I was happy that I had no hot spots on the bottom of my feet other than my heels where it rubs. I actually think that my heels hurt worst from the blisters when we finally stopped then when we were moving. Nonetheless we persevered, pushed through it and finished strong.

I will continue to keep you Rangers posted on our progress.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by Disinfertention »

I would say the pain later is normal... usually you can tough it out while happening but if it does happen it makes you useless for days. Make sure you have decent socks and you are lacing your boots correctly. Fitting your boots is a big deal too and always a risk since lots of good priced boots are online. I know you just got them but it tends to be a good idea to go to a good hiking store and have someone smart size you so you at least know. If you can't do that, just suck it up and have fun...

Thanks for the update!
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Roger Ranger Disinfertention.

The boots issued to me by my Sea Cadet unit had just a little to much wiggle room for my foot and would rub my Achilles real bad so I ordered half a size down, these new boots fit snugly on my foot but don't feel too tight. It wouldn't be a bad idea at all to hit up the local REI and get properly sized. My brother and I plan on starting to ruck weekly, at this point it's conditioning ourselves and getting used to rucking under weight and eventually once we feel we're starting to get real conditioned we'll start focusing on increasing speed, currently we ruck a little over 3 miles to the Mason-Dixon Line and use that as our turnaround point and then back.

A good thought is that after the 6 1/2 mile ruck we both felt as if we could do it again, we weren't super tired and felt as if we were making great time especially on our turn around after hitting the halfway point. I think a good lesson that I'm learning first hand is how important it is to have properly broken in boots, although it did suck having blisters I can't imagine how shitty it would be showing up to RASP with new boots and having to push through the suck with them.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by Disinfertention »

Yep, good assumptions on your part there. You can work around boot size issues with different socks and lacing techniques some. It just takes a bit of time trying it out. Once you actually get to training, if you choose that route, you'll be well off on understanding how you need your issued boots to fit to make sure you don't get blisters.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Roger Ranger Disinfertention I'll definitely look into it.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Rangers,

Today my brother, our buddy Jack and I went on a 9 mile ruck in the snow, our buddy Jack also wants to be a Ranger and wants to pursue an 11x Option 40 contract, we're currently try to get him to join armyranger.com.

My boots are becoming more broken in and are starting to feel more comfortable, today I have no new blisters and my previous blisters are starting to callus. The Molle II is holding up really well and feels very comfortable, my brother recently purchased a Molle II pack as well. I enjoy rucking quite a bit but my brother and I are remembering not to push ourselves to far and to take things easy in order not to injure ourselves. We hope to ruck AT LEAST once a week, I really can't wait until we're more conditioned because currently our turnaround point is at the DE-PA Mason-Dixon line and I'm excited to explore the trail further into PA within the next coming months.

I will continue to keep you Rangers updated on our progress.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by Disinfertention »

Hey Robert,

We rucked once a week in Regiment. It's a good amount of time to break between that type of work.

Like I mentioned to your brother, see if Jack wants to come hang out here. He has a whole list of tasks he could work on once he has an OPT40 and we always appreciate the company.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Roger Ranger Disinfertention,

Did the distance vary of how far you rucked in Regiment?

I'm unsure if Jack has joined the site yet but we will definitely get him on board!

Yesterday my brother and I attended my oldest brothers Basic Training Graduation in Cape May, New Jersey he graduated with Company Kilo 195. It was a great experience seeing how proud the now new Coast guardsmen and their families were of their accomplishments it was truly a humbling experience. My oldest brother introduced us to him CC's (Company Commanders) and to some of his newfound brothers and sisters in service. Later in the day he presented my parents, other siblings and I Challenge Coins with our names engraved in them.

When we got home my brother and I went rucking in the evening and into the night, It was a great ruck, the moon was bright and the sky was clear. We ended up turning off our headlamps because it was easier to see using the moonlight. The total distance was 7.7 miles. Our buddy Jack currently doesn't have a ruck but we plan on lending him our ALICE pack once my brother gets his Molle II pack so that he can come rucking with us more.

I look forward to rucking again, my brother has a longer stride then I do when it comes to rucking which isn't such a bad thing because I can match his already fast pace and I'm able to push myself.

We'll continue to keep you Rangers updated on our progress!
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Rangers,

My brother and I are back from our Field Operations training in Florida, it was a great experience and I learned a lot of great things. One of the Sea Cadet Officer's running the training was a retired First Sergeant with 22 years in service who was in 3rd Battalion and the XO of the training was a retired Colonel with 27 years of service who was branched Field Artillery which I thought was pretty cool.

During the training we had members of the 4th Marine Amphibious Assault Battalion teach us land navigation skills, patrolling movements, buddy rushing, how to call in a 9-line, first aid and much more.

