View Full Version : Hey! Talk me out of this idea! Please!
CDT_TEX
30 April 2005, 14:54
Sometimes, well, most of the time recently, I look around this place, and I feel like I'm doing nothing. I wear my uniform one day a week and practice saluting people. Part of me just wants to drop this shit, enlist, and actually do something for our country. It's not that college is hard, I have a 4.0 accum, I'm just becoming disillusioned with it.
---TEX
You're dumb if you do that. Get your degree.
Neo Out
Aries
30 April 2005, 15:27
graduate. youll be much more useful that way
Un4given
30 April 2005, 15:57
Enjoy being useless for now...
rndgen
30 April 2005, 16:26
You can't say he'd be dumb or more useful either way. It depends on the person, and what kind of leader they want to be.
Sammy Sandbag
30 April 2005, 16:32
Enjoy being useless for now...
Here here. Your time will come, enjoy this time while you can. BTW Tex, what year are you?
Un4given
30 April 2005, 17:14
Exactly. I want to kill the Taliban as much as the next person, but we cant have everyone in the military all at once... It needs leaders too. :)
CDT_TEX
30 April 2005, 19:21
I'm an MS1
---TEX
HerdROTC
30 April 2005, 20:08
Dude, yer first 2 years of ROTC will suck. They concentrate mostly on recruitment and retention. Try to find some fun in the suck. Enjoy being OPFOR, enjoy being able to do no wrong because like college as a whole, it's gonna go away real friggin fast. Don't let ROTC consume your life, nothing worse than a burned out cadet. Enjoy college, enjoy life and just drive on. Oh yea, drink water too
Un4given
30 April 2005, 21:23
No, beer.
Sammy Sandbag
30 April 2005, 21:27
I'm an MS1
---TEX
Well that's your problem right there, you haven't done anything yet. I thought my first couple years were pretty pointless too. I got way more out of P/Rs than I did from ROTC. Try and join RC or PR or at least something to keep you interested. If you want to be more involved, most ROTC bats use the underclassmen as OPFOR. Otherwise, enjoy your time in college, it'll be over before you know it and then you'll be like me and wishing you were still there.
MansonTheTool
1 May 2005, 02:52
Or go to a higher speed ROTC battalion like Ohio State.
By the way, it's a cumulative GPA, not an "accumulative" GPA.
I have had that idea, too, from time to time. I'm taking the summer to evaluate how I really feel, talking to parents and friends. It's not a decision to be made lightly. Also, there might simply be a correlation between the time of year (frustration runs high during finals) and your dissatisfaction with being in school.
I'm commissioning in 2 weeks into the Infantry....At least once a week I stare at the sky for a minute and wish I had taken the 11B option 40 RIP enlistment contract I was offered two days after 9/11.
Going the route of a Officer isn't the right path for everyone, sitting on the sidelines during a time of war is especially hard.
I've spent the past 3.5 years in Cadet land drinking beer and pumpin pussy while dozens of my friends have laid everything on the line for a cause greater than themselves. A few have come back pretty banged up and it sucks not being out there with them.
Some people are going to sit here and preach to you, "oh thats stupid, be an Officer, you make more money" or "why would you wanna be a PFC and get yelled at by some stupid SPC for three years", but that's just ignorance speaking.
I have more respect for enlisted Soldiers and NCOs than I do most officers. The majority do their job for half the money and with twice the pride and commitment.
Coming back to college after a three year enlistment has never hurt anyone...it will mature you and add character.
Whatever you choose, just make sure you do it for the right reasons. Trust your instincts
I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on all of this in a few years... I think action will change your perspective. You know full well the difference in jobs and commitments between Os and Es, so I won't preach it... but there are reasons for everything, from pay to duties. You are about to begin to deal with something that you never would have as an E, and I think it's commendable. Neither is more or less difficult, but one will prepare you for life better.
Associate289
4 May 2005, 08:47
nemesis, where in ny are you?
Ezmartini
4 May 2005, 11:22
Associate wants to take your relationship to the next level.
javelin66
18 May 2005, 22:04
I'm new to this forum, but I saw your post and had to reply. I had the same thoughts when I was in college, and I often think about how things would be now if I had made a different decision.
Regardless if you decide to serve as an officer or enlisted Soldier you are still a Soldier. It doesn't matter if you serve three years or thirty, you can look people in the eye and tell them you served your country in her armed forces (and then ask them what the hell they've done).
My only advice is this: Don't be in a hurry. I reported for active duty (as a 2LT) in September '89, after two years in the TX ARNG (2-141 IN, 'Remember the Alamo') and only five years and two summer sessions in college. I thought for sure that the Cold War was over and that I would never see combat. Less than a year later I was in Saudi Arabia (I was a Screamin' Eagle, 502nd IN) HOPING that I would never see combat.
