monroe
Junior Member
Fastidious Grunge Lover - a study in contrasts
Posts: 152
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Post by monroe on Jun 17, 2009 1:43:14 GMT -5
Did a quick search of the forum, but I couldn't find anything on this.
While I wouldn't want my conversations here to be solely military-related, I'd like to start things off by finding some common ground.
Also, would anybody here happen to be living in Minnesota?
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fei
Full Member
Posts: 274
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Post by fei on Jun 17, 2009 6:23:38 GMT -5
Hey Dude, it cool that you are serve your country. Alot of EA in my country abscond when time to serve their National Service. I guess they dont want to mess up their EA petty boy face. Even though I'm not from the army( i serve as a police officer) still have to respect people serving their country. Good luck on your military career and welcome to the site.
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Post by volume on Jun 17, 2009 6:55:39 GMT -5
was in the australian army cadet's for 4 years cause my school made me. hell, i liked the compulsory first year so i continued on with it and eventually got up to the rank of sargent by the time i left (had to due the age). my service to my country (lol) was a very positive experience, as i gained many essential survival skills (making a fire from nothing but wood, knowing a condom can carry 4L of water etc) from the camps out in the bush and did fire a gun (steyr aug if anyone is interested) for the first and only time in my life. though i wasn't exactly the most disciplined cadet, i did learn a lot about responsibility, as at one point of my cadet life, i was solely responsible for the lives of 6 new recruits and guiding them through into their first experience into the australian bushland when i was only just the one year older than them. god, talking about it just makes me realize how much i miss the camps in the good ol' days
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Post by Subuatai on Jun 17, 2009 7:11:08 GMT -5
Hey hey! Never knew that about you volume. Was in the army cadets too mate during school. But... your school MADE you?! WTF? o.O Btw you mean the Austeyr F88? (prefer F89s myself, maybe cause it doesn't feel like a popgun) To be honest I liked it in the army, had my application on hold for full-time for about 2 years since they was no full-time vacancy for riflemen/combat engineers. Then the Iraq War happened, and they called me up saying "hey, we have a vacancy now", pffft! That war was a war that I knew just wasn't right. When I was a child I was rather one-track minded hoping for a future in the military, guess things changed as I grew older. EDIT: Heh I miss it too, completely different world to nowadays. Though I reckon I'm too slack/old for army life anymore.
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Post by volume on Jun 17, 2009 9:05:04 GMT -5
Yeah, it was compulsory to do a thursday-after-school-activity in year 9 and since I didn't quite make the cut for sports first aid on the basis on the selection process of how many detentions you got, I was "conscripted" into the always-can-take-more cadet unit.
Wouldn't have a clue about what gun I used, but I felt like a mad dawg using the scope and reloading and seeing empty shells fly out.
Also, doesn't surprise me that you had a want to be in the army, half the guys I met from other units on promotion camps were full blown army nuts wanting to kill everything in their sight and have been doing their push up/sit ups routines since they were 3.
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Post by Subuatai on Jun 17, 2009 9:29:35 GMT -5
Sheez, what I seriously don't get is why people are "conscripted" into the 'always-can-take-more' army cadet system. Yet me, with past ambition of being a militaryman, with experience, with self-educated knowledge, with proven marksmanship awards in gun-clubs in W.A., even with real life rifle experience hunting having to drive all the way up to Exmouth to do it... had a reply from the recruitment office in regards to my application that "We have no vacancy for a RIFLEMAN"... like, WTF?! Heh
Heh ne ways, yeah guns have that effect I guess. The F88s are modified Steyr Augs, Austrian design, F89s are modified M249 Light machine guns, American design. I guess I never liked the bullpup design of the Austeyr (magazine at back), nor the scope - since I'm used to iron sights from hunting. Have you ever tried those rocket launchers? Not the LAWs since those are quite light. Still remember once when I was holding an unloaded Carl Gustav standing up and they loaded a rocket into it forcing me suddenly to my knees! Haha, good times.
