well i took my first stab at the PRT this morning and didn't pass.

did over the amount of sit ups i needed (needed at least 45, did 50 in two minutes), did one less push up than i needed at least (38 minimum..i didn't use to full 2 minutes though..had almost 1:30 left of 2:00), and i didn't do the mile and a half in under 13:45.

so now i just have to make myself do the whole thing again and again until i'm able to do it.

going back to the office in a little bit to finalize all my paper work. after that, i have to pass the PRT and then take a physical.

Don't take it to hard. It takes a few weeks to get up to standard if you're not used to it. I've seen people destroy the push ups/setups/run part and fail the BMI. Try training for the PRT at least twice a week for a month and you WILL own it. A lot of guys out of RTC can easily do 120/120/10:00 but that's about all they do for 9 weeks.

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yep, training is the most important thing. Never ever let a failure get you down, it's just more inspiration to jump to the top.

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i'm gonna give it another go tonight i think. not sure that i'll do any better on the second try in one day. if i can hurry and at least be able to do the minimum requirements, i could have my file reviewed next month and then go to newport in january. if i don't hurry (ie by the end of the month) then my file will get reviewed in january and then i'd go in february.

on the bright side..at least once it's all out of my hands, i can leave my grandmas and go visit my parents for a bit before going. don't hate my grandma or anything, just not very fun here and i've been here for a while longer than i originally intended.

I wouldn't shoot for the same eval. on the same day.

You would be better off training up than following up the next with some light exercise.

The day after that, try the eval. again and see how you do.

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heh i was actually gonna try one of those 5 hour energy shots before doing it. it was 7am when i did the test..so it's been a while. i can still feel some soreness though.

it really kicked my ass doing them all back to back like that. when i was working on improving, i would just do sets of 20 push ups..stop for a minute do another set, up till 80. same with sit ups..but not right after enough then do the run. gonna start just practicing like it's the PRT each time. if i push myself hard each time..i should get better and better, only i'll be sore a lot more.

When i had to run my mile, i would just keep a cadence in my head, usually like "Left, Right Left, Right". For me the cadence thing helped me kind of separate and not really think about how much further I had to go, just more less I was there running and didn't need to stop until the SGT. screamed "Good Sit Down".


With the rest of the stuff it’s more of an issue on how fast you do them. The faster you can do them the more pumped you become and the less it hurts you. Our Sgt. use to say, "The faster you do it, the less painful it becomes, making it easier for you to do your max
.

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I agree that during the actual PRT, it is better to pump it out as fast as you can. With training though it is better to use a slow controlled form. For running I would train on the same trail the test was held on so that I knew every dip, curve, rock, landmark and at what time I needed to be there. The run was always to toughest part for people that smoked.

The energy shot might be a thing for you, I've had some Sailors swear by them, but on short notice like today I don't know if it will make a huge difference. I tried one once and got sick as hell during a run.

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i'd run that trail but it's kind of a drive. not too bad..still far enough so that i'll probably just run through the neighborhood here. problem is that i've lived with a bunch of smokers for the last 6 or so years. they all smoked in the house so that didn't help me..neither did my smoking. which was unfiltered.

so i get all out of breath after a while. my legs were also tired i guess from the push ups? or combination of both. on top of the fact that i was already fairly worn out.

gonna try the energy drink on my own time first before trying it for the PRT. i think it could've helped me today cause i was just drained half way through the run. started walking for probably 10 seconds then started jogging again. wound up walking a bit more when i was most of the way there. then ran out the last stretch.

gotta focus on the push ups a little more since i was just shy of the minimum. my weakest area was the run. i guess partly because it was the last thing i did. though not sure i'd want to do all the push ups and sit ups after the run.

Just make sure you get it done before it gets real cold outside. Running in the fucking cold man sucks major dick, i swear when i use to do it, I could taste blood in my mouth. Alot of guys in the platoon also complained about the blood taste.

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heh well it doesn't get too cold down here. newport, RI on the other hand. it's gonna be cold no matter what..unless i waited a few months.

We used to run in korea next to the rice patties. Nothing like frost forming on your head and the smell of shit in the air.

Practicing the actual eval. regimen would be good too. You will be sore, but if you stick to it, it eventually won't even bother you.

