Few Q's for all the Rangers out there.

[BK101484]

Just wondering what made you guys enlist and go Ranger. Also wondering why you decided to get out of the Army. And one last question is if you would do it all over again. Sorry if post was too personal but just curious.

[M-4]

When I asked the question fo any of the guys that I have met up here at Ft. Lewis, most said that they wanted a challenging job, to be the best at what they did, and to do a job that was important and necessary to the country. Very patriotic crowd.

Chris

[Dark Helmet]

1. What made me enlist? A) the GI Bill and the college fund, b) I was a hothead indestructible stud (or so I thought) that needed the discipline and authority.

2. What made me apply for the Ranger Regiment? I spent a year in the regular Army and tired quickly of all the shitbags I saw....knew I was destined for something better.

3. Why did I get out? Knee injury on jump #43, 22NOV88 - static line around my right ankle upon canopy deployment. MCL/ACL/PCL rebuild. Yes, it hurt. Still have a slight limp.

4. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Best thing I ever did for myself and my country. My dress greens and beret sit in the back of my closet in a garment bag; I miss it horribly.

[Ranger002]

I am going to be very honest here...

I wanted to show my MOM and DAD that I could be one of the best and make them proud of me ( It worked too..). When I enlisted I was your average stoner surf dude going nowhere... When I left 3 years later I had a sense of pride and purpose ,it completely changed me and yes I would do it again in a HEARTBEAT...
William Hazen

[Ranger1]

Brought up knowing I'd do something related to the miltary one day, as all the senior males in my family were ex-military. (Jarheads though.)Joined Army reserves (3/16th Infantry, Auburn Maine, Hooah!).
Ended up being an admin holdover at AA school in Rucker, and bumped into a couple of AD guys I'd been to OSUT with who had gone to Airborne and then RIP. (They weren't at AA school, can't remember why they were there.)

Just talking to them over a couple beers and seeing the way their whole attitude had changed, and was far different to the rest of the AD soldiers I'd been exposed to really convinced me that I needed to be one of them.

The day I got back with my new whirly bird wings, I went straight to my local meps and re-uped AD with an 82nd contract, hoping to get a chance to volunteer RIP in Airborne, (which I did). Best choice a young PFC 11B stud can make in the Army.

And like the rest of the guys here, for a million reasons, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

-Kirk
BCo 3/75th 88-90

[Sharky]

I guess I did it just to see if I could. My dad told me that he didn't think I had what it took so I just HAD to prove him wrong. Didn't know until later that he knew all along that I would make it. He just used a little child psychology on me for motivational purposes. It started out that I was doing it for him but I quickly learned that it is something that you have to do for yourself. Changed my whole life. Made me a better person in many ways. Except when I was hanging out with bad influences like Polypro. http://www.specialoperations.com/ubboard/smile.gif If I was 18 again, damn right I'd do it all over again. I think I might have liked it better as a 13Fox though.

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F.I.D.O.

[RangerCharlie]

Me, as a kid I was wrapped up in all the mystery of the Green Beret's and Paratroopers. Ranger, what's a Ranger? I didn't know what a Ranger was until I really got into history and read about them. After checking them out and catching a video of them in the mid 80's, I knew then and there that I wanted to be a Ranger.



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Aco 1/75 RGR
88-92

[RangerCharlie]

Hey Tack,
you get a gov't check for that? I get a whopping $95/mo for my limp.
Jump #18
Jordan
20-30mph wind gust
me hitting a wadi
me dragging on the ground
me limping to the chute drop off.
36 other rangers all in some sort of pain
me flying to Ger. for care, loved that C-9.
1st SGT Hall also got hurt on that jump, he was in terrible pain from a pelvis injury and they (Jordanians) drove us to a LZ in a Land Rover bouncing along the way, you could see the pain in his face, but he never said a thing. Hard, hard man.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally posted by RangerCharlie:
you get a gov't check for that? I get a whopping $95/mo for my limp....

$185/mo tax free. 30% "disabled" by the VA.

Goes directly into a Prudential investment account for my son for college.....

[Razor]

Tack,

Can I assume, then, that you put that VA vocational rehab money to good use (min 20% rating for eligibility)?

[TFRANGERMEMBER]

I lost a bet, so I ended up in ROP.

$185...slight limp in real cold weather.

RLTW

Shaft

[Dark Helmet]

Originally posted by Razor:
Can I assume, then, that you put that VA vocational rehab money to good use (min 20% rating for eligibility)?

Actually, no. Funny "I'm a dumb-ass" story on that one......

I just got out on a medical (almost to the day that I would have ETSd) and went to college on the GI Bill. Nobody EVER told me about voc rehab, so I never was able to take advantage of the benefit, although I was fully eligible for it. That really sucks, as I was a "Starvin Marvin" in college and had to work full time to support myself.

Simple fact is that noone told me and I didn't know enough to ask anyone.

Then, one of my buddies who spent seven years in (four in 1/75 and 3 in a LRSU unit in Germany) and broke a vertebrae in his neck on a jump goes and takle advantage of the rehab funds. He attends one of the most expensive schools in the country, majors in photography, and voc rehab picks up EVERYTHING for him; cameras, film, developing, tuition, housing for an entire family, etc. He was almost done with his program (and I had one degree and 75% on my way to an MBA) when we finally talked about it.

Ya snooze, ya lose. I was snoozing.

You woulda thunk that somewhere along the line, maybe during outprocessing or at a VA follow-up exam, that SOMEONE would have clued me in, but no........

All's well that ends well, and I turned out OK.....

[Hardrock Charlie]

RangerCharlie,

Just by chance, are you talking about the "East Hills Mission" (Jordan) back in 89'?

I you are, I was there too (C Co. 1/75). We wound up spending something like three weeks or maybe even a month in that hole...

anyway, take care

RLTW

[RangerCharlie]

That was the place.
It was funny when the Jordanian SF showed up with totally new equipment (All US stuff). I guess we had to give them something for letting us come.
Also remember the secret airbase? Heavy security everywhere http://www.specialoperations.com/ubboard/smile.gif
Do you remember the HH-60G that was showing off and bunged the tail on the ground?
Or the Jordanian Puma showing off by flying under the powerlines and then hitting the ground?

[Hardrock Charlie]

Yeah man! I totally remember that. In fact it's kind of funny because right above my computer is a framed piece which my wife put together with all of my I love me badges, etc... and lo and behold, there are my J jump wings - lol. That clown who crashed the Puma, man was that guy in deep... and also, yes I do remember the secret airbase. In fact, can you remember what we found inside one of those big assed hangars? They told us how opsec it was, so I don't know that it's such a good idea to post here...man was that place wild!

My old Plt. Sgt. and I wound up going into Amman and finding a "speak easy". Talk about a crazy thing to do in the middle east...jeez

By the way, do you remember an E-6 scuba god named Roberts? If you do, maybe you remember when he tried to free climb the climbing wall up in NC...when got to the top, there was nothing for him to grab and pull himself over. So he just fell off... I mean backwards 60 feet, buried himself up to the top of his Hi Techs in saw dust...

Those days were so f@#$%&n crazy...

RLTW