RrCoX22

iTrader: (6)

Thinking of joining the military service but undecided on where I should enlist. I would like to here any opinions or other services that I should consider. Thanks!!!

captaincamaro

what kind of shape are you in? ive done alot of research on the net and for me personally i chose the marines. you dont ask to be a green beret, they ask you. if you go army route youll need to excell in infantry school, airbourne school, and in the classroom. you also need to pick a career path if you go berets. you can either become a comunications sergent, weapons sergent, or others i dont remember.

rifleman marines are considered the best fighting force in the world, with no conventional equal. green berets are special forces within the army which are way ahead of the typical marine.

im no expert though ive just looked around alot on the internet

RrCoX22

iTrader: (6)

great shape... work out 5 times a week and run 3 days a week... ex-college football player. and I read on goarmy.com under the green berets section they are accepting civilians for the first time in many years without going through the army first

duece_bigalo01

iTrader: (6)

what about the Navy Seals. Arguably the toughest spec ops training in the world. They go to alittle bit of everyones schools, and there track record of not leaving anyone behind stands head and shoulders above everyone else. Dont just think that the navy is just about ships and being out to sea. There are several different avenues to explore.

captaincamaro

the seals are nuts, that just below clandestine stuff. being a seal would be amazing, except 99.99% of american males cant do it lol

firehawks_suck

Just to set the record strait Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, Air Force Para Rescue(PJ), and Marines Force Recon. I think each is good at one aspect of one type of a mission that is why there are 4 branches, and 4 driffent mission statements. But what do I know Im only in an Airborne Infantry unit I have never worked with any spec-ops units. On the ground doing intell SF all the way. In the water SEALs. Downed polit PJ's. And of course if you need intell and a target taken out Force Recon. But more FYI when you go "IF" you want to be high speed Look for the guys with suba bubbles and halo wings there the cream of the crop those are two of the toughest schools in the millatry you will not see to many of those.

RrCoX22

iTrader: (6)

good call with that... it never really crossed my mind about that area, just assumed navy with water only and forgot about those poor SEALS

duece_bigalo01

iTrader: (6)

well dont forget SWCC with the navy and Air rescue with the navy as well. We go after downed pilots also. I believe that its a mind set. You can do damn near anything you set your mind too. If you want to be force recon then just set that as a goal and do it. If you want to be a seal then again just set your mind to do it and you will. You dont have to be superman to get through spec ops just determined. But it starts now before you join to set your goal and go after it.

quicksilverado

iTrader: (8)

You don't have to be invited to try out for special forces. You can apply. There is also Rangers and Delta Force If you decide to go into the Army. If you are serious about any of the above you will need to be intelligent as well as physically fit, but more than that you will need to be mentally one tough sob. The head games and mental fatigue is what causes most guys to be washed out of the training.

Urban Legend

iTrader: (5)

Enlist straight into green berets, but only if you are not married and have no kids. If you have a family look elsewhere.

nytmare1

iTrader: (7)

The Marine Corps is in the process of standing up a brand new unit of special forces. They're being billed as the next level up from Force Recon. They'll be evaluating and training selected Sgts and above shortly. Some thing tells me these guys are going to be bad asses.

Marc
GySgt
USMC (ret.)

edwardswb

iTrader: (6)

You want to see what you're made of from day one? Enlist in the Marine Corps. We do it all. "Air, Land, and Sea." You want to be special forces eventually? Once you have passed your school and gone on to join your unit, try out for Recon. Recon will take Marines from any m.o.s. provided they can pass the test. The best from recon, go on to Force Recon. Then there is the new Marine Corps Special Forces which will be the best of the best. You will have to be one internally driven, motivated s.o.b. to make it and like it. You gotta make it through boot camp first.

Cpl Edwards.
USMC
In the sand.