Also, make sure you carb up TWO days prior to the event. Not the day prior. (If someone could back me up, that would be great before FBS shows and kills me...lol). One of my NCO's schooled one of my peers one day when it came to carbing up. It was pretty much laid out that it takes your body a day to process everything and convert it into useable energy for your eval.

A cadence to think of is always handy as well. Whatever you can do to get your mind off the run (or whatever ails you). I didn't really get my technique down until my last few months in the Army...lol.

Like the other guys said also, knock out your pushups and situps as quick as possible.

With pushups, make sure you inhale on the way down, and exhale on the way up. When you are reaching fatigue, try to either widen or narrow your arm position. In my experience, I have been able to muscle out 10-15 more by spreading my arms a little bit wider. Above all else though, when it comes to pushups:

USE CORRECT FORM

That really can not be stressed enough, because it is extremely vital to your success (and later on in your military career, for the evaluator to count every repetition.)

With situps, exhale when you sit up, and inhale when you lay down.


Good luck.

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thanks for the pointers. i plan on using them all together.

hah yea, everything i thought i knew about health and fitness got pissed all over by FBS.

fortunately, the guy was pretty lenient about form with the push ups..when i practice at home, i usually go lower each time so my upper arms are and back are all in one straight line. he demonstrated one and didn't go quite that low, so i didn't go quite as low either. i kicked out 25 real quick and then slowed down he said..so i did 12 more that counted after that.

Try training with different forms of pushups to strengthen different muscle groups.. such as diamonds, different arm positions, etc. Another good thing to do to train is to hold yourself about an inch from the ground for about 5 seconds at the bottom before coming back up. You'll really feel it in your chest then. Lifting weights is another great way. I can do a good 100 consecutively now just from lifting. I very rarely do pushups though.. every now and then just to see how many i can do.

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what kind of lifts do you think i should do to get better at push ups? the only weights i have available to me are 15 lb hand weights.

You should get some 20lb and 25lb.

it might not seem like much, try doing a shitload of reps though. after a while, you'll get tired. so i think it might be better for endurance? then again, i'm no body builder.

15lbs isn't very much to strengthen your chest, but you could use them to do kickbacks ( http://www.shapefit.com/triceps-exe...-kickbacks.html ), to strengthen your tris, which is an important part of pushups. 15lbs is probably too light to do flys, unless you do a shitload of reps or in supersets. I'd probably do them a supersets with pushups. Do pushups until failure, then go right into the flys until failure. a few sets of that combo should really hit your chest hard and help with endurance. Mix that up with the diamond pushups and kickbacks when focusing on tris. If you're interested in learning about muscle building and whatnot, there's some good posts worth checking out in the Fitness thread.

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well, for now, i'm not so much interested in lifting as i am in improving what i need for this PRT. last night i pushed myself a bit with the push ups..didn't do any sit ups or running because some muscles were pretty sore..think i pulled my groin on one side. stretched it though. so today i gave myself the full PRT. quite an improvement. before:after - sit ups (50:67), push ups (37:45), run..still my weakest area (not sure, over 15 i'm pretty sure because i walked some at the end:~15)

basically i suck at running. oh well..some progress was made. gonna do it again tomorrow. can't wait to see if i improve any more.

with the scores i did today for the first two, i could score as "probationary" in the run and still pass as a "satisfactory high" unfortunately i didn't quite make probationary (14 flat).

will be working on it this weekend and next week. at some point next week, gonna make another official attempt at it.

Sounds like your motivated regardless. You are going to do great as long at you push hard like this.

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thanks. well i took it again this morning. did MUCH better. i think i did 65 sit ups, 48 push ups, and ran the 1.5 in 12:30. so not only did i pass..i made it a couple brackets higher than the minimum. so i'm celebrating today/tonight with a celebration ale..ha was gonna drink it last night just by chance but decided it was a little early for celebration. also got some rum and more beer..and probably smoke a cigar that i've had for a bit. same deal there..felt it was kinda weird to smoke it before i had even really made much progress. hopefully it's not too dried out.

after that i went to the office and we finished all my online forms, did most of the last of my paper work..gonna go in monday morning and finish the last bullshit which should take less than 30 minutes. after that, we're gonna set me up with an appointment for someone to cup my balls while i turn my head and cough, them i'm good to go. still gotta keep working out though or i'll get my ass kicked by all the running and push ups in OCS.

thanks for the tips and support yous guys.

so all this time has passed..still not in the navy yet.

however...i have recently received word that i've been accepted as an applicant towards the SWO (surface warfare officer) position (MOS). now i have to take ANOTHER PRT (fitness test) which includes all of the previous running, push ups, and sit ups, as well as a 500 yard swim, and 5 minutes of treading water. after that i am to be sworn in followed by an online exam. after the completion of that...i can then attend OCS (officer candidate school) in newport, RI for 13 weeks to become a commissioned officer. at least all this waiting means it will be warmer up there! i should, if all goes as planned, start training in mid to late march.

