Hypothetically Speaking....

[goon175]

I was thinking about this earlier tonight, and figured maybe it would make for good internet conversation. Given your personality, interests, internal drive for excellence, etc., If you had not joined the military and persued the route into the SOF world, what would you have seen yourself doing? Obviously, our own respective experiences, trials, tribulations in the military have played no small part in who we are today. I just think it would be interesting to see what the SF soldiers, SEALs, PJ's, CSO's etc. would have seen themselves doing had they not taken the path they did.

Me personally: I would have ended up in sales, I think. What in sales? I'm not sure. I think I would have been pretty succesful though, if I do say so myself...

 

[Brill]

Aspiring porn star.

 

[TLDR20]

I honestly do not know! I really wanted to be in the military. I would prolly be a pot head surfer. It is what I was before I joined. I don't think I would have done well in school, wasn't very disciplined(unlike all our studly aspiring SOF guys on here) . I really do not know. That is food for thought though, good thread.

 

[parallel]

I didn't possess the drive for excellence until a few years AFTER I joined the Navy. It was shortly before my entry into NAVSPECWAR via SBU-20 that I woke up. Interestingly enough, I joined the Navy to be an Illustrator Draftsman, but the rate closed while I was in bootcamp. A bit over five years after I got out of the Navy I got my degree in Drafting and Design Technology and was moving on to Naval Architecture when Hurricane Katrina changed everything. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think that I would have amounted to much of anything without the discipline instilled in me by joining the Navy and specifically by becoming a member of SBU-20.

 

[Marauder06]

I probably would have been designing Web pages or something else Internet-related.

 

[moobob]

Degenerate gambler.

 

[Muppet]

I have no clue. I always wanted to be in medicine. The whole family was in medicine from dad and mom to grand dad. I would prolly be where I am at now but I gained a WHOLE lot of experience from being in the service. Hell, dad was a flight medic in nam, mom a nurse in nam and granddad a medic in WW2. It was in the blood.

F.M.

 

[JHawk]

I'll start off by saying... I'm not SOF... (at least not yet) but in my humble opinion. I don't think anyone in SOF was predestined for it or anything great for that matter. I think it was that they were afforded certain opportunities, and that they were stubborn/crazy enough to believe they could do it and willed their way through it.

I think we are all just victims of circumstance that on occasion have the ability to will ourselves through certain situations.

But great men are not born, they are made. And it was through circumstance, will, and dedication that I believe most in SOF are made.

With that said, had I not joined the Army, I'd probably be working at McDonalds/In a factory/On a farm (assuming I could get a job in this economy) back home, getting stoned with my other deadbeat friends. But thankfully circumstance has put me in a place where I can at least SEE the stepping stones to where I now know I want to be. Now I just have to will my way there.

 

[dknob]

Archaeologist believe it or not

 

[x SF med]

Itinerant Sailing Bum, degenerate Backpacker, and Lush....

 

[JustAnotherJ]

I honestly do not know! I really wanted to be in the military. I would prolly be a pot head surfer. It is what I was before I joined. I don't think I would have done well in school, wasn't very disciplined(unlike all our studly aspiring SOF guys on here) . I really do not know. That is food for thought though, good thread.

Same. Except I wasn't doing well in school and had no discipline whatsoever. Hell, my life tetered on the edge of some of these #Occupy people. Then I realized that being a "hand-out demanding douchebag" wasn't the way I wanted to live my life, so I grabbed my balls and went PJ.

Now that I've seen the world for what it really is, I fully endorse killing people:)

 

[CDG]

Same. Except I wasn't doing well in school and had no discipline whatsoever. Hell, my life tetered on the edge of some of these #Occupy people. Then I realized that being a "hand-out demanding douchebag" wasn't the way I wanted to live my life, so I grabbed my balls and went PJ.

I really appreciate the candor you and some of the other SOF personnel have shown in this thread. I have been on other SOF-oriented boards where the SOF veterans acted as though they were born in a ghillie suit, were pulling perfect PFT scores by the age of 11, and had made their first thousand yard headshot by the time they hit high school . It's refreshing to hear that some of you were in rough places and overcame it to accomplish what you have.

 

[Cochise]

Starving musician.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

I was a licensed plumber before I joined the Army (never served in SOF though), I actually took a massive pay cut joining (from $73K to roughly $25k). I had always wanted to be a soldier and a small town cop (Andy Griffith type small town), I may still do the small town cop thing when I get a little older.

 

[Manolito]

I was not SOF but choices were a little different then you could choose to enlist which I did or you could wait for the letter Greetings From Your Local Draft Board.

 

[SpitfireV]

If I may drift the topic a little bit, I think if I hadn't eventually gone into LE I would have been some kind of writer, probably investigative journalism or travel. I'd still like to do some professional writing.

 

[Ranger Psych]

probably be working at "insert silicon valley upstart in need of mercenary geek"

 

[RackMaster]

I'd probably be a ranch hand shovelling shit and living in a trailer. That or dead... I'm gonna go with the alive choice though.

 

[TLDR20]

I really appreciate the candor you and some of the other SOF personnel have shown in this thread. I have been on other SOF-oriented boards where the SOF veterans acted as though they were born in a ghillie suit, were pulling perfect PFT scores by the age of 11, and had made their first thousand yard headshot by the time they hit high school . It's refreshing to hear that some of you were in rough places and overcame it to accomplish what you have.

This was the point I was making with my "studly SOF mentorees" quip. If you havent been there you really have no idea what to expect. You cannot really prepare for a kick in the nuts. Yeah you can do PT. I did a bit before I joined. You can prep your feet(any idiot can do this just follow my guidance). But really all our studly aspiring SOF guys should be doing things they will not be able to do and will miss when they are freezing at Cole Range. Or knee deep in other people puke. Or bobbing in the Pacific Ocean. I saw the other SOF forums where they are all about PT test scores and all that shit. But when it boils down to it, other than the must pass tests, it is 99% mental. And you cannot build mental toughness. That is all.

 

[dknob]

I really appreciate the candor you and some of the other SOF personnel have shown in this thread. I have been on other SOF-oriented boards where the SOF veterans acted as though they were born in a ghillie suit, were pulling perfect PFT scores by the age of 11, and had made their first thousand yard headshot by the time they hit high school . It's refreshing to hear that some of you were in rough places and overcame it to accomplish what you have.

must be PS.com