What if RS was Bootcamp?

[SmokeEater10500]

Thank you Skyshark and Ranger Battleboar for your responses. In reading both of your responses, I find that you both agree on the fact that learning as much as you can is the one of the biggest keys to being a good officer. That is why I came to resources like this. This place is one of many resources Im using to develop my leadership skills and hopefully mold my future Army career. I am eager to learn as much as humanly possible and it has been noticed by my Cadre at ROTC. I plan on doing a lot of reading over the course of this summer to prepare myself for my MS III year. A lot of this will hopefully lead to future success in ROTC and out in a unit in a couple of years. I appreciate the time you all take to post your knowledge and opinion, where better to learn than from the best the Army has to offer.

[SkyShark]

Fellas, let me take a crack at this.

Hello All,
I got to reading this topic and I came up with a few questions. ROTC produces the vast majority of the officers in the Army. With that, you get good officers, mediocre officers, and shitbag officers. Do you think it should be required of all officers to attend basic training during ROTC (do it over a summer?) Many people in ROTC are not nearly as squared away as the kids who are prior service or have completed basic/ait. I can include myself in this category.

Trust me, you get great officers and shitbags from ALL sources. Most of us are somewhere in between. No, basic should not be required; what's required is that you pay attention to every single class, every single lecture, and every other block of instruction that you're already getting. When you honestly give 100% all the time, soaking up every last bit of information someone throws you, and you make the most of what is already available, you'll find that you've learned quite a bit. You say that many are not as "squared away" as the guys who went to basic. Cadets are in a learning environment, where it's OK to screw up. What's not OK is to fail to learn from a screw up. Or to just plain fail to learn. If a guy is taking life seriously, then I really don't see the developmental benefit of increasing the OSUT throughput by making every cadet attend.

We have had cadets request to attend basic over a summer in order to gain knowledge and get themselves in check and their requests have been shot down.

Because it would be a waste of a drill sergeant's time. You're going to get the individual skills training you need. That's already programmed into your training. Then you're going to get it again when you get to Benning for your IOBC or BOLC, or whatever they're calling it these days.

Do you feel that it would also benefit cadets to "see the other side" of the Army? We are all beer drinking college kids who are all going to make future officers yet we cannot relate to the lives of the enlisted man.

Rangers, correct me if I'm wrong on this, but cadet, Soldiers do not require leaders to have been a private, too. What they demand is a competent professional. Someone who knows what he's doing, cares about his Soldiers, and has the requisite skills to not get their ass killed in the combat zone that YOU WILL take them to. If by being a "beer drinking college kid" you mean that your social life resembles Animal House, then enjoy, but when you sober up on Sunday morning, do some extra PT and read MacDonald's Company Commander. If it means that you're going through your college days content to put off worrying about all that Army stuff till later, then start taking personal responsibility for your own development. Saying, "I'm not worthy, so someone should send my ass to basic," is not what I mean. I mean pay attention to everything you're already getting and then read like a man possessed on your free time and you just might be ready to START learning when you meet your platoon sergeant.

One final question I pose concerns RIP and cadets who want to branch Infantry. In todays Army it seems that every newly commissioned LT. who branches Infantry goes to Ranger School. Could RIP be a way to weed out any person who wants an Infantry slot yet doesnt deserve it and instead give it to the person who deserves it more but may not get it? With this, the cadet's would not wear a tan beret or wear a scroll, but they would instead be guaranteed Infantry upon commissioning. This would ensure that the best possible candidates are the ones who are in fact getting these highly demanded jobs. These are just a few ideas I had in my head from reading this topic.

I've never been to RIP or ROP, so I'm unqualified to be an Infantry Officer? Of course not.

SmokeEater, I trained IOBC lieutenants for a couple of years. The only thing that distinguishes a good brand new lieutenant from a bad one in my mind is that he takes this shit seriously. Since you're asking questions, I'm guessing you do. Just don't sell yourself short. You're going to go through some great training. Yes. That will include Ranger School. Keep your eyes open and take copious notes. Everything you need is going to be presented. The question is, "Will you be paying attention when it is?"

Very Well written Ranger Battle Boar.