I'm in the whole process of joining the Air Force. I have meps (i dunno how it's actually spelled or what it stands for) on the 5th, where I take the Asvap (i dunno how the fuck to spell that either haha) test, physical, blood test, drug test, and all that fun shit. If all that goes well I should be leaving to basic in May/June. The only thing i'm worried about is that my recruiter said the doctor has been rejecting people for even having acne on your back. And i have a substantial amount of acne, so I'm not really sure what to expect with that, so wish me luck.

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MEPS = military entrance processing station, ASVAB = armed services vocational aptitude battery.

i doubt the acne on the back is true as far as rejections go. i don't know specifically about the air force..but everyone goes through MEPS..and i don't think that would be a problem that would result in dismissal. you won't have fun at MEPS but you'll probably pass OK.

Thanks for clearing up the abbreviation shit, i've been wondering that for a while but i keep forgetting to ask. He said that a few kids actually have been turned down because of the acne. He said something about they fear it getting infected at boot camp. I dont see why he would even mention it if it wasn't true. How is the ASVAB? i heard it's pretty simple for the most part.

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If you can find your way to the testing room and know how to spell your name than you just pasted the ASVAB

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, Agreed.

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hah yea, it wasn't too tough. i took it in high school once. for the navy officer program, i had to take the ASTB (aviation selection test battery) which wasn't too bad either. still did a little brushing up on the subjects though..being an art major in school didn't help me much in the math, science, engineering, etc. subjects. they said i scored pretty well on it.

Got a navy recruiting officer coming by the house later this week, gonna sign up for the Navy Seals!

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I'm not trying to negate this statement but i've seen asvab waivers before....


Oh and Proaz, joining the gay branch huh? I saw this guy not too long ago that i worked with at lowes. Apparently hes joining the navy and he was like "guess what job i'm doing!!?" i'm like ?

"Intel!!"

Needless to say if hes what the navy relies on for intel, boy you guys are screwed haha.

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I got a 66 on my ASVAB. I have to go back to MEPS the beginning of next month because they did hold me for my acne on my back, so I've been getting that cleared up and whatnot. Should be good next time i go back.

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Sounds good, which branch you joinin?

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Air force

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Good ol chair force.

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good luck man, that shit is tough! i forget the ratio of initial attendance to graduation. not saying you won't make it, but do you have any other plans of joining another area of the navy or military if that doesn't work out?


in my neck of the woods, i've been selected for surface warfare officer (SWO) and am going forward with that. a friend told me that after 3 years as an officer, i can request to change my MOS. that same person said that if i wanted to switch over to information warfare, he'd put in a good word for me. according to him, it's a cake walk of a job. though..on the other hand, he is getting deployed soon. on top of that, he'll be underwater in a sub for a while. doesn't sound like too much fun to me. at first i guess it would be pretty exciting, then you'd just want to get back to the surface.

well, NRD Tampa finally returned my call. apparently they are quite backlogged as far as getting people into OCS. the word now is that they are finalizing me package and should send out my final select letter (including the date i'll start OCS) by the end of the week. once that happens, they (NRD Tampa) will call up NRD St. Louis and i'll make an appointment to take a second PRT. upon completion, i'll get sworn in. then, as i posted before, i just have to complete some online exam-like thing. not 100% on the specifics of the online bit.

I'm rejoining August-ish as an 18X (Special Forces).

I should have done this a long time ago...

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How long you been out of the army now?

Find it intresting that you are going back in haha. Good luck with that man.

You should go Marine SOCOM since they don't have force recon anymore. But thats the mans special forces department.

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Been out almost 2 years. I know, it is funny me going back in.

I always told everyone on my way out, ""If it doesn't work out in the civilian world, I'll come back in as Special Forces". Well, that time has come.