Packy

iTrader: (11)

I would go into the Army and get a Ranger contract. The Rangers get attached to CAG (Delta) and do all of their trailer work for them. Plus 75% of the CAG guys are from the Rangers! It depends on what you want to do. With SF you will be doing a lot of coordinating and training with foriegn militaries and police. They more like advisors and trainers with language skills than anything else. Rangers you will be doing a lot of raids and more advanced Infantry type stuff. USMC Infantry you will be sitting on your *** doing whatever your PLT. Commander and PLT. Sergeant tell you! It is very un-motivating. That is why I got out of the Marine Infantry in 1996 and have been in Recon and Force Recon since then. We do some good stuff and I really enjoy my job but you can't enlist and expect to be in Recon right away. You have to run an pass a fairly hard screening and then you usually have to serve time in Recon Battalion first and once you have honed your skills and put in your time then you can go to Force Recon. Force is dissolving into the new unit called MARSOC though. They are already taking platoons from Force and beefing them up into fully operational MARSOC units. It looks like the good old USMC has finally got a piece of the pie!

Remember the AF has Combat Control Teams and Pararescue guys who are awesome and do some great thngs for the SOCOM community too. Then there are the Navy Seals which also do some good stuff. Ultimately look at all of the options and pick one that you think suits you best! Like someone else already said too make sure you don't have any attachments IE a family or something similar because you are going to be doing a lot of away time once you go in. First with schools and training. Then comes the Operational tempo with 7 month to year or more deployments to all of the worlds shitholes that you will call home while you are there! Trust me on this one. Our typical training workup lasts 6-7 months and then we deploy for 6 more after that. Then we come back and go right into another training phase within 3-4 months so you may be home for a year but you really aren't there for all 12 months of that you know.

Let's just say if I had it to do over again I would have probably went in the AF on a CCT contract or Army as a Ranger then to Delta later in my career.

T-rex

iTrader: (3)

Whatever you do will not be easy.If you have a family,don't even consider it.I was in the Army for 15. Spent 5 years as a Ranger and then was invited to join another party.

1gen

iTrader: (1)

ha, dont even bother with SF if you have a family unless youre lookin to get rid of your old lady

Rothman

iTrader: (4)

Coast Guard LOL!!!



just kiddin

T-rex

iTrader: (3)

What he said.SF is a sure way to become a single man again.

PotentialZ28

Its all in what you want really, if you want to have a huge challenge in front of you you can do the SEALS, rangers, green beret, AF Pjs, AF special forces, or AF SERE (spelling), the SERE guys work with the Army. If you want to join just to help out your country i would go Air Force unless you really like the Army/Marine way of life. I know a lot of other guys wont like it but ive been to the desert 4 times (short trips, 10-30 days) and i stay in military hotel with heating, AC, and clean bathrooms while the Army guys were in tents, maybe i just dont like roughing that much but it made me respect what the Army guys have to deal with but it also made me happier with the military branch choice i made 5 yrs ago. Just my oponion

rgriffin

packy,
what happened to Det-1? I know we gotta maintain OPSEC but is this still in works or was it redesignated to MARSOC? I hope we dont shift all of our assets to a unit designed to be strategic in nature, i prefer tactical b/c thats one of the reasons the USMC units are so good at kicking tail.

everyone else,
I agree with much of what packy had to say other than the trailer part... being a trailer sucks (and you know this packy). I really dont put much value into the whole "name/branch" of SF. If you are SOFD-D/SF/SEAL/Recon/PJ ect you have taken the hard road and have gone above and beyond. It depends on which organization you feel you would fit better in.

thats my 2 cents..

Griff

1gen

iTrader: (1)

I did SF training, the ***** a bitch. To do it once is cool but its not something that I'll ever do again. I got pulled and discharged from the army completely on a medical discharge. Then I go to ft hood 2 months after discharge to learn I had been misdiagnosed and shouldnt have been discharged but to go back in I would have to go back through all SF training starting with the SFAS all over again so I said **** it. It might be worth it to go through once and sit on the job but being away from my wife through all that training almost killed us, to do it again would be relationship suicide


...and with a kid on the way, it's not an option.


Go to the Marine Corps...as an officer (I'll do this when my kid is old enough to understand/ remember me)