Joining Up

Sorry if I made the 82nd out as some remedial prize for quitters. The 82nd is one of the best divisions in the Army and has a long and distingished history.

On the other hand, it can feel that way at first for those who wash out of tough courses like RIP and SFAS. But that is because of their disappointment in themselves, not because of their assignment to the 82nd.

I have heard that the 82nd is not quite what it was 10 or 20 years ago. The division seems to lack the same authority to kick out dirtbags it once had. Also, their mission is a little outdated these days since a division level air drop is a bit over kill and the Rangers often get the smaller size airfield seizures. Be that as it may, I am sure the 82nd still knows how to KATM.

Regarding SF, I know that when SF was starting out they did some recruiting of civilians. After Vietnam, SF were seen as having a smaller mission and therefore the Army stopped civilian recruiting. Due to the increased Op Tempo of the SF, the Army has been looking at recruiting "off the street," the GWOT simply moved up the timeframe for the 18X program.

--511
They require you to be trained as 11B Airborne before going to SOPC and SFAS. If you get the 18X in your contract, you go through training while in DEP enabling you to enlist as E-3. After getting your wings, I think you get E-4. Upon completion of the Q-course, you are awarded E-5. So the promotion is accelerated for those who make it.

How much do you know about Robin Sage? I have heard the Infil is a real haul. I suppose you got to witness a lot of it first hand since you were stationed there with the 82nd.

keihaswarrior said:

Sorry if I made the 82nd out as some remedial prize for quitters.

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No offense taken. Well put sentence.

keihaswarrior said:

I have heard that the 82nd is not quite what it was 10 or 20 years ago. The division seems to lack the same authority to kick out dirtbags it once had. Also, their mission is a little outdated these days since a division level air drop is a bit over kill and the Rangers often get the smaller size airfield seizures.

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That, I don't particularly know about. I know that a lot of the SF guys that I knew then, and have met since, used to do a lot of fun making of the 82d. Of course, it's even too off color to print here, but that's cool. Hey, we made fun of the "leg" units, and rightly so, but we had a lot of respect for the Ranger Batt guys, the true Green Beret operators and the Delta fellas. Just sort goes on down the line. I can tell you that a division level airborne infiltration may be outdated, but the capability is still necessary, lest we ignore other countries with organized militaries. Nonetheless, the Division has adapted to current contingencies. Even when I was in, there was never a complete Division level deployment, and it wasn't necessarily set up to do so. 3 Brigades comprise the Infantry contingent, and each is on a different DRF: Deployment Readiness, which basically determines the entire brigades recall distance. They also rotate for deployments. Various support elements, such as Signal, Aviation, ADA, MI, also deploy similarly, with the grunts. Remember, the SF groups have different world regions and responsibilities for deployment, and so do the Ranger Battalions.
Each discipline has different capabilites, and for specific reasons. Torrijos/Tocumen in Panama was originally infiltrated and seized by the 1st Ranger Battalion, to enable the airfield to be cleared for the 82d to jump in. The 82d is generally similar to any other Infantry Division, with the exception that they are the only division to have the capability to make entry completely and solely by parachute.
As far as them not having the authority or ability - I am highly suspect of such a comment. Not only because I served in the Division, but because command of that division is a stepping stone not only to command of the entire XVIII Airborne Corps, but in the case of generals like Carl W. Stiner, Special Operations Command. A lot of officers in the Division are hard charging, go getters, defiant, hard to handle career officers, that don't take any shit, don't take no for an answer, and push push push the Division to excel. Many of the officers in the Division are not only Special Forces or Ranger tab wearers, I know many that carry a 75th Regimental Scroll or the Lightning Bolt/Sword on their combat patch shoulder. And man, can they be assholes

Ya, I was only repeating what I heard regarding the 82nd in some of my research. Since your first hand knowledge contradicts the comments I heard, I think they probably come from the familiar but mostly false mindset that everything was better "back in the good 'ol days."

You mean it wasn't?
I'm a life member of the Division Association, and I still get big quarterly newsletters. Seems to me, that only the names (and the barracks in some cases) have changed. In fact, they added I think two new companies to 82d Signal. It only used to be three companies in the battalion, now there appear to be five.

For a lot of less than enjoyable reasons, I'll probably be joining up soon.

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I leave in exactly a year tomorrow.

A couple tips from playing the recruitment game:
1- Milk your recruiter for whatever you need. They'll pretty much suck you off to get you to join right now.
2- If you get a ****ty recruiter, change immediately.

Lastly, I want to say that you should look at all alternatives before joining up. You should never feel forced into going into the army or any service, else you could end up in worse places than you are now. Know what you want, and know what you want to do before you actually shoot right into it.

Also, get in good physical shape before you get there. Basic training is more "basic" and less "training" these days. I was talking to a 6-year vet of the 503rd at the DMV the other day and his exact phrase was "basic training is a joke."

--Harrm

Lol, basically every generation of marine or soldier you run into is going to tell you that "now adays its easy" in my day...blah blah blah. I think I just did some of that in this thread, with the help of course from my esteemed collegues in the army. Good advise though. When I went in I couldnt tell you what the difference from a grunt to a bulk fueler was...I just thought they were all marines. I was lucky in my service...not a good thing to count on when your in...better to be well trained and knowledgable.