I can't really stand working BS jobs anymore, and the economy is so fucked, at least I can get a guaranteed job doing something I'll love this time around.

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Thats cool. Fuck being a low totem operator. Too much bullshit games. Special forces probably isn't as bad but still ugh. I'd rather be intel, get the grand perspective rather than the narrow single mission one. Not to mention the premium treatment

To be honest unless you have a degree getting a job thats worth something is difficult unless you know somebody. You should look into getting a degree man. If you look at what the civilian equivalant of your job is when you are in as a gun toter, its nothing more than a janitor. (true story)

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I have to agree with the devildog on this one. Philkilla, I know how it is being underappreciated when it comes to your military background. There are events that can't be described on a resume to others. I believe you know there is an element of life that has to be seen first sometimes before understanding becomes clear. I wish you the best, but do know that you don't have to sign a contract with the Army again. I have felt a pull to do so with the Navy a few times but I know there was a reason I left even if I cant remember it now. I like to remember the great times and not relive the bad. I don't openly support mercenaries groups but I do feel they should be staffed by ex-military personal of the highest integrity. Look into Blackwater and KBR before the US Army again. In your case, I think you can do very well with them. I'm not saying they are the best but you will make more money and might be happier.

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Alot more "politics" that will allow better... morale and so on.

Problem is (as i've seen with the army) no offense and i will claim as much ignorance as one can, but from what i've seen the army scares me with the lack of training.

Every soldier i've met i've talked to about their training and what they have been through and they ask me about hte "extreme BRUTAL" punishment i've been through.. and i'm like no... none.. they train you hard.. because the training is real and no bullshit. It always seemed to me the stories they would tell me would show little to no trainign they have received.

You know way better than I, but i really hope you putting yourself in a good position. Not trying to convert you to the most hardcore force of all time, but i assure you, marine corps will show you what each individual person can do. Join me!!!!!!!!!!!!

So i'm a lil drunk.. Fuckers...

btw Soul it is good to see you alive and (hopefully) well, and posting!


TOTAL BTW

Dude fuck those civilian mercenaries. The military hates them, they're never announced, although highly paid, its a dangerous fucking game.

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I've looked into KBR and Blackwater before, and with my current qualifications I have from my prior enlistment, I couldn't really do much.

The job I have right now is security, and with the policies, mandates and other silly crap they come up with every day, I wonder if I'll even have a job 2 weeks from now.

I do want a degree as well, but with the way job market is so fucked right now, even if I did have a degree it would still be difficult as hell to get a good job.

One big reason I would love to go SF is that I could always join one of the said mercenary groups, even if other green berets don't like em. They are highly paid, and that is money I can put away and use to pursue an actual degree....or I could just join a swat team somewhere.

Also TMfreak, I know what you mean by the janitor perspective. With my current qualifications from my previous military job (patriot air defense) I'm basically qualified to push buttons on a keyboard and dig holes....

Either way, I still have 6 months to train, and fully decide if this is truly what I want to do, unless cannibal corpse or spawn of possession happen to offer me a job instead.

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well i got my date today. final select letter is in and i have to report to newport on the 13th of April. now i'm waiting for tampa to forward my info to st. louis so i can meet with them to complete my second PRT, swear in, and get a copy of my orders.

also, i returned a phone call from a person that is trying to follow up on some of the info in my application. a background check of sorts. haha they had my old alexandria, VA address. so i informed him i live out in MO now..he has to contact someone around here to schedule an appointment. they want to actually sit down with me and ask some questions. i didn't get any specifics on what the subject was going to be, but he did mention it was related to some info i put down. so i'm guessing it's my police record, and as tm said, my foreign travels or people i know from other countries.

Fuckin A. congrats man. Shit is movin forward.

Btw i just noticed you have more posts than I. You must have REAAAAAALLY posted alot in my absence.

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thanks! as slow as it seems to go..it is moving.

as for the posts...actually kinda slowed down on the posts a little in the last few weeks..but before that i was posting mainly in the alcohol thread.

Government work always seems to work that way. Slow as snot one moment but it does move forward... relentless, much like an iceberg. Next thing you know things start moving much faster. Just hold on and enjoy the ride

Btw, Congrats! I wishing you the best of luck.

