# Question about Ranger culture and taboo



## LargeBird (Jul 8, 2016)

Hello, I'm currently in the DEP waiting to ship in the early fall with a 11x option 40 contract. I was recently reading the book Goon175 wrote about Ranger Knowledge (which I just want to say is crazy awesome and an amazing resource for any other Ranger wannabes), and something caught my attention. In one section Jack Murphy writes about how some unfortunate young Rangers were RFS'ed due to their inability to maintain OPSEC, mainly for bragging about missions they had gone on. This got me thinking about just how seriously the 75th Ranger Regiment and the military in general take OPSEC violations and information security, as well as the scrutiny young Rangers are under. It got me a bit worried, I have girl friend of 2 years who is a foreign national, from Hong Kong to be specific. I have never discussed anything Ranger related, we dated long before I ever told her I was going to enlist, and even since then I've only talked about my desire to be an elite paratrooper.  I defiantly am in love with this girl, we have been dating for over 2 years spending months living together and lots of time apart in a LDR, and I would like to continue dating this girl and maybe even marry her one day. Could any current or retired Rangers tell me how a relationship with a foreign national would be perceived if I was lucky enough to make it into Ranger Regiment? Obviously I would treat her just as anyone else outside of the Regiment and maintain OPSEC when talking with her, but I understand how sensitive it could be to maintain a relationship with a foreign national, especially one that lives in a special administrative region of China. 

Sorry for the lengthy post, I have lurked for some time and have tried extensively to use the search function to find an answer to my question but haven't managed to find any information specific to this type of situation. Some threads gave information about individuals with security clearances who were inquiring as to how they might be affected by marrying a foreign national, but none involving lowly recruits such as myself who have no clearance and no standing in the community.


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## Centermass (Jul 8, 2016)

You disclose it when they sit you down for your briefing and when you fill out your SF-86. Not just a little, not some, but truthful in all aspects of it. Hold back anything and you can kiss your clearance (And the Regiment) good by.


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## RUBSUMLOTION (Jul 8, 2016)

Once you disclose it for the secret clearance and you get cleared, it's really no big deal and nobody's business. She'll just be your girlfriend. Some issues might pop up when you try for a top secret clearance but that's a ways down the road for you.


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## LargeBird (Jul 8, 2016)

Thank you for the quick replies! I have nothing to hide and will have no problem disclosing everything the investigators ask for. As a quick side question, my recruiter told me that I would be filling out my security clearance forms in OSUT, is there any way I can bring any of the documentation I might need for my SF-86 with me? My recruiter told me not to bring any paperwork aside from what he gives me before I ship, but I feel like it would be hard to fill out my SF-86 without some additional paperwork or a book with all my references contact information.


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## RUBSUMLOTION (Jul 8, 2016)

LargeBird said:


> Thank you for the quick replies! I have nothing to hide and will have no problem disclosing everything the investigators ask for. As a quick side question, my recruiter told me that I would be filling out my security clearance forms in OSUT, is there any way I can bring any of the documentation I might need for my SF-86 with me? My recruiter told me not to bring any paperwork aside from what he gives me before I ship, but I feel like it would be hard to fill out my SF-86 without some additional paperwork or a book with all my references contact information.



Yes you can. You'll probably take a backpack when you ship so just put all your paperwork from MEPS and your personal papers in a tough binder. At basic your bag will be locked away the whole time but I'm sure you can get access to it when you go for the interview.


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## Centermass (Jul 8, 2016)

LargeBird said:


> Thank you for the quick replies! I have nothing to hide and will have no problem disclosing everything the investigators ask for. As a quick side question, my recruiter told me that I would be filling out my security clearance forms in OSUT, is there any way I can bring any of the documentation I might need for my SF-86 with me? My recruiter told me not to bring any paperwork aside from what he gives me before I ship, but I feel like it would be hard to fill out my SF-86 without some additional paperwork or a book with all my references contact information.



Or.........Start writing down names, phone numbers, addresses and dates (Usually 7 years for a SBI, 10 for an SSBI - yours will be 7 initially) for all places lived, worked, supervisor names, schools attended, friend as references, and relatives. This will be a long and laborious procedure, but it has to be complete. Keep it in a safe place at home. Pre-coordinate now, so when the time comes later on, you can have a family member  either fax or e-mail you a copy to use and complete your form.


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## DA SWO (Jul 8, 2016)

Centermass said:


> Or.........Start writing down names, phone numbers, addresses and dates (Usually 7 years for a SBI, 10 for an SSBI - yours will be 7 initially) for all places lived, worked, supervisor names, schools attended, friend as references, and relatives. This will be a long and laborious procedure, but it has to be complete. Keep it in a safe place at home. Pre-coordinate now, so when the time comes later on, you can have a family member  either fax or e-mail you a copy to use and complete your form.


E-mail it to yourself, and access the document from your phone when you start.
Have someone mail it to you 3-4 weeks after you leave for Basic.


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## Brill (Jul 8, 2016)

RUBSUMLOTION said:


> Once you disclose it for the secret clearance and you get cleared, it's really no big deal and nobody's business. She'll just be your girlfriend. Some issues might pop up when you try for a top secret clearance but that's a ways down the road for you.



I just agreed with a Ranger. Unbelievable.


