Not sure if this is the right place to post. It is Remembrance day today so: In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. Lest we forget. RIP to everyone that has made the ultimate sacrifice for us and best wishes to all the men & women currently serving.
If any of you guys follow Tim Kennedy on Facebook you can win a Ranger Up rashguard right now if you can answer the following: You are shooting an OBR/SR25/M110 with M118LR(174 gr). The wind is moving from your 3 O'clock at 5 MPH. You target is at 650m. What is your wind call in mils?
The hold is a half mil right. If he is getting tricky, past 600 you account for spin drift, so the hold would be 1/4 mil right. EDIT: I meant the hold is a mil right, so 3/4 mils with spin drift.
I read your post with my finger poised over the quote button, then got all sad when I realized you corrected yourself. It's nice to see Timmy fuckin' with people.
Just found out today that I got selected. Fucking elated. Thanks for the help and advice from everyone here.
Congratulations. Just don't fuck up the Q Course... it ain't as easy as it used to be, and with the Army slimming down, will get even harder.
Been a while since I've posted in this thread (or board for that matter) and I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. Started my first 96 today start and another one on Thursday. In other news I'm about to upgrade to my 5 level (2A651) and start taking some college classes. Feels good to be almost done with this stage of training. I'm kind of pissed I missed an opportunity to go on a TCN duty to the Middle East. The only reason I didn't volunteer was because I was told I wasn't eligible to go anywhere until I got my 5 level. The only guy who volunteered is kind of a f.uck up and is father from upgrading than I am and it's too late to change it up now. Oh well.
Any of you military people have personal experience with filing with TMO for a PCS? We're having serious issues doing the online stuff, which has to be done before the in-person office people will even talk to you. There is some attachment that needs to be downloaded and that, when clicked, just takes you back to the homepage. Anybody? Anybody?
Question for anyone that cares to listen. I really never got into the whole college application thing since I was headed for Navy a long time ago. I'm just curious who I would go to if I had questions or needed help getting my shit together when I wanna go to school on the MGIB. I don't want to waste any of it, but shit, I honestly feel like I'm reading navajo every time I look up the information. If there's some resource I can use, maybe even a consultant that I can just tell "This is where I wanna go, this is what I wanna study, ths is how long" and help me get it done, it'd make life so much easier.
Got a memo yesterday that the Army is getting rid of 150,000 soldiers effective March 1. If you have had a bad NCOER, any alcohol related problems whatsoever, a relief for cause NCOER, or anything else that possibly puts you in the "fuckup" category, you will be gone. No questions asked. Wild.
I'm assuming that this includes reservists, but how does this not translate to a big bump in unemployment?
I don't know if it includes them or not. 150,000 is statistical noise for unemployment, but you're right. You take one group on the government dole (military), fire them, and put them on another government teat. Ridiculous.
Hasn't this been long overdue? It's happening to the other services, albeit in a less extreme fashion. I think that the only reason why they're going nuts with it is that the Army is really bloated in certain areas. The infantry is generally lean and mean, but you get to looking at some of the pogue shops... Goddamn, I didn't know they made cammies that big. They're being a little nicer in the Marine Corps; they wait for EAS and tell people politely that there's no room for them to reenlist. On the other hand, they've dramatically increased the "Fuck You" power of separations boards. Before, separations boards were generally forgiving; even if you'd had multiple run-ins with the CO and had "Fuckup" written all over your SRB, they needed a really good reason to burn your ass. Nowadays, they say, "Three NJPs, we don't care if you're Chesty Fucking Puller, you're outta here." It's the military's way of shaking off the deadweight, I guess. The only question is how many good people we're going to lose because of it.
I haven't heard much about the Air Force rollbacks other than they're cutting some squadrons and a few thousand airmen. My chain keeps stressing not to mess up or we could be on the chopping block but only one person in my entire squadron is even being considered. They did cut most of the demonstration teams, my base lost it's demo team. I don't know why they don't just completely cut out all demo teams and the Thunderbirds. Seems like a colossal waste of money and misuse of manpower when we're strapped for cash. The Marine Corps' PR must be having a hell of a time what with the urination incident and now the picture of the Scout Snipers in front of the "SS" flag.
They ripped apart our barracks about a week ago... at 0400. We all got woken up by SNCOs bursting into rooms yelling for us to open our shit up... it was like a fucking drug bust, except looking for SS flags. One of my buddies got yelled at because he said, "Well you're only looking for SS flags, right? Good thing my swastika flag doesn't have 'SS' on it!" Smartass...
That is the stupidest thing ever. Scout Snipers have been using the SS symbol forever. It's like the SEALs or SCUBA teams that use the Jolly Roger. Are they condoning wonton piracy, rape, and murder? No, of course not. It's a cool looking symbol. The military needs to find its fucking balls again.
Don't put the cart before the horse: figure out where you want to go and what you want to study first. Every institute of higher learning that meets MGIB criteria should have a rep there to help you with the application and paperwork. Just be persistent on your end, because the VA's customer service is some of the worst in the country.
A ton. We actually just had a retention brief with our battalion's retention NCO a few days ago. 8-10 of us there, all first-enlistment soldiers whose ETS dates cause us to fall into Phase 2 of re-enlistment (meaning we're eligible to re-up starting March 1). All 8-10 of us are SPCs, all with a deployment under our belts, one guy who just passed the E-5 board (should be good on points for 1 March) and the others all scheduled to attend in the next 3-4 months. All but 1 or 2 of us who were there are outstanding soldiers and all but 1 or 2 would kill to deploy again with the unit (which is deploying again for OEF early next year--being deliberately vague here for OPSEC reasons--shortly after all of us are scheduled to ETS). Unfortunately we're all also in an over-strength MOS, so we were offered 2 options for re-enlistment: "needs of the Army" (basically, the Army sends to whatever MOS and whatever post needs you) or re-classing. In other words, we don't have any way to re-up and be guaranteed to stay with the unit for next year's deployment. The Army is basically gutting the experienced E-4s and (soon to be) E-5s out of a unit right before it deploys....and our MOS is one that is particularly critical to the war effort. I'd kill to deploy again but have had enough of the garrison bullshit and am not about to put myself at the mercy of the Army and end up as a cook at Ft. Wainwright (no disrespect to the cooks out there, just not something that appeals to me). Most of the other guys in my position feel the same way, and virtually all of us are getting out unless something changes. The Battalion Commander and CSM are aware of the issue and trying to pull strings, but it's not looking like they'll be able to save everyone. On that note....anyone ever made the active to Reserve/NG transition before and if so, any tips?