Would you do it all over again?

[Rangeratlarge]

You will miss it!!!

You have to really thing about what you want. There is NO direct equal to the military or Regiment.

I retired after 21+ years 11B/Ranger and miss it all the time.

The pay off for me is the additional time with my family. After all the years of putting them 2nd I decided I have only limited time left that my son will WANT to spend bonding with his ole' man.

I went into law enforcement thinking it would be the closest you could get in the civilian sector to the kinship and friendships of the military.

It IS NOT the same. Nothing ever will be, so consider carefully your decision.

After 22years of tearing the skin from the bottom of my feet on long ruckmarches I do NOT miss beating myself up any more. But you will miss the friendships and insane things you get/got to do that will Never be duplicted in the civilian sector.

Money IS NOT A GOOD REASON TO GET OUT!!!! Many people make that mistake. The things you get from the military CAN NOT be replaced by overtime

Take your time and think it through carefully!!!!

[ericknason]

I left the battalion in '87 because at that time, Regiment was getting stupid. Basically, the regimental sergeant major came out to Lewis and told all of us NCOs, that we were to become the best light infantry in the world! No more special ops or schools, just the basic stuff. That didn't sit well with us, and most of the NCOs in A Co just got out and joined the Tacoma Police force or Pierce County Sheriff. I was the only guy to reenlist, but I headed over to SF. Did a lot of cool stuff there, more than what we were allowed to do in battalion. Heck, we weren't suppose to even fight or fight back if some leg picked a fight with us. So I did what i thought was best and it worked out. I retired afyer 20 years because my all that rough stuff I did to my body caught up and I couldn't play no more.

My recommendation, go with you gut. If its working with you in the regiment, then stay. If not, come over to SF or try out for Delta. I would caution on becoming a contractor on the outside. What good is all of that money if your dead or so injured you can't enjoy it.

Erick Nason
WPNs, 3rd PLT, A/2/75 85-87

[madslashers1-2]

Well since somebody bumbed this thread and I'm up typing a fucking term paper on Romeo and Juliet I figure I'd jump in. I'm coming up on two years of being out, I'm a responsible father now (with full custody) and working hard on improving my life. I now know what I didn't know then, and that is why I encourage and congratulate all those younger Rangers who keep reenlisiting, they are living the dream and I hope they can hold on to it forever. I didn't reenlist, I thought hey ROTC is the way to go, what a fucking disillusionment that was, oh yeah I'll get a commission, BFD, the guard is absolute torture, the silver lining of getting out is that I'll be a good husband and better father to my daughter, and hopefully (I'm praying) that I will get to become a LEO and enjoy to some degree a brotherhood again. This site is what helps keeps me together, especially after I got diagnosed as "fucked up" by the VA.

[deleon275]

Would I do it all over again? Yes, if I didn't injure my leg so bad I'd probably still be in Regiment, however my grandparents have medical problems so I would probably feel guilty not taking care of them since no one else can.

I'm enjoying life just as much as I did during the good times in Bat as I do now with LAPD. Strong sense of brotherhood and officer safety/tactics. The number of locked on coppers outweighs the number of brown nosing shitheads, so it all evens out.

[panthersix]

I left HAAF for two reasons, 1) to be a medic on a medevac bird and hone my skills as a Ranger Medic HOOAH!, and 2) I had gotten drunk and asked a stripper to marry me....not so hooah. After I did a year in the 498th at Wright AAF I got a line number to be the Company Medic for Charlie Company, I still have the letter somewhere. But I also got a full scholarship to college. I went back to college and then went on to grad school. I can still remember the phone calls and the gathering of the Rangers around Univ of Maryland when Grenada went down....we all regretted getting out of Bn!

After grad school I got a civilian job and then joined the guard just to go to Holland for two weeks! Then I got a direct commission to 2lt, then I stayed in just for the money and tried to stay in Airborne units in the Guard/Reserves, when I ran out of "fun" units, I resigned my commission and went into the Air Guard to finish up my 20! Talk about fun in the Air Guard! I got to go to Iraq and go on patrol with my old LRSD out of the PAARNG, the 104th, and watch my buddies call in CAS!

