“You want what specialty? Oh yeah. I can 100% guarantee you’ll get that job. Special forces? I can get you into selection but passing is up to you, but we can run on weekends together around the lake and that’ll get you 90% there.”
“Nah. Boot camp isn’t like movies or anything. It’s way more chill. You can even keep your phone if you’re cool.”
“Oh yeah. With incentives, combat pay, 6 grade ups and hard work you can easily be making $50-100k a year by the end of your first enlistment. See that Camaro outside? Mine. Bought it when I was still a private making way less than now. You’ll be well taken care of...”
“Women? Pfffft. Sign here. All the women you want, world wide.”
“You’ll literally be set for life. When you get out- you can have any job you want. College? Paid off.”
“Don’t want to fight? No problem. Just pick a non combat job like mechanic. You don’t have to see combat if you don’t want to. That’s what the infantry is for...”
- Every seedy recruiter near a high school ever.
My personal favorite was "Sure, you can be a flight mechanic". Get to MEPS, and told my line scores aren't high enough, but I'm definitely qualified to be a CTR (same job specialty as 35S for Army personnel), which requires a heavy background check, security clearances, etc. Yea, trust me with top secret info, but not an airplane.
Lol. Yeah. The Navy and the Corps aren’t immune either sadly. Of course that senior Airman likes their stateside off base housing and pay bump too, so he isn’t immune to shining up the Apple a bit either. It’s a sad day, but almost a right of passage or introduction the day one discovers that the E5 at the front desk didn’t phone ahead and inform MEPS or anyone up the command of all the special promises they made.
Nope. I felt basically hunted down by my Naval recruiter, but I wouldn't change my decision to join for anything. I made lifelong friends, and felt pride serving my country.
I got what I asked for, but oftentimes I still feel like I got bent. Don't even feel like a soldier. Never train, never practice medicine, haven't shot my service weapon since June, and the unit doesn't like letting medics do... anything. Except for CQ, Staff Duty, and the things Extra Duty is supposed to do, at least. And the only thing we've got to look forward to is maybe a Korea rotation, since apparently the war on terror is over.
I just wanted to fight the bad guys and help our guys get home alive.
lol. They can be like dogs on the hunt. I knew a guy who’s recruiter was so desperate he used to help him do chores and errands, AND he knew he’d need to push through the waiver on top of everything else. Guy spent 6 months trying to get my buddy in- and finally got him through. I’m glad to hear you don’t regret it. I’ve never seen much use for regrets, but I hate seeing it when guys regret their service- especially when the regret is from the service failing them and not because they failed the service.
@famousone- sorry to hear. I was writing my last reply when you posted that so just saw it now. I hope you get to go to Korea at least. You’re still doing things someone would have to do regardless- the fact you’re doing them is why someone else can be doing something else, it sucks you got the end of it you didn’t want, but at least hopefully take some solace knowing that you are playing a part even if it isn’t the one you want. But... I’ll hope you at least get to have some of the experience you want, and that you stay safe while doing it.
I went to see Five Finger Death Punch in El Paso, they played a song that really hit me. "Sham Pain", pronounced to sound like Champagne.
"Spread so fucking thin, I'm all over the place
I hate riding on the bus (I) hate flying in the planes
Sedate myself just to kill the pain
I have no life forgot the hope
The whole thing's turned into one big joke
All in all it's a good life I got what I want
I can't complain (I can't complain)
I'm living the good life a toast to you now
It's all sham pain (it's all sham pain)"
I'm thankful for the training, for the opportunity to try for Rangers, even though I didn't make the cut. Now? I get three meals, free room, and a decent paycheck, most days I don't even do anything, just wait to be released for the day.
It's easy, predictable, no competition, and as close to stress free as the army gets.
And I hate it. Is there something wrong with me?