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thanks soul.

this coming tuesday i go to st. louis to do an enlistment ceremony. my dad is actually going to swear me in. other than that, i'll have to fill out various forms for a while. someone (either the people at the officer, or my mom) will be taking a picture or two, so maybe i'll post some here. after the ceremony, we're going to hit up the arch in st louis, then have lunch at a brewery. should be a pretty nice day!

one funny thing about that day..as my dad mentioned to me tonight, i'll technically have to start calling my dad sir. i haven't done that ever that i can think of..so if i have to, it will be weird. he did use the word "technically" when he told me though, so i don't think he is expecting me to. i guess if we were in the presence of other military personnel..i'd have to?

No you wouldn't have to I don't think. regardless of the fact of your dads rank, hes a familiar person to you. Do you think that an enlisted person married to an officer calls them mam or sir? (i know of such a case).

So wait.... your enlisting? i thought you were going officer?

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ahh that's cool. would be pretty strange to start calling him sir all the time.

i have to enlist first..i won't be commissioned until i graduate from OCS. while going through OCS, we get paid as an E-5.

also, after i do the ceremony, or right before..i get the official copy of my orders to OCS.

Do you have this in writing? In your enlistment papers?

Nothing about that makes any sense. That you "have to enlist first."
THis sounds like the classic recruiter bs.

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I thought only people of equal rank were allowed to marry?
I don't know for sure though.. I'm not realy knowledgable on foreign military dogma

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Sorta. They have like "peer" types. Its usually a one up one down rank thing.

Non Ncos can hang out, Ncos hang out, Staff NCOs, and so on.

But what if they knew each other before going in? My example is this now gunny whos wife is a Major.

They knew each other in college, got married, he went back enlisted and she went officer. Even the marine corps being what it is wouldn't break that up. (Don't think there haven't been people who have tried)

What ends up hapenning is they never go in the same unit, so it never really makes a difference anyways.

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Though I think it's a lot less complicated if you don't marry in your direct line of command

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no, i don't have it in writing. i posted a question on the navyocs forum and it was confirmed that this is standard procedure. i have to enlist to in order for them to pay, but upon completion of OCS, my enlistment ends and i get commissioned. according to the guy (an ensign), when we enlist, we become part of the reserves.

another thing is that the guy going through the paper work with me on tuesday asked me again when my OCS date was since i still may have to take another PRT.

I assure you, you are not able to marry outside your rank grade even if its not in command unless you've known the person before being in the military.

Rather this is a serious Marine Corps thing, and i know the air force doesn't care about fraternization that much.. this is why they're damn near worthless with getting shit done. (discipline)

Xgraf, that still makes no fucking sense at all, considering nearly everyone who goes through OCS is a civilian, so why on earth would you need to be enlisted? Is this your officer recruiter setting this up or an enlistment recruiter?

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Considering the general view of metalheads, I find it a bit amusing to see a thread like this so well visited.

Ha, you're lucky, having an armed force that can actually do something when needed. You see, in Sweden, we're enlightened and have understood that we will never again be involved in war and will never more have the need to tell greedy neighbours that the cost of taking us will be too high... standard Swedish tactics during much of the last twohundred years. Russia is nice and democratic these days, you see. The rethorics from Moscow concerning the pipeline they want to lay down across Swedish waters isn't at all laden with something making you think of the 60's.

Fuck it, I hope at least we'll keep maintaining our battlegroup of the European Union forces, I'm going to apply in a few years when I have some useful knowledge of electronics and computers to offer.

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No military? What are you talking about! Theres NATO man!

You should have about as much faith in them in a conflict as the UN is able to make anything happen.


Actually i take that back. We comprise like 60% of NATO or something, so.. we got yo back.

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it's my officer recruiter. actually, someone else replied to the post i made and said this in response to the first reply saying that i'd be in the reserves after completing the enlistment ceremony:



this was the first response.



my friend that was enlisted in the navy didn't know about the enlisting thing..but it didn't strike him as something that was suspect. my dad hasn't mentioned thinking it was strange either. maybe soul can add to this.

basically i think it's because they pay us as E-5 and so they make us take the oath and make somewhat of a commitment initially. i've read of some people messing up a bit too much in OCS or went DOR and they were sent over to great lakes to go through RTC. you aren't required to do that unless you are BDCP or NUPOC (or others i guess..really don't know) in which you get money before hand..and are kinda "in the hole" with the navy.

either way, i should find out come tuesday when i'm supposed to receive a copy of my orders.

edit...didn't you enlist before you went to boot camp, while you were a civilian?