I just retired as a CPT the last week of June. So I kinda just farted around with the Guard/Reserves as my hobby while keeping a full time career going. Sure is nice to only have one job to worry about now! But I do miss the guys on my left and right that I could trust!

Doc McCalip

[rgrokelley]

I started the Army with Carter as President. It was a depressing time and the military was looked down upon by much of the civilian population. Drug use was rampant and your squad leaders and platoon sergeants many times were your drug dealers. I was going to get out after my first time and do something else, maybe law enforcement.

Then came Reagan.
Thats about all that needs to be said.
Not only did the Army get its collective head out of its ass, but the civilian world began to respect us, and the United States, again. Its amazing what a leader can do to a nation, good (Reagan) or bad (Carter).
I went to war, albeit it was a short one, and I was fired up to be like those soldiers in green fatigues that I had fought beside for a few hours at Salines. So I reenlisted to go into the Rangers.

I created a new Battalion and life has not been the same. I remember going on a three day weekend after doing numerous JCT missions (jump clearing - I'm not even sure if Rangers still do that or not). I was fired up, and felt like the world was there for me to exploit.

Over the years I went LRSU, then Special Forces. This was the older Special Forces, the ones who took over Afghanistan with just a few hundred men. Those A Teams were not the small door-kicker teams that they have now. We would go into a country, with a handful of men, and dominate the terrain.

The only reason I left was because of another loser President (Clinton) and the slow destruction of the military. I saw more Carter years, and I could see no real hope in sight. Before I left I made sure that I had something else in place. It is military oriented (JROTC) so I still wear the uniform.

Back to the original question. Would I do it again?

Yes. It shaped what I was. It created the persona that I am today. I was also part of a very small few who were giants walking the earth. We did things that 99% of the rest of the world could only imagine. We had walked through the fire and came out the other side tempered to a steel that cannot be broken. I have seen places I could never have afforded to go if I was on my own, and when I was there I wasn't a gawking tourist, but one who was looked upon with respect by the natives (respect through admiration, or respect through fear). Even within the Army most soldiers would see the pretty colored ribbons and shiny badges and could only wonder what it was like.

I was once a warrior king, ruler of my domain.

Would I do it again?

What do you think?

[Sleepy Doc]

The whole time I was there I thought I was just another tabless bitch medic. About half the cats from Somalia were still there. I volunteered to go totally on a whim, and was there for about 6 months before I realized where I had landed. Talk about walking among giants! Every day it was "You see that guy? Well, that is SGT so and so, and let me tell you what he did..." I walked in as a civilian EMT and National Guard medic with 5 years under my belt, but I never really knew my job until I was re-trained by the NCOs and Officers of the Ranger Regiment, and not just in the medical section. I learned more about being a soldier and NCO just by following behind the likes of Matt Eversman for 4 years and quietly watching them operate. The training and skills I learned during my time there serve me to this day by standing out among my peers that I work with.

I was telling my mentee that I am very jealous of the opportunity he has by starting out with the information and experience found here. Would I do it again? In a fucking New York minute! Would I do things exactly the same?.. Probabally not, but hindsight is 20/20, no? Would I have stayed in? Yeah, that is one that will eat at me for a long time. I was offered a desk job somewhere instead of medical discharge and turned it down for various reasons, none of them valid it turns out. No matter. As one door closes, one opens (at least that is what I tell my self..)

If nothing else, I know I was a tabless bitch, but even that is looked up to by those who never were. When I look back and see what I had to do to get there and stay there, I'm still amazed I did it.

[Bravo57]

You also fell asleep alot.

[Bravo57]

For a price

[Sleepy Doc]

You also fell asleep alot.

Yeah, but contrary to rumors I never fell asleep during a jump!.. (Afterward, however, was fair game.. )

I did fall asleep standing bolt upright without falling in front of COL Ferriter. The only reason he didn't smoke the piss out of me was he said he hadn't ever seen shit that crazy...

