11th Airborne Division in Alaska

Devildoc said:
That's my obs. "What unit were you in?" "Oh, first battalion, 247th infantry." Me: "Oh." Them: "It's part of the 82nd Airborne." Me: "Ooohhhh.... (lightbulb moment).

Or I get: "I was in the 1st Infantry Division." Me: "Oh, Ft Riley, right?" Them: "Yeah, but my actual unit was stationed elsewhere...." I get that, too: Them: "You were in the Navy? What ship were you on?" Me: "Oh, I was never haze gray and underway, I was never aboard a ship, and I never spent anytime aboard a Navy base." Then to really blow their mind: Me: "I spent almost the entirety of my 17 years assigned to the Marines." Them: "But I thought you said you were in the Navy....."

Maybe because it's the unit in which you intimately train? I don't know. I think part of the problem is in translation, trying to jam army org into Marine Corps org to try to find =/=.
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Gunz said:
They have lots of and badges and patches and berets. There's that. And apparently you can be in an airborne unit and wear the unit's bling etc and yet not be a paratrooper. On the rare occasions I made it into Danang, there were all these dudes with Screaming Eagle patches--whom I naturally assumed to be paratroopers--although many of them were not.
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In most Army units, headgear and other related accoutrements are unit-specific. It's very common for non-Airborne personnel to be in Airborne units (or "Airborne" units, like the 101st) and not be jump qualified.

When I was in the 101st, which was "Airborne" in pretty much name only, the only people I remember being on Airborne status were the Division LRS and the instructors at the Pathfinder school. But the rest of us were authorized (and expected to wear) jump boots.

Back in the day, everyone in an SF unit wore a green beret, although the flash was different for SF and non-SF. My father showed up to 5th Group as an intel officer and went through SFAS. So he had a green beret before he was a Green Beret.
 
SpitfireV said:
All your ranks confuse me. Concurrant ranks with different names, giving them a letter and number too, so many types of sergeant, TWO PRIVATE RANKS?!, officers who aren't officers but are officers in another class system?

Combine that with all the flair and it's the best accidental counter intelligence I've seen.
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Three private ranks, brother. PV1, PV2, and PFC ;)
 
SpitfireV said:
All your ranks confuse me. Concurrant ranks with different names, giving them a letter and number too, so many types of sergeant, TWO PRIVATE RANKS?!, officers who aren't officers but are officers in another class system?

Combine that with all the flair and it's the best accidental counter intelligence I've seen.
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Explain how a Warrant Officer sits in the Sergeant Major role for me.

Warrant Officers in the US are Warrant Officers because they carry a Warrant from the POTUS versus Commissioned Officers carry commissions from the President.
 
DasBoot said:
Who knew Wikipedia could be wrong. I re read the article and realized I misread the bit about Sicily.
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Some users will get a Wiki fact check and no more. You and others deserve a deeper dive, which I did before my post.

ETA:
View attachment 39445

WHERE IS A PROPER GODDAMNED LOVE EMOJI?!?!??!?!?!?!?!!?!?! THE PEOPLE DESERVE BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
SOSTCRNA said:
Really? I’ve never heard any soldier or former soldier reminisce about their battalion or regiment and not their division ((75th being an obvious exception but they are not part of a division). Granted, their memories of the service time were of their smaller units right down to their squad but that’s the people they actually knew.
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Triple Deuce through and through.
 
Marauder06 said:
We have lots of bears here. They're black bears so they're more timid than brown bears (I'm told, I"ve not been around a bunch of brown bears before) but they'd still mess me up pretty bad. Especially if there are cubs.
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I have seen black bears in North Carolina. Shoot, even in my town there is a bare sighting about once a year and it's common for trail cams to capture them on camera locally. They are pretty shy.

Okay when I was in the military we did some training at Kodiak, where we were told that the brown bears can be more aggressive and we need to have a higher degree of situational awareness because of that.
 
The bears here are like big, mischievous dogs that get into your trash every once in a while but that people still like to look at and think are cool to have around.
 
Intel Nerd said:
That's correct. Anyone in that unit will identify with that BN closer to any unit they've probably ever served in. Just from personal observations.
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Cool, that’s the beauty of a forum, everyone can share their unique experiences.
 

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