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I AM an American Soldier

Well done! As has been stated by others, welcome to the fraternity.

I have fond memories of my days back in '67 when I finished basic. I was trim and slim, and had developed my stamina and endurance significantly.

I was however quite unprepared for the 22 weeks of AIT at Signal School in Ft. Gordon, GA. Nice new quarters (four to a room), relaxed PT, and most of my day spent in a classroom and/or laboratory. By the end of AIT I'd regained most of my lost weight. The only upside was that I'd achieved Honor Graduate and a promotion to Spec 5. The upper third of the class made Spec 4, and the lower 2/3's remained PFC's.

I really, really disliked the old "Specialist" ranking though, as even a "hard ranked" Corporal had "authority" over me... :ernae:
 
Thanks for the kind words, everyone - it's great to be done and be a Basically Trained Soldier (hehehe - don't you love plays on words? :D).

I'm currently at Atlanta Intl awaiting my 2145 flight to Oklahoma City, which will land around 2300. Then another 1.5hrs or so bus ride to Fort Sill. It's going to suck to have to relearn a base again. I didn't go anywhere on Jackson and it was still a pain in the ass... lol

I'm excited to finally learn my MOS - and have some more freedom!

My company, A Co 1/34, must have been the hated company as we didn't get anything in the way of "treats". Other companies got their cell phones on Sundays, watched movies, etc. Not ours - and my platoon, 3rd Platoon "Snipers" was the hated platoon - we had hardcore Drill Sergeants. Infantry, MP and others. Our one DS, DS Benson, looks like a walking, talking, living, ass-kicking GI Joe with blonde hair and a square jaw.

Drill Sergeants are also some of the funniest/meanest/psychotic/sadistic people on the planet - and I loved 'em. I hated how other recruits would continue to screw around and get us in trouble, but our DS's were hilarious - as long as they weren't yelling at you. There are so many things they said and did that it'd take days for me to even scratch the surface. :D

They took good care of us and I feel that I'm a quality-trained soldier at this point.
 
Congrads!!! Well done..... protect your hearing - most cannon cockers go deaf before they should!!! Hey, way to go.

Ed
 
Jagdflieger said:
Hoo ahh and congratulations!

Will you train on the M-109 Paladin, MLRS or something else? With all the new technology coming to fruition in the field artillery these days, it should be an interesting time for you.


As Teasea said, welcome to the brotherhood.
Click to expand...

Right now I don't know. However, if I had my choice, I'd like the M109. I like the idea of always having a roof over my head and not having to set up the piece to fire. :D

If not, a unit with the M777 would be very, very nice, but I doubt it. I'll probably get an M198 unit.

Also - here's a picture of me sans-35lbs. :)View attachment 21409
 
Follow On Assignment

When you finish up AIT, let us know where your next duty station will be. If you go to a Stryker brigade, you might end up here at Fort Lewis. If so, I'll give you the grand tour when you get in after you process through the replacement det at Waller Hall.

When you get in, just look for this guy.
 
Cybr,
I'm lucky that I'm on Paladins, but unfortunately I no longer troop the gunline. Eventually some of us get to become staff pukes. Me...I'm the BN S3.

Our guns just got retrofitted last month to PDFCS v.3.0 (Paladin Digital Fire Control System) which will integrate with Blue Force Tracker next year. Plus, we fired MACS for the first time this year which is a little bit of a headache trying to request ammo in TAMIS. Here's moi (on the right) and my guns at Yakima this past summer. In the middle is COL (R) Jim Palermo who was the Field Artillery School Commander (Basic and AIT) in the mid-2000's, he was also my BN CDR for 1-37 FA before we became Stryker. The finest fire-supporter I ever worked for.
 
How much say am I going to have on where I go post-AIT (unit)? Is it performance based and those who do better go where they want (as needed) or just straight random?
 
Wherever the Army needs you most bud. All depends on MOS vacancies and who needs that MOS the most.

Wish-lists are great and sometimes you get your pick, sometimes you don't. Fort Lewis was my third choice, after Germany and Stewart, and here's where I ended up.
 
Jagdflieger said:
When you finish up AIT, let us know where your next duty station will be. If you go to a Stryker brigade, you might end up here at Fort Lewis. If so, I'll give you the grand tour when you get in after you process through the replacement det at Waller Hall.

When you get in, just look for this guy.
Click to expand...
Congrats on your graduation Cybr! Never had a doubt that you would make it through. My son lost quite a bit of weight by the time he was done with basic with the Marines. He just had to get his dress uniformed taken out a little as he has gained some of the weight back. He wasn't overweight to begin with. He said they just didn't give you enough to eat for all the physical activity. He went from around 180 to 150. He is about 6'1" so he looked pretty thin.

My son in law is stationed at Ft. Lewis. Just got back from Iraq a couple months ago. My oldest daughter was also there after AIT then went to Iraq, then PCS'd to Virginia and now in Afghanistan. Both my grandsons were born at Lewis. Barring a PCS or deployment of my son in law, my third grandchild will be born there in May 2011. I went out there after the first was born for a long weekend. Nice country out there. Except for the day I flew out, it didn't rain once. :cool:
 
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