BIG announcement

[Bigduke6]

Alan,

No, the Army won't cut you that kind of deal. If you flunk out of OCS then you are a private for the rest of your enlistment and your job is what the Army says it wants, you only get to state your wishes.

Like a said, this is the main pressure point used by the TAC officers in OCS, no one wants to spend the next three years of his life in an crappy E-3 job.

The thing on going infantry is that if the Army makes you an infantry officer, they will try very hard to put you through Ranger school as well. This policy in fact keeps new officers arguably of higher quality and motivation in other branches from going into Ranger school, as there are limited slots. But I have to say it makes sense, if there's any officer that needs Ranger training - which pretty much is a small unit leadership and patrolling course with some stress thrown in - it's the infantry officers that need it, and the infantry platoon leaders most of all.

It's a pretty good system but not perfect, in the mech infantry battalion I was in one of our best lieutenants was an infantry lieutenant who had refused Ranger school because he just wanted to do his time and the get out and go to grad school. He really had the Ranger Old Boys' club against him, but he was really like near genius smart, great at getting along with his people, and terrific at solving problems. One time his platoon did the best night firing scores in the entire brigade because it was really foggy and you couldn't see the targets or your rifle sights in the muck. The range officers tried to help by putting chem lights on the pop-up targets so the troops could see them, but that was no good because it was almost impossible to see your rights. So this non-Ranger guy on the range thought about it, and busted open a couple of chem lights and smeared the chem goo on his platoon's sights. So his guys could see where they were shooting, no one else could, and after that the old chem-light-on-rifle-sights trick became brigade SOP. Classic case of any one could of thought of it, but it took a smart guy to do it. His soldiers thought the world of him and they had more fun in the Army than any other platoon in the battalion, I think because their lieutenant was the only one not interested in doing things the Ranger Way. But I digress.

So anyway, if you got branched infantry I think your chances would be extremely high to get a shot at Ranger school. Your height would give you a mild advantage on some of the obstacle stuff and maybe on the marching with a pack stuff, but you would be at a slight disadvantage because the limited food they give you wouldn't go as far for a big guy like you. It's not pure physical strength you need in Ranger school so much as endurance and will.

Or, you could forget the infantry, go Aviation, and drive a helicopter. True, if you met a Ranger he would officially be tougher than you. But he wouldn't be a pilot, nor would he ever be one, and for all his talk about the glory of commanding troops in battle, his war job has mud and dirt in it, and yours has high-tech and air conditioning. Another thing to remember is that caste and pecking order is incredibly important in the army, and it can suck if you happen to get stuck into the lower end (ordnance, finance, these days maybe even artillery or armor) it isn't fun, you spend your career pissed you aren't high speed like the combat arms guys. And if you are a pilot, you are outside the food chain. Every one else stays on earth. You are the only one who owns the sky.

That said, 6'10" has to be very close to the max cut off for some army helicopters. I'm sure you could fit into a Blackhawk but I am not positive aboat a OH-58, they're more cramped. No idea on an Apache as I've never been inside one of those.

On the medical or the JAG, I would only recommend it if you really want to spend your life being a doctor or a lawyer. The Army would give you terrific experience in either field, but if you would rather be doing something else they'll still own you for somewhere between 5 - 10 years probably. That's a long time to hate your job.

Bigduke6,

Thanks for all that info! I definitely saw some things that I found interesting, particularly the JAG and medical training and your personal OCS experience. Do you happen to know if it would be possible while enlisting to get an agreement in writing that says my enlistment is terminated if I don't pass OCS? I'm confident that I can pass as I'm also a pretty physical guy, but it would be nice to take some kind of control like that while enlisting.

Regarding aviation, it is definitely something that I've always been interested in and still consider. Even if I never join the service I still plan on taking flying lessons and eventually getting a pilot's license. One catch there however, is that I'm 6'10". That means no fighter flying for me, as the primary concern is the ejection process taking off my kneecaps! As for other types of aircraft, I haven't tried sitting in many, but I actually have sat (and fit!) in the cockpit of a V-22 Osprey. The pilot told me, too, that his CO is 6'6" and flies it just fine. This is a Marine aircraft, but I would imagine the cockpit layout is similar for Army large fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. Aviation might actually be a better fit for a guy my size than Rangers or Airborne. I don't want to imagine who an enemy sniper, looking at a platoon with me in it, would aim for.

[orwell]

Just wanted to echo Mark's comments, as a fellow countryman I'm proud and grateful for your service to the country, and sincerely hope everything works out for you.