I was selected to be my company's Assistant Company Commander (ACC) which was a surprise to me. I was a part of Bravo Company while my brother and our buddy Jack were in Charlie Company. I learned a lot of lessons from this training including A LOT of do's and don'ts. I made some good friends with some incredibly squared away Cadets whom of which I hope to run into sometime in the future again. This training was a great experience and I've got a lot of great stories to go along with it as well as some rather not so great stories too... All in all I would definitely return to the training if I wouldn't be aging out of the program next year given some of the previous Staff Cadets were no longer there.
The next step is to acquire a Contract, I'd really like to get the same ship date as my brother and Jack through the buddy enlistment program however, I'm unsure how likely that would be if we're all trying to obtain OPT 40 contracts. My brother, Jack and I always push ourselves to out do one another in a friendly competition and I have no doubt that we'd all do great regardless of whether or not we have the same Ship Dates or not. Once I turn 17 the search is on.

We'll hopefully get Jack to join the website within the next several days.

I will continue to keep you Rangers updated on our progress.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by Disinfertention »

Well it sounds like you had a bit of a simpler time there at the training compared to your brother! Either way, glad you all got to participate in something like this and that you are willing to do it.

It does seem unlikely that you will get to have the same ship dates as your brother and friend but you never know. If nothing else you could depart at/around the same time and have a good chance of meeting back up after OSUT. You may not be together in the initial parts of training but you have the same goals, and with that, you all are together.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Roger Ranger Disinfertention thank you for the encouraging words.

It was definitely a great experience, lots of lessons learned. Our company's faced similar hardships especially on our final night operation. My company's biggest problem was "To many Chiefs and not enough Indians".
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Rangers,

It has been quite sometime since I have posted an update.

Over the past several months I have learned a lot.

My brother, Jack and I are staying on top of our PT as well as Rucking occasionally.
PTing with Jack and my brother as a group has been great, It's awesome to push one another and succeed. A truly great feeling is the feeling of accomplishment after you pushed yourself beyond your comfort zone. We have been keeping up with our push-ups as well as running, right now things are looking good! I'm becoming very eager to take a PFT and see an improvement in my scores!

We are all currently planning on acquiring contracts this coming summer. Hopefully Opt. 40 contracts will be plentiful and we will all be able to receive one. I am eager to join the "Five Mentees Thread" and start working on a Task-List.

Whenever my brother, Jack and I get together to go ruck (usually in the snow) we discuss plans for this summer, the usual topics consist of PT, PT, PT, Nutrition and the Ranger Pipeline. It's always important to keep looking ahead.

I am currently talking with my guidance counselor at school regarding Math classes for next year, to be frank math is not my strong suit. I'm not learning very well with the teaching methods my school has been using these past several years, although it is not a requirement hopefully I can retake one of my Math courses in order to get a better grip on it. This past year I took the ASVAB, I scored very well on everything except for math. I am still eligible for 13F as well as an Opt. 40 Contract however I am always looking to improve therefore I have made it my temporary goal to strengthen my math scores.

Ranger, I apologize for leaving you all in the dark these past several months, I will strive to post updates more often, knocking out 100+1 for that.

As always, I will continue to keep you posted on our progress.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by Disinfertention »

Good to hear from you, Robert. There is no hard math along the 13F path. Spatial awareness is pretty helpful though.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Roger, Ranger Disinfertention.
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Re: Introduction - Robert

Post by C0LDY »

Rangers,

Today my brother and I visited the local Recruiting Office and talked to the Recruiters.
The one particular Recruiter who will be working with us seemed motivated to help us get our contracts, however the other Recruiters were not very helpful going as far as saying "Wanting one specific contract is the worst thing you could do" which I knew was total bullshit.
I feel very fortunate that our Recruiter is interested in helping us obtain our specific contracts compared to the other Recruiters who still seemed nice but also seemed more interested in filling a quota. We have not yet discussed Contract availability however when the time comes we will make it very clear that we will not settle for anything less than what we want.

We filled out some paperwork and viewed a presentation about the Army and the benefits, basically just a run down of the benefits of joining. We also took a small test that was supposed to be a mini ASVAB. My brother and I were asked to also start attending FST (Future Soldier Training) every Thursday which I am excited to attend and meet with other civilians who are also interest in joining the Army, I will post another update regarding how FST goes.

Additionally, over Spring Break I was recommended to read the book "Violence of Action: The Untold Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror" I bought it and just finished reading it the other day. I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone interested in becoming a Ranger. The book was very motivating and inspiring, and definitely one if not the, best book I've ever read.

My brother and I have been continuing to go to the gym as often as possible and soon we will be hitting the track more often as it gets warmer.

I will continue to keep you Rangers updated on our progress!
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