Wow it seems these people have no idea what they're talking about.

It has nothing to do with the pay. Thats about how much you would make as a brand new ensign. The only reason they would pay that much is because its "SLIGHTLY" comparable to how much you would be making out in the real world, it has nothing to do with enlisting.

The way it USED TO WORK, is when you graduated OCS you were part of the RESERVES as an Officer until you were augmented into the Active Duty component. Now this isn't really what most people think of as reserves. Its not like you go to a reserve unit or anything. The only people who were GUARRENTEED SLOTS in the active duty world were Naval University Graduates. This has since changed. It really doesn't mean a whole lot in reality to most careers anyways.

I don't know exactly how all that worked, but until you reached Captain (O-3 in the marine corps) you weren't technically part of the active duty marine corps. I don't know what exactly that means, but when you reached O-3 you would augment into the active duty.

This could be what they're talking about.


I have NEVER, and i mean NEVER heard of anybody "enlisting" but not going to basic/bootcamp then somehow going to OCS... The pay has nothing to do with the way this program works. I'll talk to you later about it i gotta go take a physics test.

I would seriously go see it in writing in your contract that you are going to ocs, because i'm telling you right now it doesn't look anything like you are going anywhere.

No offense, but your dad is a high ranking officer. It wouldn't be a bit surprising that your dad hasn't been around people getting fucked in the ass by recruiters time and time again. Have you seen anything written down the date of your arrival at ocs? Orders to ocs or anything? Thats what you need to see. The orders.

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well one of the guys is now an Ensign, so he just went through everything i'm about to go through.

the navy used to be similar in that when you were an O-1, you were part of the USNR rather than active duty USN..now i believe you are active duty once you are commissioned. right after OCS i'm off to SWOS for 3 weeks, then i'm off to my first ship assignment. we actually find out where we'll be stationed and what ship we'll be on during OCS.

the general instructions i've received from my recruiter and this other guy that works at federal building in st. louis, is that i am receiving my OCS orders at the time (could be before or right after, no mention of order) i also do the enlistment ceremony, fill out more forms (i guess that is before the ceremony), and i'm also turning in a direct deposit form. the recruiter told me the date, which matches up with several other people on the navyocs forum. so i'm pretty sure it's all good. probably just different than the USMC. also, i've never had any reason not to believe my recruiter..never felt he was trying to bs me or push me in any direction. also, i'd have to do a lot of different paper work if i was to go enlisted. at MEPS i was the first one out of there..as well as the only person going officer that i met. the reason i left first was because they all had to do their applications/pick out what job they wanted/etc.

here is something posted by a Chief Petty Officer that is an officer recruiter on the navyocs forum:



i'm thinking everything is good still, but if for some reason they are bullshitting me..i can always not enlist. though, i have to admit, at this point in my life, i'm not sure what else i'm going to do! i have no money or job so it would be hard to get a place. i'd have to apply somewhere from my parents house. heh

haha so i forgot about something pretty important in regards to the officer/enlisted thing. i do have a letter that i received from the dept of the navy NRC congratulating me on being selected for OCS. i got it at the end of feb but haven't seen it since then.


by the way, good luck on your test. i've never taking physics. my teacher in high school was a bastard, so i transfered out of the class..then as an art student in college, i didn't have to take it then either. probably should've though..

What the hell is this enlistment ceremony? You navy fuckers are gay.

Ok well sounds good man. Not trying to have you swindled and shit. I mean you can naturally see my confusion.

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We're not part of NATO. We're neutral. Please excuse me while I have a fit of mocking laughter.
And yes, our military is a bad joke. Bottom line, we have more officers than fighting privates and an administration machine in a complete shambles. At drafting - most Swedish men still go through it at 18 for some reason - I was picked out as a technical ensign (I think you call it English) in a regiment that got DISBANDED one month later. Sheesh, no one knows what the guy in the office next to them is doing.

Yea, the UN has pretty much lost my faith, as much as I hate to say it - you just have to love the way China, Iran, Russia, oil and money call the shots every time.

But it's true - in a hot situation, it's NATO that has my confidence. And anyway, we have Finland in between and they're not so blue-eyed. Said President Kekkonen:
"Finland does not enjoy the kind of geo-political position that allows her to rely on neighbours for protection." Go Finland.

