gathering info/requesting advice

[Ducttapeguy]

Hello everyone. I know that I haven't been here too long and I'm supposed to read a lot and search. Well, I have been reading and I tried the search but I didn't find what I was looking for.

I'm active infantry and I'm trying to plan for my future in the military. I am only a PFC with less than 2 years in, but I have almost made up my mind that I want to make a career out of the Army. The only reason I am not 100% is that I don't know what combat is like and what it will do to me. I feel like I will do well and I will not have any problems with it but I do not want to make any hasty decisions.

I know that I want to be the best at everything that do in the Army. I would love to have the tower of power and all the knowledge and experience that comes with it, but I also realize that tabs and schools are just that, tabs and schools. I want to do all of this not so people will look at me and say "Oh wow, look at him!" "Oooh, Ahhh" I really don't care about all that. I want it for the personal satisfaction of knowing that I have done the best I can and achieved what I set out to do. I want the people I work with to be able to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can rely on me 100% in any situation.

My unit is gearing up for a deployment to Afghanistan at the end of the year. I'm trying to decide what to do when I get back. I know that it is over a year away, but it is still something I'm thinking about. My plan so far has been to get back from deployment and go to Ranger School and then go to SFAS. I know for a fact that I want to get in to the Special Operations side of the Army. SF has been a dream of mine since I started thinking about joining the Army.

The other day my 1SG gave my company a nice long speech about how SF is just glorified support people. He said that now we do what SF does, train the locals to do what needs to be done. He also said that SF is about to be broken up. I really don't know about that. I know there is more to what yall do than what I see in books and read about online. My 1SG is not SF so I know that he doesn't know everything there is to know, but he does know quite a bit.

I guess I'm going on a long winded speech that seems to be about nothing, but I'm getting to my points. I have recently developed an interest in Delta Force. I'm beginning to like the idea of possibly being in a Counter Terrorist SAS type group. My questions are:

Is Delta the best? -Like I said earlier. I want to be the best. So far my plans for Airborne, and Ranger have been to use them as stepping stones to get to SF. To get to be the best. I want to know if there is more after SF.

Is SF heading toward being broken up because their roll is being taken over by more conventional forces?

What advice does anyone have to offer me? - I like the thought of being a teacher. Going anywhere and being able to get done what needs to be done, by any means necessary. I also like the thought of being a doer. I like to be the "go to" guy. Again, I feel that I need to say that I don't care what Bobby Sue or John Q Public thinks of me. I care about what the people I work with think about me.

Any input from anyone here is appreciated. Sorry for the long post. Thanks again.

Ducttapeguy

[Sacamuelas]

WOW....

Originally Posted by Ducttapeguy

....but I didn't find what I was looking for.

I don't think your post above will help you find anything except some unwanted attention.

Try...

Originally Posted by Ducttapeguy

I'm supposed to read a lot and search.

[Surgicalcric]

DTG:

Had you read as much as you claim you would see we dont talk about certain units within the US military here. We also dont entertain is X unit better than Y unit; its unproductive. Dont bring it up again.

As for your 1SG, his assumptions and his views on what the conventional Army is engaging in;

1) SF is THE tip of THE spear.

2) Your 1SG either has no idea what he is talking about or he is simply trying to persuade his young troopers into staying in the conventional side of the house. This could be the case for many reasons for a variety of reasons which is too lengthy to get into. SF isnt going anywhere anytime soon, infact we are adding a battalion to each of the Groups...

3) There arent enough of us (SF soldiers) to spread through the entire world today and as such the senior Army leadership, in their wisdom, has decided to let the conventional side do what little they can. However because they are doing it doesnt mean they are doing it well. There is much more to FID than just giving out range commands or running guys through TC3 lanes.

Now go do PT.

Crip

[Jack Moroney (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Ducttapeguy

Any input from anyone here is appreciated. Sorry for the long post. Thanks again.Ducttapeguy

You will probably get more guidance than you want but let me address just a couple of your points.

1. Focus now on your deployment so you are as sharp as you can be-your brothers in arms are depending on you to function as part of the team.

2. Your 1SG is wrong on most all of his points and comes across to me as an idiot, something I would not expect of a senior NCO. I think I would be more concerned about his inability to understand his function and the strenghts and challenges that his company needs to bring to the battlefield than his idiotic statements about SF. He needs to focus on what you all need to do and not what it is that he thinks SF does. If you read between the lines of his tirade it almost sounds like he is trying to give you a pep talk telling you that you all are where he knows SF is so that you will be a little more confident than you might be in your up coming deployment. He if sees a weakness somewhere then he needs to resolve it with actions and not an overactive mouth.

3. Read all the mission statements you probably glossed over that are listed on the home page and then you tell me just what is it that you think your unit can do better than what SF has been organized, trained, and equipped to do.

4. SF has specific rolls and functions for which it was created and which it does better than any other organization regradless of what others who have never served in SF think. Unlike your 1SG who has never served in my branch, I have served as an Infantry Platoon Leader, Company Commander, Battalion S4 and Battalion S3 in leg, mech, air assault, and airborne infantry units so I know exactly what the Infantry does and cannot do. That is not to say that the soldiers in conventional organizations are not good at what they do, they are and I am proud of you and all of your compatriots and am thankful for their service. However, regardless of what your ill informed and narrowly focused 1SG seems to think, while we all serve the same master we are different, bring different skill sets to the game and we can do what you do but do it through surrogates we train to stand up on their own two feet to fight for their country and that is only one of our core missions.