Reply With Quotebranch maybe?
jesus fuckin christ I thought they got a PM on how to not be a fucktard off the bat?
Hey all,
I'm an army ROTC cadet. Going to be an EOCC for LDAC 2011.
branch maybe?
jesus fuckin christ I thought they got a PM on how to not be a fucktard off the bat?
Fuck you, Ass.
Actually, no. I don't think the PM tells them what to put in the intro other than to post an intro. There is a 'sticky' in this forum on how to do it - but nonetheless he posted one. Now we pull info.
Yeah, so branch? What do you want to be when you grow up? etc.
EOCC don't have a branch yet...
I'm tired of going back changing the thread topic to their username, which is also in the instructions. Otherwise we'd have a thousand threads titled "New Guy."
Anywho, how bout we try again with this intro.
-Sammy
Counsel Yourself!
Yeah-I'm sorry. The PM just says "Welcome to A is for army".
I don't have a branch yet. I was actually supposed to be branched this year, but I faced an unforeseen "disaster" at LDAC. I got sent home for f'ing up PUSH UPS (!?!). The absolute last thing I expected to happen considering I usually maxed it at school, but I guess the LT's didn't like my form - whatever, I'm over it. That's actually what attracted me to the forum in the first place considering I was trying to find information about end of camp accessions and the like.
So, suck it up and drive on - I'm looking to branch Armor or FA. I would take either or.
Welcome. I would just focus on form for the APFT. It's better to get 42? good ones than 2847598408 ones they don't count. APFT scores don't matter in the real world anyways. Knowing your job and giving a shit about Soldiers are the things that really matter.
-Sassy
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" -Eleanor Roosevelt
Take Armor, its way more fun to shoot a tank then a howitzer. As an FA officer you will more then likley look at bubbles or do math in a M577. I was a 13B in the NG and I was an SMP cadet in an FA Battery. It drove me to armor and after seeing Active duty FA guys, I'm glad it did.
Unless of course you find yourself a FSO with the infantry in Afghanistan, in which case you'll probably be calling for and adjusting indirect fires in support of troops in contact.Originally Posted by stingray185
I'm not pushing either way, but get both sides of the story. Tanks may have been cool in OIF I, but I don't see them rolling around the 'Stan. It's all about perspective.
"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school."
~Archidamus of Sparta, 432 BC
Yeah I wish that was the perspective at LDAC. I was ranked pretty highly at school and did well at LDAC barring the push ups...but I messed up something basic, so I have to accept that and sadly do it all over again.
I'm not quite sure what they're going to have me do this year. I'm looking in the forum for information on people who had to be EOCC's due to PT failure or injuries. Found some information, but not any information on how their whole year was structured.
Anyone can call and adjust fire. I have never been to A-stan but as it is still a COIN fight I would still leave my FSO leading the CoIST and keep the FOs with PLTs. TIC fires are reactionary and don't require an O-1-O-2 to plan. Armor guys do more then Tanks, and there are plenty of them running around the 'Stan in Cav Squadrons and MGS. I still think the FSO is the best job for an FA LT, even as a CoIST LT but I can't recommend being in a firing battery.
That's all you needed to say. The point of my comment was perspective. In Iraq I'm sure it looks like all the FA guys are doing is twiddling their thumbs and watching bubbles, but as much as Afghanistan is a COIN fight, it's still a very real shooting war. Yeah, the FSO leads the CoIST but he also does a lot of lethal fires planning and execution as well. You're right, armor guys do a lot more than tanks. I'm just trying to say that what's true in one theater (like Iraq, where I assume there isn't a lot of IDF being fired) isn't necessarily true in another. I'm sure being in a firing battery in Iraq is miserable and no fun, but from what I saw in Afghanistan, the FA guys there were almost constantly firing missions. Its all about perspective.
"There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school."
~Archidamus of Sparta, 432 BC
As a matter of fact we did shoot a lot of IDF in Iraq up until 2009, my point is, from my prior FA experience, is that being an officer in a firing battery did not seem as much fun compared to being an officer in a Tank or Scout PLT where you actually get a chance to fire your weapons systems yourself and maneuver your own element. This has nothing to do with any theater: Iraq, A-stan, Africa, Indonesia, Korea, western Europe or anywhere we may go or could have gone. What I will tell you is from talking to FA officers that they just don't seem satisfied with their job. Maybe light FA guys are, maybe its because my battery sucked, but I just don't see a lot exuberance coming from the 13 series guys. All I know is that I am real happy that I changed my number 1 choice from FA to Armor and to anyone debating the two choices, regardless of COE, I would recommend Armor.
A lot of that is also a self-fulfilling prophecy. A lot of guys in FA didn't choose it. But yes, there is a higher chance of having to conduct a non-standard mission, such as prison guard or convoy security as FA. However, I urge you to take a strong, honest look at yourself and where you will probably fall on the OML. Armor is a more sought-after branch than FA. You can choose Armor as number one and FA as number 2 and get stuck in Chemical. However, if you put FA as number one, it's highly likely you will get it. It's clearly up to you, but as I said, make an honest personal assessment. I don't know what the current emphasis is on for the OML these days. GPA was ranked high for my year group. A lot of guys who were ranked high by the school ended up falling lower overall because of a shitty GPA. Also, your school is the one who sent you apparently unprepared. Obviously their APFT grading standards were not on the samel level as LDAC, so I would take what they say with a grain of salt. I'm not trying to sound like an asshole or make you feel bad about yourself because I obviously don't know the rest of your stats. It's more of a dig on your school's program, especially if they aren't taking any lessons learned from your experience last year at LDAC. I know my ROTC was asking about the strict APFT standards at LDAC and tried their best to implement them into the year group behind me in order to send better-prepared cadets. Once again, I'm not trying to sound like an ass. There is also the old saying of, "You never know until you try," so you'll never know if you could have been an Armor officer unles you list it as number one. If you think you will be competitive for an AR slot, and you think you will regret not listing it first, then knock yourself out.
-Sassy
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" -Eleanor Roosevelt
This is plausible considering that the captain of our RC team also failed them and the low PU scores overall. I'm just really pissed off that I got kicked out for something seemingly minor.
As far as branching goes, I just want a combat arms branch. I kind of liked the idea of FA having to do oddball jobs-to me that interest me because I would be trained in a combat arms field, but I would be doing different tasks. That's how they advertised it during branch orientation and that facet appealed to me.
all this reminds me of a teacher of mine. She would tell us: "on branch night, if you dont get what you want. Go to the Firstie club, get shit faced, cry like crazy, then wake up the next day and be the best damn ______ officer you can be!"
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