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haha i guess it's just the way they roll. heading off to do it tomorrow morning..i hate dressing up, but my dad is wearing his class A uniform, so i guess it would look weird if i was wearing a conflict shirt or something.

All of those statements are very true statements.

Of course you sh ould have confidence in nato. Because for some reason whenever a place has "nato forces" we seem to comprise those forces. Example: Afghanistan.

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well, i done gone an' done it. took the oath, finalized my paperwork, and i guess i will be doing one more PRT with someone that just finished OCS. apparently lots of graduates do a small bit of (insert acronym here (forget the name)) where they go and help out with their recruiting station. fortunately, SWOs don't usually get that. so i'll be sure to ask that person for advice/tips/etc. also, i have to get some verification number so i can go online and take an online naval history test.

my dad swore me in and they had a number of people on hand for the ceremony..i was thinking it was gonna be just my parents, the recruiter, and me. i think it was because my dad was there. they took some pictures, which i haven't seen yet. should receive them soon i imagine. ha my dad also made a couple unexpected stops in the marine offices there in this federal building. i guess to see if he knew anyone there or just see how things were going.

afterwards we went to the schlafly taproom (local st. louis brewery) to have some beers and lunch. food was great, beer was also very good. best part was the check! my dad thought they made a huge mistake or something..turns out, they give a 50% discount to military in uniform. luckily my dad hadn't changed. hah

Congrats Shipmate and welcome aboard! STL is where I joined too. Remember your oath and hold your end of the deal up and everything will work out good. Its not an easy life but before you know it you will be an old salt with some slightly exaggerated sea stories like the rest of us.

Cheers to you!

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Congratulations graf!

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Nice nice. Sounds like a good time.

I remember when i took my oath. I was looking around at everyone else in meps and the only thing i could think of is 99% of these people have no idea what they're getting themselves into..

As a marine brat, i assure you, you do.

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haha nice.


tanks guys.


trying to learn the "big 4" verbatim isn't very fun.

This is the funniest propaganda i've seen in a long time.

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lol yeah... it's funny cause it's based on truth

Have you heard about the new French military tanks?
They have one forward gear and three reverse gears

...That one is so old, and I'm so lame

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I've heard and seen every french military joke around.

The best is this one video...

French or British Landing [

It may be the british but this video is still a riot.

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Haha... that can't be the British. They aren't that bad... are they? I always thought they had a strong military.

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You know why French ships have glass bottoms? So they can see the rest of their fleet.

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They're not THAT great.

They are more into their military than other countries so they definitely have better than probably everyone else. Then again i'm comparing them to us, and well thats just not going to happen.

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Well of course they aren't as strong as America. But they have always been known to have pretty strong forces, especially the Navy. I don't know about now, but their Navy used to pwn.

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If only all military operations could be as funny... what I really dig though:
See at about 00:38? The footprints that go around the obviously very small patch of quicksand right down to the waterline? That's even better than the fact that the whole damn platoon keeps jumping into it ever after the first two have almost drowned.

As for the British, I know I wouldn't want to get in the way of SAS.


Jeez I get weary at times. Now a lot of high voiced morons around here want to pull out of the mílitary co-operation of the European Union. How far away and candy sweet do they think Russia is?
It's the same idiocy as back in the 1920's: Germany is disarmed and harmless, and the Red Army is just a revolutionary fad we needn't worry about. Of course, the Polish cavalry is a potential threat but heck... scrap the army.

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Totally. Those guys are fucking tough.

Edit: check out what they have to go through.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specia...on_and_training

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I hear dumb fucks in america saying the same thing. People are stupid and blind. They think just cause they read a couple reports on the internet shit has totally changed.

Yeah i must comment how stupid those guys are... Well after the guys were like completely stuck they kept jumping haha. Shouldn't somebody have been like whoa whoa!

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With a background like this, I think the hope for such strategically advanced manouvers long since went off the map.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html

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i've been reading about US Naval history lately, and we had the same problem in our past. not only were people vocal about scrapping an "unnecessary" Navy..we did scrap it! a number of times at that.. and EVERY time, we had to rebuild it in the face of new issues. at least now it seems we've learned some lessons from the past and our military isn't going anywhere for a long time.

The marine corps has been put before congress MANY times in the past for removal or incorporation into the Army. Every since time it has failed to pass because of our track record and our uniqueness. This country lives and breathes because of the marine corps accomplishments.

