Apparently, there is some minor misunderstanding on the nature of my job. Check out this link on wikipedia.org and it will explain to you exactly what I do. Its pretty sweet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artillery_observer
Monday, February 23, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Catch-22
This, by no means, is a slam against the Army. Far from it. It is merely an observation on how self improvement in the Army is strongly encouraged yet if you want to get ahead, you have to supply your own resources. Take my case, for example. Next week, I am slated to attend the 82nd's Pre-Ranger Course. This is a trial run, if you will, in order to see if a trooper has what it takes to attend and succeed in the U.S. Army's prestigious Ranger School. A little background about Ranger School first. It is designed as a leadership school that will test you when you are cold, tired, hungry, sore, and haven't slept in 4 or 5 days. Its a 9 week crucible designed to simulate combat conditions. In short order, its a real big ass kicker, but the pay off is worth the suck. When guys come away from Ranger School, they are authorized to wear a small black and gold (or subdued on our ACUs) tab that simply says "Ranger". Its simple but it says a lot about you.
Like I mentioned, I am trying to go. First, I have to get through Pre-Ranger (or PRC from here on out). Now, in order to succeed, the PRC cadre have designed a required packing list that is about 3 pages long. Now, will I need certain things on there...oh hell yes. Are there certain things on there that I might need, but may not use? Absolutely. There is also a highly likelihood that there are items that I will never touch. Now, the part that caught my attention was that Ranger School is highly encouraged (or damn near required in some units at Ft. Bragg) yet the supply system gives very little help in attempting to secure items on this packing list. The onus of responsibility falls on the individual to go out and purchase all these items. Now, I'm not complaining at all. I'm sure that somewhere during my Army career I will find a use for these items; I'm just remarking that this school is encouraged by the units yet when its comes to trying to secure items to ensure that you won't be dropped from the course for failure to have the right gear, the supply chain magically disappears.
Again, its not a criticism, just an acute observation. Pre-Ranger starts on Tuesday and assuming I make it through the two week course, I will hopefully start Ranger School on the 24th of March. Other than preparing for that, my life has been pretty calm. I need to find a way to exit an aircraft here shortly or else I'll be looking at the Army taking back some of my pay. I just finished with a very interesting class that I can't go into detail about but I had a very good experience and learned some valuable skills. The word on our deployment is sometime this fall but since this is the internet and I like having a security clearance I can only say that its Afghanistan once again.
You might be wondering (or maybe not) about the title change of my blog post. Well, seeing as I'm not in Afghanistan for the time being, I figured a change was needed. If you were curious (and again you may not be) Delta 95 is my call sign any time I am on the radio. Since I got promoted, I was put in charge of all fire support for Delta Company of 1/508. That means that I am the head enlisted soldier for all the fire supporters in Delta Company...........all 2 of them (myself not included obviously). Keeping with my Army tradition of being one rank and working in a slot a rank above, this is an E-6 position so me being an E-5 and given this responsibility says something. Its possible that right around the time we deploy or shortly after, I could be getting some looks for my 6 so we'll see. Other than that, I will try and write a bit more now and then. Obviously over the next few weeks I'll be busy but at least I got some more thoughts and musings on here.
All the Way.
Like I mentioned, I am trying to go. First, I have to get through Pre-Ranger (or PRC from here on out). Now, in order to succeed, the PRC cadre have designed a required packing list that is about 3 pages long. Now, will I need certain things on there...oh hell yes. Are there certain things on there that I might need, but may not use? Absolutely. There is also a highly likelihood that there are items that I will never touch. Now, the part that caught my attention was that Ranger School is highly encouraged (or damn near required in some units at Ft. Bragg) yet the supply system gives very little help in attempting to secure items on this packing list. The onus of responsibility falls on the individual to go out and purchase all these items. Now, I'm not complaining at all. I'm sure that somewhere during my Army career I will find a use for these items; I'm just remarking that this school is encouraged by the units yet when its comes to trying to secure items to ensure that you won't be dropped from the course for failure to have the right gear, the supply chain magically disappears.
Again, its not a criticism, just an acute observation. Pre-Ranger starts on Tuesday and assuming I make it through the two week course, I will hopefully start Ranger School on the 24th of March. Other than preparing for that, my life has been pretty calm. I need to find a way to exit an aircraft here shortly or else I'll be looking at the Army taking back some of my pay. I just finished with a very interesting class that I can't go into detail about but I had a very good experience and learned some valuable skills. The word on our deployment is sometime this fall but since this is the internet and I like having a security clearance I can only say that its Afghanistan once again.
You might be wondering (or maybe not) about the title change of my blog post. Well, seeing as I'm not in Afghanistan for the time being, I figured a change was needed. If you were curious (and again you may not be) Delta 95 is my call sign any time I am on the radio. Since I got promoted, I was put in charge of all fire support for Delta Company of 1/508. That means that I am the head enlisted soldier for all the fire supporters in Delta Company...........all 2 of them (myself not included obviously). Keeping with my Army tradition of being one rank and working in a slot a rank above, this is an E-6 position so me being an E-5 and given this responsibility says something. Its possible that right around the time we deploy or shortly after, I could be getting some looks for my 6 so we'll see. Other than that, I will try and write a bit more now and then. Obviously over the next few weeks I'll be busy but at least I got some more thoughts and musings on here.
All the Way.
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