[battleforcebulldog]

People always talk about missing the camaraderie. It is true. If you grew up playing team sports and then went to an infantry unit you were always part of a team. I haven’t been on a team since I got out. When I’m alone with my thoughts hunting, I still daydream about some of the good times on the “Back 40â€

[Space-One03]

[quote="battleforcebulldog"]People always talk about missing the camaraderie. It is true. If you grew up playing team sports and then went to an infantry unit you were always part of a team. I haven’t been on a team since I got out. When I’m alone with my thoughts hunting, I still daydream about some of the good times on the “Back 40â€

[RangerJurena]

Well since this thread has been raised from the dead.

Never in a million years would I have gotten out. To take that one step further, I would have stayed as long as I could in 2nd platoon Charlie Company 1/75. 6.5 years had lead me to be #1 on the CSM's levy list. But I caved in and went to be an RI. I should have just stayed, turns out after they sent a bunch of SGTs. packing, they quit with the Levys. There were some other reasons but those were due to my own vaginitis

Talking to my mates who are still in they do say, its never the same when you go back. The experience is still great but there is something about the initial group of guys who suffer through the same shit, from elevating feet, to getting your school slot, to going to the E5 board to getting a squad that can never be replaced.

For me, its that feeling, 20k later, sitting on my ruck, sweat dripping off my nose, big dip of copenhagen and looking over at the boys and knowing that what just sucked for quite some time, now brings an incredible sense of accomplishment.

Never to be found in this fucking cubicle surrounded by slack jawed faggot civilians....

[Lopez275]

I got out of 2nd Batt in early '05 and thought to myself that I had a lot of living in the outside world to catch up on. I used to think that doing push-ups for missing one piece of brass during police call was the worst thing that could happen. But now that I am in Corporate America, I realize that it isn't all it's cracked up to be and I miss "The Games". At least in Battalion, you could look to your left and right and realize that you will find no greater human being on the planet! A Ranger buddy asked me about my current job in Vegas and was interested in applying. without hesitation, my home was his home. The girlfriend asked if I was going to charge him rent? i looked at her blankly for what seemed to be five minutes and said, "HELL NO! He is like family!" She said that I only knew him in the army "What's the big deal!?" The horns sprouted, the floor split, and needless to say she was DX'd! The moral of this shpeel is something a great man known as Doug to all the boys at C co. 2/75 said once,"Never quit, never stop volunteering!" Everyday since I have gotten out, those words have echoed in my head and haunted me for just giving up and failing my Ranger buddies that I left behind and rarely talk to as others have mentioned in this forum... If I had it all to do again... No question, no hesitation, I'd do it again!

[The Holmchicken]

I got out of 2nd Batt in early '05 and thought to myself that I had a lot of living in the outside world to catch up on. I used to think that doing push-ups for missing one piece of brass during police call was the worst thing that could happen. But now that I am in Corporate America, I realize that it isn't all it's cracked up to be and I miss "The Games". At least in Battalion, you could look to your left and right and realize that you will find no greater human being on the planet! A Ranger buddy asked me about my current job in Vegas and was interested in applying. without hesitation, my home was his home. The girlfriend asked if I was going to charge him rent? i looked at her blankly for what seemed to be five minutes and said, "HELL NO! He is like family!" She said that I only knew him in the army "What's the big deal!?" The horns sprouted, the floor split, and needless to say she was DX'd! The moral of this shpeel is something a great man known as Doug to all the boys at C co. 2/75 said once,"Never quit, never stop volunteering!" Everyday since I have gotten out, those words have echoed in my head and haunted me for just giving up and failing my Ranger buddies that I left behind and rarely talk to as others have mentioned in this forum... If I had it all to do again... No question, no hesitation, I'd do it again!

Hey dude, welcome and thanks for the input. Please go post an intro before you do anymore posting. Thanks.