Heh army nuts, kinda sad I was one of them, so damn naive, but I guess in my case I had nothing else going for me at that time, school grades was in Es or Fs, with one B and one C if I remember, even though having a Year 12 certificate (with loads of failures), had a recruitment officer going "These aren't bad, those were some hard subjects", and asked me if I ever wondered about joining up for officer training in Duntroon... o.O
Good experiences though based on a lot of good people I met through the army, and through my mates, abseiling, sky-diving and much more. I was a promising soldier they always said, part of me sometimes regret not going full-time when the vacancy was available however (Based on my mates there have been a lot of AWOLs btw too during the Iraq crisis).
But then, I watched a video by my mate who went to Iraq and recorded soldiers using Infra-red shooting random unarmed people running on the streets. He wanted it broadcasted on SBS but they rejected his video as it was too 'controversial'... pfft. Politics...
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Post by i move the stars for no one on Jun 17, 2009 13:09:07 GMT -5
i can only think of two members,neither of whom post here anymore.alexsmom was one.
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Post by Groink on Jun 17, 2009 13:20:23 GMT -5
I believe a newer member who was half-Korean and stationed in Korea is in the Army.
edit: Oh yeah, and duh, Maverick!
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monroe
Junior Member
Fastidious Grunge Lover - a study in contrasts
Posts: 152
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Post by monroe on Jun 17, 2009 14:14:57 GMT -5
It's nice to see a response. If I can get 50 in this thread, I'll see about posting my picture.
Truth is, the whole "serving my country" thing is only a by-product of my joining. Military service to me is an obstacle I must pass. Rather, I've signed up for something dangerous and if I'm still alive when it's done, I'll be ready to move on.
That being said, I won't go out of my way to get killed and the GI bill will really come in handy when I head off to college.
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Post by Groink on Jun 17, 2009 15:07:13 GMT -5
^
You're an airman, right?
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monroe
Junior Member
Fastidious Grunge Lover - a study in contrasts
Posts: 152
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Post by monroe on Jun 17, 2009 15:35:46 GMT -5
That I am: currently assigned to intel-recon. Have the option to move into SOC-recon if I sign for another term.
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Maverick
Full Member
"I live to fly"
Posts: 532
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Post by Maverick on Jun 17, 2009 15:49:34 GMT -5
Monroe are you in the USAF? Did they just add Intel into the AF's SOC? I thought the only spec ops divisions were combat weather, combat controllers, and pararescue. Well most people know I'm currently in flight school in the Navy. Being an Air Force brat, all I ever knew and saw myself doing was joining the military. Though I'm not operational right now and in training, I have a lot of pride in myself and serving my country. I want to say thank you for serving and good luck with your career! Also thanks to everyone else who served their country, it really does take a special person to serve in the military. Thanks for not forgetting about me Groink
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Post by Groink on Jun 17, 2009 15:50:33 GMT -5
Ooo... or more like ?
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monroe
Junior Member
Fastidious Grunge Lover - a study in contrasts
Posts: 152
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Post by monroe on Jun 17, 2009 17:58:38 GMT -5
You may very well be right, Maverick. I haven't done my research on the SOC, but I assumed the only difference was branch preference-I stand corrected.
My vision was such that I couldn't become a pilot, which works for me because I never really took interest in the field. My earlier comment may have been misleading, because I'm not deployed at the moment, but that date is coming up quickly. At the moment I spend days working outside and nights at the gym.
Groink: last I recall the AFSOC uses the CV-22b Osprey. It's an ugly beast, but very much unique.
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Post by rob on Jun 17, 2009 21:55:46 GMT -5
Welcome to the site! Much of my family is military..... grandma army nurse, grandpa airforce, dad army, uncle navy, sister navy. i joined ROTP out of high school (engineering) but my college was shut down and I ended up at a civilian school and the foreign service.... became the first absconder in my generation So while I'm not military myself, it's quite close to my heart and I really do admire you guys and all the others who serve their country.
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