Also wanted to say thanks to the people who posted info on the actual conditions of deployment, I love to read actual accounts of military service and just how different it is from the civilian life I know.

[John Kettler]

Mord,

My now happily retired, and unwounded at that, younger brother George joined the Army back when the cutoff was 27. He slipped in at age 26 and a bunch, fed up with running a warehouse and, frankly, "wanting to play with machine guns." He had some college, made rank in record time (Sgt in two years ISTR). He was in Army Scouts, and loved that, save for the scary, nauseating NOE helo roller coasters. He then became a Bradley gunner in the Armored Cav, a Master Gunner, and a Bradley Platoon Sgt., all these in the 2/11 ACR along the IGB with East Germans watching back. His was one of the units detailed to fight the covering force battle if the balloon went up, units the studies I had in my safe back then said were expected to take 50% casualties. From there, he went to Scouts in Hummvees, and was in Bahrain when GW I ended. Did a year in Korea, too. GW II saw him deploy with the first SBCT (from Fort Lewis) to see combat. By then, he was SFC, running the TOC radios and had extensive time under fire in northern Iraq, both in camp and on road patrols. Rockets, mortars, IEDS, VBIEDs (nearly blown sky high; missed by mere seconds)--he saw the elephant. He had so many friends killed and wounded (heard about only a few) that he freaked when I sent him Mom's military funeral flag, thinking he'd particularly appreciate it as a remembrance of her. She was a Marine SSgt.

Joining the Army was his decision, and he survived to retire, barely escaped being stop lossed, more or less intact (80% disability from an agglomeration of back, knee, respiratory and other service related stuff) and lived his dream. If this is your dream, then go for it, and be well in the doing!

I have no military experience to offer you of my own, but I'll share something I got from

a National Guard soldier I used to do security work with and who is now a cop. Rings and fast roping don't mix! A guy in his unit went whipping out the helicopter door, only to be brought short by his wedding band's snagging the doorsill. Cost him a finger!

I do have an equipment suggestion to offer, too, should you be going someplace hot. Get yourself a Misty Mate Personal Cooling System. I got one for brother George so he wouldn't keel over from heat prostration in the steam bath that was Iraq while patrolling in armored Hummvees with interior temps as high as 160. Helped!

Stay sharp,be safe and good luck!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Omenowl]

I believe they changed the age for OCS to 39. That is what I was told when I looked into the national guard in 2005.

[SgtMuhammed]

You also have to have at least 60 hours of college. At least you did in 2000.

[Mord]

Hey fellas.

I had some bad RAM and my comp crashed so thanks for all the supportive comments and info while I was away.

So to catch you up, MEPS sent me through a bunch of hoops and I spent three LONG days in there last week, and on one of them my projection was canceled so I couldn't even do anything. BUT I did get three free hotel stays with dinner and breakfast, so it wasn't that bad. LOL...they are to the point where they can place my face with a name when I walk in.

The punk ass doctors (the civilian ones) were a group of pissy, little Nazi pukes to say the least. LOL they had every recruit in the places POed. I decided that the medical aspects of MEPS is to start the bonding process...we all got a kick out of bitching about how rude and pushy they were. All the uniformed Doctors were great but the civy docs...well it was kinda like a bunch of, ugly, hairy backed slobs ridiculing a model for having a pimple. LOL half of them probably couldn't pick their pants up off the floor without chucking three vertebra off their spines...but boy could they judge the way you rotated your left foot...very loudly I might add. The highlight of that day was a guy telling a story about another dude that was thrown out of the "turn your head and cough" room for having a cluster that smelled like a garbage can...after the groans of disgust came the Glade plug-in jokes, along with hanging one of those pine tree air fresheners from the offending appendage.

Seeing that my age was of an advanced state I was unlucky (or lucky depending on your value system) enough to be greased up and probed like Ned Beaty on a canoeing expedition...The other guys, including my recruiter's station commander had a good laugh over the violation of my gerbil chute...thank god she'd stopped at the elbow...I could taste her finger nail polish.

To make a long story short, after the regular MEPS riga-ma-roll, the prostate polka, a trip to Walter Reed, and waiting on a waiver for having a good cholesterol count 5 points too low, Thursday should seal the deal. My recruiter has promised me a beer and dinner when it's all over. SO, all that should be left is to sit down with the Liaison Officer to hammer out my contract and then raise my hand and swear in...I hope.

Mord.

[John Kettler]

Mord,

Appreciate the update! Have also had the peculiar "delights" of an unexpected first time ever encounter with a female doctor, especially the prostate exam. She was thoroughly professional to be sure, but I found it unnerving.

Good luck!

Regards,

John Kettler