Damn man. I’m sorry to hear it. I know you are a gung ho kinda guy even before you signed up. I don’t know if it will make you feel any better- but for a vast majority of guys, what you’re doing right now is pretty much what being on deployment is like- just with different scenery. Lots of sitting, waiting, and when something does happen a lot of the time it’s over before you’d see it happening because there are a bunch of other guys just as bored except now they flew halfway around the world to sit, watch, clean, shuffle papers etc. out and about well... again- most guys “average day” is pretty much the same- except every moment a cosmic finger snap could happen and you or someone else you know isn’t standing there anymore. I’m not saying every day is like that for everyone- but for the most part, most guys spend deployment bored and tired of the same shit too.
But nothing is wrong with you. Some people enjoy combat or being in a combat zone. Most people just want to get out alive- but Adrenalin is a hell of a thing. But one never knows until they are being shot at what being shot at is like, or how they’ll really take it. So you might find yourself a duck in water, or maybe wishing you were anywhere else. You want to make a difference, and maybe you want to prove to yourself and others that you have “it,” “the stuff.” That I can’t say. But- it’s understandable. Make the most of what is in front of you though. If you can get training get it. Study up, try to bump your scores or get yourself somewhere that gets you closer to where you want to be. Take opportunities even if they aren’t the ones you think you want.
At least in the sandbox I'd be able to do more than pass out band-aids. Be nice to carry a rifle or M9 on the daily. Some of the guys and gals I trained with already got their CMB, meanwhile the unit won't even let any of us go to schools. Lesson learned, I suppose. At least I've helped save a couple lives, and that EMT license is a good fallback.
As for rangers- if you didn’t get the boot for an incident on record or the psyc eval- train and study where you were weak and try again in 6 months. A tab is better than no tab, same with wings- and having your tab already speeds up the whole deal. You can do RASP without ranger school too- so even if for some reason you don’t make regiment- a tab isn’t a scroll but it’s about how far you can go, and a tab is something to be proud of still.
Sorry to be preachy. I just know you can do it. You’re bored- common and normal- but you’re young and full of piss. The world needs piss sometimes and so I’d hate to see you go home feeling like you could have or should have done more. Look, you’ve done more than most people by showing up. Trying for rangers even puts you in rarer company still. But the number one thing to remember is that so much of your time in the service is a dice roll- but what you get out of it will largely depend on what you give. If you show up and keep your head down you can run out your contract and go home, but there are a lot of opportunities and you just have to grab them and hold on while they try and buck you off. Of the former suits you better then do it. No shame. Odd jobs need done. But you have what it takes wether you decide to go for it again or not.
Damn man. That’s one of those dice rolls. Some units are like that- won’t let you get in training- some won’t even let you try and get out. It’s tough since even where there are ways to rattle your chain of command- that can have its own consequences and either way takes some time and work. The nice thing about handing out bandaids is you rarely lose a patient though.
“Nah. Boot camp isn’t like movies or anything. It’s way more chill. You can even keep your phone if you’re cool.”
“Oh yeah. With incentives, combat pay, 6 grade ups and hard work you can easily be making $50-100k a year by the end of your first enlistment. See that Camaro outside? Mine. Bought it when I was still a private making way less than now. You’ll be well taken care of...”
“Women? Pfffft. Sign here. All the women you want, world wide.”
“You’ll literally be set for life. When you get out- you can have any job you want. College? Paid off.”
“Don’t want to fight? No problem. Just pick a non combat job like mechanic. You don’t have to see combat if you don’t want to. That’s what the infantry is for...”
- Every seedy recruiter near a high school ever.
I just wanted to fight the bad guys and help our guys get home alive.
"Spread so fucking thin, I'm all over the place
I hate riding on the bus (I) hate flying in the planes
Sedate myself just to kill the pain
I have no life forgot the hope
The whole thing's turned into one big joke
All in all it's a good life I got what I want
I can't complain (I can't complain)
I'm living the good life a toast to you now
It's all sham pain (it's all sham pain)"
I'm thankful for the training, for the opportunity to try for Rangers, even though I didn't make the cut. Now? I get three meals, free room, and a decent paycheck, most days I don't even do anything, just wait to be released for the day.
It's easy, predictable, no competition, and as close to stress free as the army gets.
And I hate it. Is there something wrong with me?