03-14-2006, 06:24
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#181
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Asset
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 7
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Ship Date
This is recruit John Clark, scheduled to ship on 20060511.
__________________
"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special."
-- Stephen Hawking
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JohnBClark is offline
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03-14-2006, 07:52
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#182
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SF Candidate
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: East Coast
Posts: 20
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from a REP-63 to those in the pipeline
Hey guys, I graduated in September, am now overseas and have recently been messaging with some REP-63s and 18Xs who've had all kinds of questions. I just thought I'd toss a couple of those answers out here in case others of you out there might have similar questions. Again I'm an FNG on a team and do not claim to know much, but I do know what it's like to be a new 18X/REP-63 on a team and to go from the course right into a deployment.
The best advice I can give is to remember during the course that the skills you learn now may some day directly contribute to your and your teammates' survival. Strange as it may sound this applies equally if not more so to OSUT as it does to all the "high speed" SF skills you'll learn in the Q course. I remember the class we had in OSUT on the Mark 19, I thought hey I'm going SF and this is a regular infantry weapon so I don't really need to remember this stuff. Well guess what my position is on my team when we convoy: Mark 19 gunner. And we convoy a lot. I felt like a turd when I didn't know my head from my ass with that weapon. Pay attention and try to retain as much as possible, you never know when you'll need it.
The other big lesson I've learned is that I'm only a medic when medical shit is going down, otherwise I'm the junior-junior weapons guy, engineer, intel guy, commo guy and grunt laborer. There is so much stuff that has to be done on a team that everyone has to pitch in and help with everybody else's job as much as possible. This is especially true for the medics because at least where I am there is not much medicine to be done. I arrived on the team knowing medicine cold, but because I was a REP-63 I knew very little about other things like heavy weapons, demo and commo equipment. It was a steep learning curve. This goes back to retaining as much as possible during the pipeline.
A lot has been written about physical training prior to shipping for OSUT, but I'll just throw in my take on it: Train for the APFT because that's what you'll be doing most during OSUT. You ruck enough during OSUT to prep you for SOPC and then you do plenty during SOPC to prep you for SFAS. Just getting through those phases and moving right into the next will keep you in shape and give you a huge advantage, especially at selection, versus the guys that come from the regular Army. Remember that a lot of these guys who seem out of shape compared to you have just come from fighting a war and were not afforded the luxury of a regular pt schedule.
Finally, never forget why you're in the pipeline: to fight in the war on terror as an SF soldier. Make no mistake about it, if you get through you will go to war. This applies to Guard guys (like me) as much as to the active guys. I told myself I understood that when I signed up, but I don't think I really did. Never forget it. I'm stoked as hell to be here, being on a team at war is the best experience of my life. Life at SWC sucks a lot of the time and there's very little you can do about it, but life on a team is a whole different story. Don't let SWC get you down, especially you medics!
Feel free to PM me with any specific questions, I'll reply as I'm able. Hope this helps. Later, Pete
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Petelink is offline
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03-14-2006, 11:11
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#183
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: America, the Beautiful
Posts: 3,193
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Pete,
Awesome post - well said.
Thanks for "giving back" by helping those who would follow in your footsteps.
JM
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Warrior-Mentor is offline
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03-26-2006, 20:41
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#184
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Asset
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Posts: 4
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Starting the journey
Signing with B 2/20 as an NQP on Thursday. Very excited and looking forward to a new challenge.
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swesty70 is offline
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03-27-2006, 09:28
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#185
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 181
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That's a reality check if I ever heard one folks. Congradulations and thanks for sharing.
TFM
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TFM is offline
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03-31-2006, 00:36
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#186
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Asset
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 5
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18X 20060608
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18xray is offline
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03-31-2006, 12:54
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#187
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Asset
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Russell, MA
Posts: 2
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18x 20060607
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Pvt. Butler is offline
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03-31-2006, 22:55
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#188
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by swesty70
Signing with B 2/20 as an NQP on Thursday. Very excited and looking forward to a new challenge.
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Well?
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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03-31-2006, 22:58
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#189
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by AztecSN95
18x
26 Oct 2005
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Well?
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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04-01-2006, 06:25
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#190
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,821
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Maybe they got cold feet?
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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04-01-2006, 08:01
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#191
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Asset
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Posts: 4
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No cold feet
Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Maybe they got cold feet?
TR
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No, no cold feet here. Signed on Thursday as advertised. I am assigned to the training Det and will be there up to six months until I leave for SFAS. I would like to thank everyone on this sight for all of the great information. It has made my decisions up to this point much more informed. I look forward to the next step in my journey and this site will be an essential tool in that process I am sure.
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swesty70 is offline
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04-09-2006, 16:42
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#192
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Asset
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 2
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18X, 20060712. Thanks for all the info.
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Acadia is offline
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04-09-2006, 17:35
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#193
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Asset
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Wichita Falls, TX (Hometown) Ft. Bragg (Station)
Posts: 18
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18X 20060502
__________________
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke
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hermitcrab is offline
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04-22-2006, 09:30
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#194
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SF Candidate
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Bragg
Posts: 22
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REP 63
REP 63, 20061010
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kwu is offline
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04-23-2006, 13:47
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#195
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Asset
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Killeen, TX
Posts: 2
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18X, 20060511. This is a great website.
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Nauschalk is offline
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