Since then, I've had the opportunity to walk the mean streets of Port Au Prince (Cite Solei is wonderful this time of year), see teh birthplace of civilization again (with 5th SFG this time) and even visit scenic Afghanistan (once they get the minefields cleared up Bagram will make a hell of a ski resort).
In other words, make your decision based on your vision of the type of Soldier and leader you want to be, not on the fact that this war may be over soon. There WILL be another one.
Well put. Welcome, javelin...
yay..old people giving good advice.. learn from this man G
Sammy Sandbag
19 May 2005, 02:37
Yes, I love to see some experienced posters on here, wish we could keep a few around. Hey javelin, I have to ask, what's up with the USN icon? Do I smell an introduction post???
AirborneAli
19 May 2005, 04:43
Trying to remember what I thought of it all when I was an MSI. I've made the decision to ETS now......
Trying to remember what I thought of it all when I was an MSI. I've made the decision to ETS now......
*perks ears up* really? Where to? I still vot eyou open your restaurant in B'more... ;)
Sammy Sandbag
19 May 2005, 14:14
Expiration of Term of Service
Trying to remember what I thought of it all when I was an MSI. I've made the decision to ETS now......
*perks ears up* really? Where to? I still vot eyou open your restaurant in B'more... ;)
I'll invest. Can help run it as well.
I'll invest. Can help run it as well.
Don't get me started, I've already got one on my plate. Thought you were out of that biz, though.
I am for the most part. But I would dabble back in it if I owned a piece of the pie.
Besides, who else o nthe board has my level of expertise?
CombatCady
19 May 2005, 22:43
I do. Punk-ass.
Associate289
20 May 2005, 01:35
you have about as much experience as a virgin in a dick riding contest, shut the fuck up
Cerebroden
20 May 2005, 08:22
about restaurants?
CombatCady
20 May 2005, 14:44
Associate, having won several trophies in dick-riding tournaments around the world, is certainly the expert to ask.
javelin66
25 May 2005, 12:21
Yes, I love to see some experienced posters on here, wish we could keep a few around. Hey javelin, I have to ask, what's up with the USN icon? Do I smell an introduction post???
Sorry, I skipped that part on my profile build and only learned later (to my horror) that a USN CPO icon had been placed next to my name. I will fix soonest.
I am an RA Major (soon to be LTC if all goes well this summer). I am MI, but started life in the Infantry. I've served in the 101st, 2ID, 82nd, in an SBCT, and at the Corps level (can't recommend that, and with 5th SFG in IZ. I'm currently serving in a Joint HQ.
Cerebroden
25 May 2005, 12:26
wow, i'd say this site is really blowin up with some oldER age experience, good to know we've got just about every angle covered on lots of shit
javelin66
25 May 2005, 12:38
wow, i'd say this site is really blowin up with some oldER age experience, good to know we've got just about every angle covered on lots of shit
For the record, I'm not that old
Cerebroden
25 May 2005, 12:39
YOUR ABOUT TO BE A DAMN LTC!!!!!
javelin66
25 May 2005, 12:41
I see your point. However, keep in mind that MAJs are the 2LTs of the Field Grade ranks, which keeps me feeling young.
Unfortunately, with every promotion comes a modest pay increase and a longer list of things that can go wrong and be blamed on you.
Jake the Skillet
25 May 2005, 12:47
It's like that the longer your married too.....
Cerebroden
25 May 2005, 12:50
yea except you can't retire with a pension after 20 years of marriage
Jake the Skillet
25 May 2005, 12:50
Wait, that's not what the preacher told me...
Cerebroden
25 May 2005, 12:51
thats cuz your bangin his daughter
CombatCady
26 May 2005, 18:12
But then again, who's not?
Javelin, I might have some ?? for you later when I have time to organize my thoughts. I'm looking to do MI with a branch detail to INF maybe, so I might come to you for advice, if that's cool.
javelin66
26 May 2005, 19:51
I think that is probably the best way to go. You will get a solid foundation in leadership and learn what the Army is all about from as close to the pointy end of the stick as you can get.
MI is a great branch, but our LTs don't always get leadership opportunities (there are far fewer MI platoons out there).
MI is a great branch, but our LTs don't always get leadership opportunities (there are far fewer MI platoons out there).
Drink coffee and read many reports lately? :wink:
javelin66
26 May 2005, 20:26
I'm trying to cut back to 2 cups and 50 pages a day.
It's funny, but my wife can't understand how I can drink coffee at 2200 and still go to sleep. I tell her it's years of practice
CDT_TEX
26 May 2005, 20:41
Hey all, Thanks for the motivation. I love posting topics and then checking back weeks later to see people still posting on them. Javelin, your career path sounds kinda like the one I want to take. Thanks for all the well thought out responses and talking about associate's world wide fame for being a champion dick rider...
---TEX
Associate289
26 May 2005, 23:46
you live in ohio, you cant say anything
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