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## LargeBird (Jul 8, 2016)

Thank you all for your guidance, luckily I have already compiled most of the information I need because my recruiter thought he had to get 10 years worth of names, dates, and locations. I'll make sure to make a copy of that information for myself  that I can bring to training and for my parents so they can mail it to me later, as well as take photos and email them to myself. That way I'll be prepared to the max. Thank you again for all your support, I apologize if any of these questions were silly.


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## digrar (Jul 9, 2016)

DA SWO said:


> Centermass said:
> 
> 
> > Pre-coordinate now, so when the time comes later on, you can have a family member  either fax or e-mail you a copy to use and complete your form.
> ...



Yep email it to yourself on a gmail or similar account that you can access anywhere, on your phone, in an internet cafe etc. Also a good place to put copies of documents for when you're traveling, or just stuff  that may be handy to be able to grab at work/school etc.


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## x SF med (Jul 9, 2016)

LargeBird said:


> Thank you for the quick replies! I have nothing to hide and will have no problem disclosing everything the investigators ask for. As a quick side question, my recruiter told me that I would be filling out my security clearance forms in OSUT, is there any way I can bring any of the documentation I might need for my SF-86 with me? My recruiter told me not to bring any paperwork aside from what he gives me before I ship, but I feel like it would be hard to fill out my SF-86 without some additional paperwork or a book with all my references contact information.



Or, You could put it in a secure document, and keep it on your phone.


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## LargeBird (Jul 9, 2016)

x SF med said:


> Or, You could put it in a secure document, and keep it on your phone.


Didn't know that was an option, thank you for the tip. I'll defiantly be doing that now.


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## RUBSUMLOTION (Jul 9, 2016)

LargeBird said:


> Didn't know that was an option, thank you for the tip. I'll defiantly be doing that now.



All of these electronic options are great but if I were you, I would bring a physical copy of everything just in case something happens where you can't access the digital copy.


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## SpongeBob*24 (Jul 9, 2016)

Disclose everything and you'll be good!!!!

There's a thousand ways to digitally bring your docs.
One way is to scan everything, put in winzip, password protect it and put it on google one drive or owncloud.

Basically take a photo of it and put it on the line....I think it's called instantanousgram....


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## LargeBird (Jul 9, 2016)

RUBSUMLOTION said:


> All of these electronic options are great but if I were you, I would bring a physical copy of everything just in case something happens where you can't access the digital copy.


I'll defiantly still bring paper copies with me and have an additional set put aside so that it can be mailed to me later in case I cant get access to the copy I brought with me.


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## x SF med (Jul 10, 2016)

LargeBird said:


> Didn't know that was an option, thank you for the tip. I'll defiantly be doing that now.



Use the electronic options, but keep paper docs accessible, just in case, as has been stated by others.
Honesty is the key.  Expect slowdowns in your process, a Chinese foreign national is going to require more checking than you realize.


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## LargeBird (Jul 10, 2016)

RUBSUMLOTION said:


> All of these electronic options are great but if I were you, I would bring a physical copy of everything just in case something happens where you can't access the digital copy.


I'll defiantly still bring paper copies with me and have an additional set put aside so that it can be mailed to me later in case I cant get access to the copy I brought with me.  


x SF med said:


> Use the electronic options, but keep paper docs accessible, just in case, as has been stated by others.
> Honesty is the key.  Expect slowdowns in your process, a Chinese foreign national is going to require more checking than you realize.



I could defiantly see my background check taking a while, I traveled overseas for a few months and spent some time in Hong Kong, between that and the girl friend from there I could see the process being more complicated than for most candidates. All I can do is be 100% honest with the investigators and hope for the best right?


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## LargeBird (Jul 10, 2016)

I'm not sure why my reply included a double post of my previous post about paper copies, sorry about that.


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## x SF med (Jul 10, 2016)

LargeBird said:


> I'll defiantly still bring paper copies with me and have an additional set put aside so that it can be mailed to me later in case I cant get access to the copy I brought with me.
> 
> 
> I could defiantly see my background check taking a while, I traveled overseas for a few months and spent some time in Hong Kong, between that and the girl friend from there I could see the process being more complicated than for most candidates. All I can do is be 100% honest with the investigators and hope for the best right?



LB, please make sure you add "definitely" to the dictionary on your phone/laptop/tablet...  "defiantly" is definitely getting old as a recurrent misusage...

Yup, I'm a grammar Nazi...


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## LargeBird (Jul 10, 2016)

x SF med said:


> LB, please make sure you add "definitely" to the dictionary on your phone/laptop/tablet...  "defiantly" is definitely getting old as a recurrent misusage...
> 
> Yup, I'm a grammar Nazi...


Sorry about that X SF med, I can't believe I missed that. I've been using my phone to post and the auto-correct is really putting my poor spelling on full display. I'll definitely make sure to pay attention to this from now on.


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## medicchick (Jul 11, 2016)

x SF med said:


> LB, please make sure you add "definitely" to the dictionary on your phone/laptop/tablet...  "defiantly" is definitely getting old as a recurrent misusage...
> 
> Yup, I'm a grammar Nazi...


I thought of you as I was giggling at a person who meant to type "protesters" and typed "protestants".


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