CA Guy's Introduction
 

I'm a CA guy in Iraq 07-08. I'm an E3. I enlisted as a reservist- was a pre-med student but withdrew to volunteer - took a lot of heat for that because the university I was attending was overrunned by liberals. I like working in small teams but prefer to work alone and coordinate my own missions. The bigger the AO is for the team the more opportunties of working independently of the team.

I originally wanted to be an Army physician, pathology (anatomic and clinical). I became interested in SF after I saw how the conventional Army runs things. Some BN heads know how to use CA/Psyop, others believe they can be used as QRF. During pre-deployment training, I hung out with a guy in 7th Group. Actually, he had just left and was seeking a job elsewhere. Well, after blowing money on ugly women at the titty bars on Bragg Blvd, we went out into the middle of nowhere. There was a lake and some folks training out there that day. The road was blocked with a huge connex but we drove around it. Some E8 or E9 comes out and stops the truck and says, "hey what are you doing back here! I got soldiers training!" The group guy says, "yeah yeah whatever" and turns up the radio even louder. I thought I'd lose whatever stripes I had that night. Once we got to the "camp site" we started drinking and started fishing with some of the other guys there. He told me alot about the training and what to expect and what not too (couple war stories). I didn't consider Selection until I arrived in Iraq and was able to work in a small team. The 96th guys we ripped shared some experiences and after some thinking - being a green beret became more important than standing in a hospital lab doing biospies and probing microbial diseases. Fun stuff but can you do it with a rifle behind enemy lines and a thousand miles away from home....nope.

I have a tendency to speak my mind but I'm tactful (usually). I had my first AR15 handed to me after correcting an NCO about how CA "should be utilized as a team element." Luckily after a good "investigation," my CO and 1SG believed in the anecdote"for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Also, most of my chain were in the 11th Group back in the day, so there goes a lot of my exposure to SF things and all things SF.

G2g Contractors

Welcome All
 

A warm welcome to all.

Due to some mice eating through the wires of the board a few posts were lost from yesterday.

CAguy, we find your fist post to be ......... interesting. Let us know when you make it through selection, earn your SF tab - and are allowed to keep it.

We'll be here.

Pete

CAguy:

Interesting insight.

Are you a big "Army of One" kind of guy, or have a problem with authority?

In SF, it is all about the team, not the individual.

You have to be a good soldier before being an SF soldier.

UCMJ will not help you be selected for SF.

Good luck.

TR

Very respectfully, I do understand the concept of a team. My MOS training has been in small teams. I understand my position and those in positions of authority. What this NCO said about me after my AR 15 was that he respected a guy like me who wasn't affraid to speak his mind (as another member of the team expressing the same concerns did so behind his back.) We all know the military is not a democracy, it's more closer to a "communitarianism." Whether the case was stacked because of my rank and lack of experience, the lessons learned were to just follow the order rather than question it. If I am ordered to walk up and down a street in Baghdad to attract locals (and ultimately draw out insurgents, criminals, etc) for some infantry element, then that's what I will do despite my "better" judgement. My CO, former 11th Group, says "welcome to the United States Army son!" I've had discussions with another officer, former group guy, now in the 96th. He said to get used to it, you have to guage your reactions when you're told how to do your job - whether it's coming from your own team leader (CO/NCO), the 82nd or the 1st Cav. You know, my old TL (O4) had no issues with me yelling at him to not exit the truck without notifying his team nor wandering off out of site. I remember one time I was upset because there was no pre-mission briefing amongst the team and no one knew what our mission was prior to leaving the wire. I was told to lock it up and not question my chain of command. I told this to higher during the AR 15 meeting and was told unless the situation is short of losing your life go on ahead and just do what they say. If you want to lead the team in PCC, PCIs, then earn your stripes or direct-commission.

Here's a little story:

My CO (then enlisted) had a dispute with his SF instructor during the Q course. Despite his father being in group and his advice on dealing with "various kinds of people," he took a swing at the guy. Needless to say, instead of removing him from the service, he was told he would never earn his tab. He stayed at the unit and took part in working with ODA team operations in the rear until the group was deactivated. In retrospect, my CO should have realized it was just training. My head is on straight, and I'm filling in for an O4 in the TOC who is currently on leave (which explains why I'm usually on the net these days). If my AR 15 is the sole reason I do not get selected, then for what it's worth, if I don't get selected the second time, maybe the third will be the charm.

