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Sun Jun 23, 2013 5:22 pm

Well, 1 1/2 years and 126 lbs later, I've enlisted into the Army! I'm going in as a 15B - Aircraft Powerplant Repairer and will be getting my ship date for BCT in a week or so! :D

Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:58 pm

Congratulations, but why do so many guys enlist just in time to enjoy the heat and humidity of Camp Leonard Wood or Fort Benning in July and August?

Something wrong with basic training in October?

Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:00 pm

You pulled 126 pounds to get in? the rest should be easy...keep your mouth shut,do as your told and let the other guy volunteer..

Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:47 pm

coad wrote: Congratulations, but why do so many guys enlist just in time to enjoy the heat and humidity of Camp Leonard Wood or Fort Benning in July and August?

Something wrong with basic training in October?

I wish I'd heard that when I joined the Air Force. Started basic on 18 July, in San Antonio. I didn't even know it could get that hot.

PatterBon? Serve proudly. Don't sacrifice your integrity. Keep your ears and eyes open, and your mouth shut - even when you think no one is listening.

As someone else mentioned, don't volunteer for a damn thing. Trust us on this. Seriously. Don't volunteer. Nothing. Ever.

Have fun! I didn't think so at the time, but my 20 in the AF were the happiest in my life.

Sun Jun 23, 2013 9:07 pm

Regardless of what people say when you are in basic and when you are a private volunteer for everything. This will do two things. It will let your NCO's know you are willing to do the job and after a while they will see you volunteering for everything and they will tell you to stop raising your hand and they will go after the shitbags who never raise it. It's not like you're invisible. Most details come up while you are standing in formation so it's not like you can hide, you're going to do shit jobs. That is the reason a private exists, to mop floors, to take out trash and to hand out the MRE's.

If your name is Private move the fuck out.

BCT should be easy, they have to be nice to you now.

A word of advice. Do what your DS asks you to do when he asks you to do it. It's simple. Ask questions if you need to once you've started your task. What you don't know make up with hustle.

Good luck. P.S. the Army sucks now that the wars are winidng down. Garrison is for turds.

Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:15 am

Huzzah! Drive on soldier! Ditto with the not not volunteering for anything. Be smart about it and soldier on!

Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:32 am

Did you wait for most of the combat to end before you enlisted? What a puss.

Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:06 pm

If you volunteer for stuff, and do a really good job, you will indeed get the attention of your NCO. That's the point at which he/she will quit asking for volunteers and assign YOU to everything they need done. That way, they know that it'll get done right. Regardless, they'll take the credit with their superiors for the job that you did.

The shitbags, aka those that didn't volunteer for anything, will get to do the things that nobody cares about, that'll be easier, that'll get them noticed by the brass, etc, etc. Before you know it, they'll be sitting in the office with the NCO, or going to meetings, or joining committees that make them look like they're super troops. They'll cruise, you'll get screwed. That's the way it works, as fucked up as it is.

Don't volunteer. A lesson as old as the military.

Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:58 pm

zozo wrote: If you volunteer for stuff, and do a really good job, you will indeed get the attention of your NCO. That's the point at which he/she will quit asking for volunteers and assign YOU to everything they need done. That way, they know that it'll get done right. Regardless, they'll take the credit with their superiors for the job that you did.

The shitbags, aka those that didn't volunteer for anything, will get to do the things that nobody cares about, that'll be easier, that'll get them noticed by the brass, etc, etc. Before you know it, they'll be sitting in the office with the NCO, or going to meetings, or joining committees that make them look like they're super troops. They'll cruise, you'll get screwed. That's the way it works, as fucked up as it is.

Don't volunteer. A lesson as old as the military.

Shit floats to the top,end of story..we used to call the Chiefs "flies"...they eat shit and bother people..

Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:15 pm

zozo wrote: If you volunteer for stuff, and do a really good job, you will indeed get the attention of your NCO. That's the point at which he/she will quit asking for volunteers and assign YOU to everything they need done. That way, they know that it'll get done right. Regardless, they'll take the credit with their superiors for the job that you did.

The shitbags, aka those that didn't volunteer for anything, will get to do the things that nobody cares about, that'll be easier, that'll get them noticed by the brass, etc, etc. Before you know it, they'll be sitting in the office with the NCO, or going to meetings, or joining committees that make them look like they're super troops. They'll cruise, you'll get screwed. That's the way it works, as fucked up as it is.

Don't volunteer. A lesson as old as the military.