Amadeus: That is fucking down right hilarious. I tried it myself and the first thing that pops up .... is that fucking website from albinoblacksheep hahah.

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Hm, I would have thought the US marines to be untouchable after the run in the Pacific back in the 1940's... but fool me.

It's sad really, how much our comfortable life style depends on organisations like the marines, Navy seal, SAS, or for that matter our own Mountain and coast rangers and so on... and how little credit they get.

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It's sadly the nature of things. Everyone loves them when they're kicking ass and things are good, but the rest of the time we are forgotten i feel. Forgotten in the sense that our mission and purpose frails away to peoples short attention spans and immediate requests for results.

Its hard not to feel an extreme hatred to civilians. Alot of them are undisciplined, unknowledgeable, and just overall stupid. Its just a fact of life that the military bends to the will (and suffers at a result) by people who have no idea what they're talking about.

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Seems sometimes our military is run by those idiots.

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DING That's where the members come in to take real charge of things.

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I was thinking about doing the ROTC scholarship to get through college, but I decided fuck that. If they catch you drinking they kick you out and make you pay em back.

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Sorta kinda. You don't want to do ROTC. Unless you're a douchebag, you'll hate it seriously.

The real military thinks their fucking idiots (myself included) and everytime i see them running around acting all motivated and stupid it drives me insane.

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meh, I just wanted the free ride through college

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Yeah, well there is more to it than that.ROTC kids also wear a uniform most of the day, also get up at 4am during the week to do PT.

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Yep, and make complete ass's out of their selfs.

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Ha! ROTC are retards. I met this one that actually demanded I salute him once. I was like, PPppppfff go fuck yourself

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If was a comissioned officer and you were in uniform that would be one thing... but an rotc cadet is less than ANYBODY in uniform. They address you by rank and show proper respect.

If that wasn't the case in OCS these candidates wouldn't act like PFCs and LCpls deserve respect haha.

A few times in OCS when we would go to like supply there would be LCpls working there, i'd be fucking damned if i was going to greet them like the other candidates. Not to mention some guys were Sgts, and i know damn right they didn't respond with.. Yes LCpl.. No LCpl.

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Na, in this case it happened downtown while stationed in Charleston SC. I was in uniform and walked by a group of people out hitting the bars. I did see that one of them was in a ROTC uniform so I just kept walking. The guy yelled at me to stop and asked why I didn't salute him. He was clearly trying to show off how cool he was to the girls in the group. I was E-4 at the time but it wouldn't have mattered if I was only E-1. He wasn't military and saluting him would have only looked bad on me. I told him I only salute Officers, Colors, diplomats, and Watch standers. He said he was an Officer and I told him he wasn't yet so go fuck himself. I wasn't going to salute him. I thought he was going to fight me at first but his friends thought it was funny and took him away.

The guy was way out of line.

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Rotc guys are fags. I would LOOOOOOVE for them to stop me in uniform. You should SEE the officer candidates (on libo) on quantico. (btw if youd idnt' know i'm stationed at quantico and thats where the OCS is)

You'll be going into the lil cafe or whatever in the morning and there they are cause they have nothing better to do. They're all like hardcore locked on.. "Good afternoon Cpl!"

It catches me by surprise everytime i'm like... wtf? Oh.. hey whats up.. hah


I'm waiting to see another marine option rotc guy in a marine cami uniform on my campus. (its an illegal uniform for them to wear). I saw it once and was like.. wait.. didn't they get rid of this. (the ability to wear it, because last year they used to be able to, now they can't. thank god.)

So if i see them again, its lights out, i'm going to run them ragged and their chain of command as well.

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lol, I accidentally got saluted once by a small group of Army guys because I had my fowl weather coat on and the crows on the collar looked like O-6 to them. They were not used to seeing Navy uniforms so before they made fools of themselves somewhere else I explained how Naval Officers have shoulder bars on their fowl weather coats.

There are so many uniforms in the Navy it gets hard to remember how to wear what with what, lol.

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I know a kid in school who joined with the program. You can actually see a "cocky" change within this guys attitude. I actually dread running into him now due to this. They let them wear like SC Guard uniforms, he actually had one on, and he just had this way too cocky attitude standing position. You can tell he has allowed all of it to go to his head.

Hell i actually dread seeing kids who take JROTC to the head....

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