P.S. The chaplain here was on an ODA (18C) and spent a few years in a CAG (Commo and Intel). He calls me "wild man," cause he is aware of the situation and my ambitions. He, like many of you experienced folks, say to do what I feel is best for me. I have no intentions of failing. Somehow, I make it through. You know, my pre-med advisor asked the class to write a paper and title it, "What if I don't get into medical school?" The next day, I handed my 2 page paper to the TA. Later that evening, he turned the first page and saw two sentences.

I'm not worried about failing. I'm worried about where I'm going to apply to.

:munchin

CA Guy,
As a former Senior TAC, this is what you can expect if you ever get to the "Q"... A VERY HARD TIME!

I believe it. I'm keeping my ears open.

I should keep my eyes open too. This morning I was walking to the TOC and my mind was pre-occupied with some forms that need to be edited. No sooner did I notice an officer approaching, I scrambled around to salute. Seconds later, I walked into a stop sign and dropped everything...the colonel laughed, the sgt. major laughed, they all laughed and had a good time. I still feel like an inexperienced stooge.

Situational Awareness + Privates = :lifter (Push Ups)

A more correct equation would be Soldiers (of any rank) - Situational Awareness = unnecessary attention from those in position whom can influence your present and future. Soldiers + SA is a good thing. Maybe you should do some reading here about SA.

Furthermore, this isn't story time and as such you would do yourself well to stop drumming them up every time a Quiet Professional gives you some advice or makes a comment directed at you. The correct response should be, "Roger that." We don't want to hear the stories about how ate-up you are; we don't care. And if you had any SA you would know this is definitely not the place to air out your dirty laundry.

Now go do PT.

Crip

Ate up and filling in for an O4 are two different things. If you need help with your medical training drop a PM. I'm an EMT-P. I left the early assurance medical school program when I came to serve. Do not worry about my PT, I score above 290 and ruck often.

Not sure where you are headed with this or what your purpose is.

Filling in for an O-4 does not make you an O-4, or necessarily mean that you are performing the duty to any degree of competency.

There is a big difference between confidence and arrogance. Your comments thus far lead me to believe that you may be in over your head.

Your stories seem to reflect a tendency to defy authority, prefer to operate independently, and to be disrespectful. That initially caught my attention. "I knew a guy" and "a buddy of mine told me" stories are not particularly impresive when all of the QPs here actually made it through the SFQC and served in SF, some for 30 years or more. The individual behavior you allege that a 7th Group NCO displayed was unsat and should have had some additional consequences. Let me assure you that if any SF NCO I know stopped a vehicle in a military training area and the driver refused to turn down his radio or follow instructions, he would have been lucky to get off with UCMJ action. I see little quiet professionalism in this story.

Let me assure you that if you are considering trying out for SF so that you can continue this trend, grow long hair, and wear non-issued clothing while freelancing independently, you are not going to be happy, or in the unit for long.

You are becoming an irritant here. If you do not like it, no need to reply, just move on to another site and find some like minded people to commiserate with.

Check the attitude and the story telling. You will learn more by reading than you will posting anyway. Do not get into food fights with the QPs, mods, or admins.

Incidentally, I understand that you were pre-med and all that, but there are a number of certified trauma surgeons and other physicians who are staff and members here who have all of the medical expertise that we require. An 18D has significantly more medical training and experience than you do. Trust me on that one.

While I am sure that you already know this, but if you keep your right hand free while in the rear area, you will not have to juggle anything or injure yourself rendering military courtesies.

Best of luck with the SA. Move out and draw fire.

TR

Private,

That was your last post on this board. Now go and bother someone else your presence here is through.

BTW little man, EMT-P's take direction/advice from 18D's, not the other way around.

I disagree with the Reaper, you are not becoming an irritant, you already are and now you are gone.

Team Sergeant
ZERO tolerance for lippy privates

Thanks TS! I hope someone got CAGuy's name before you put his ruck in the hallway.

Can't let the Introductions thread get stunk up with this garbage.