I disagree. I volunteered as much as I could when I first got in after a while I started getting the cush details and stopped having to do other ones. All the ceremonies and everything else got handed off to shitbags. Soon after that I started being left alone for lame shit. Now that I pick people for the details I go after the guys that don't volunteer. If I need everyone the guy that volunteers all the time gets put in charge so the 1SG or PSG sees them making it happen. I also think of them first when it comes to waivers, schools and anything else that can benefit them that pops up. Anyone that sits around in the PLT office gets put on "hey you's". Knowing that someone gets stuff done gets you places, knowing that some dickbag does what is needed to get by stays a SPC forever.

As a PVT, PV2 or PFC you get the shit landing on top of you, there is no way to avoid it. You work in the Army, that's what you get paid for.

Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:06 am

Congratulations and thank you for your future service.

Volunteering is a personal thing. In my 22 years in the USAF I have raised my hand on several occasions. It's always a surprise on what came next. In basic training I got to scratch off a hallway's worth of floor wax with my key. Scrub the hell out of some pots and pans for a week. A later time I got to sit at a desk with paperwork balanced precariously on my knee, standing up every time someone wandered in. Another time I got to disassemble and clean M-16's for eight hours. It was hot, tedious work. However, the NCO in charge of our little ragtag band of volunteers let us have soda, converse as much as we pleased, and relax while we worked. It was a pleasant experience.

I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling when I volunteer my time and energy. I look at it as free experience and a chance to do something different. Either way, you are getting paid in the military and might as well find some enjoyment in whatever task you are assigned, volunteered or voluntold.

Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:15 am

volunteering or not, good luck. Thanks for your service.

Being able to work on some amazing machinery should be fun.

Tue Jun 25, 2013 11:09 am

You will have the GI Bill to pay for your air frame & powerplant license! 8)

Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:30 pm

congrats man! i just enlisted in the navy. 8)

Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:03 pm

Thank you! All of you! I leave for BCT in early September and am going to Ft. Jackson, SC. I also switched my MOS (last second before I leave for MEPS on Sunday) to 15T- UH-60 (Black Hawk) Repairer and will start AIT in late November in Ft. Eustis, VA. I will be swearing in on Monday! And Low Slow, I've enlisted now due to the fact that I have spent the last year and a half shedding 130 lbs and I'm only 20 :wink: Thank you all for the support!

Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:46 pm

Don't worry about people who call you out for not joining in the height of the wars. You joined and that is what matters. It's not like your MOS was out kicking doors down anyways... Do what you have to do to enjoy your time in. The Army is what you make of it, you can have a good experience or you can have a really bad one. Your call. Don't be afraid to get in trouble or yelled at, it's going to happen, but don't get in serious trouble. They love to kick people out right now. The weight you lost... Keep it off or you'll be a civilian again quick, the standards are tougher once you are actually in. BCT standards are lax by comparison. Work hard.

Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:24 am

PatterBon wrote: Thank you! All of you! I leave for BCT in early September and am going to Ft. Jackson, SC. I also switched my MOS (last second before I leave for MEPS on Sunday) to 15T- UH-60 (Black Hawk) Repairer and will start AIT in late November in Ft. Eustis, VA. I will be swearing in on Monday! And Low Slow, I've enlisted now due to the fact that I have spent the last year and a half shedding 130 lbs and I'm only 20 :wink: Thank you all for the support!

What is the maximum effective range of an excuse?

Thu Jun 27, 2013 1:24 pm

PatterBon,...Hope you recall exchanging e-mails with me earlier. Back when you were working on your private ticket in the 172. As a thirty year Navy guy
I salute your choice to enlist. While I'm an old geezer now, I don't regret a day of the time I was in and would leave tomorrow if they suddenly found a spot for guy my age.
All that aside, I would urge you if you haven't finished your private ticket, do so while in the army. Also don't know how far you got with formal education but I'd urge you to at least get your associates ASAP. The Army has a strong program for flying warrant officers (pilots) particularly in the rotary wing area. You'll need at least two years school to qualify last time I checked.
I could be wrong but for "pete's" sake check it out after your through basic.
If you still want to fly its a great opportunity.
My only other advice would be what ever you do or are assigned to do...
do your best! Good luck!

Thu Jun 27, 2013 4:57 pm

Low_Slow wrote:

What is the maximum effective range of an excuse?

:lol:

Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:43 am

PatterBon wrote: Thank you! All of you! I leave for BCT in early September and am going to Ft. Jackson, SC. I also switched my MOS (last second before I leave for MEPS on Sunday) to 15T- UH-60 (Black Hawk) Repairer and will start AIT in late November in Ft. Eustis, VA. I will be swearing in on Monday! And Low Slow, I've enlisted now due to the fact that I have spent the last year and a half shedding 130 lbs and I'm only 20 :wink: Thank you all for the support!

Fort Useless...I was in Norfolk for awhile with Construction battalion unit 411..we had a song about Norfolk..."We are the giris from Norfolk,Norfolk we don't smoke drink Norfolk Norfolk.."