Evening Everyone,
I'm a 22 year old college grad, and am doing my best to nail down an 18x contract - plan to sign in the next two months, and ship within 3 months. SF's focus on FID/UW is what originally attracted me to the 18x program, at least from an academic/mission set perspective. I also view it as a great opportunity to be amongst the most physically fit and mentally sharp individuals. Having grown up abroad, and been lucky enough to travel a great deal of the world, the prospect of adventure is also at the forefront of my mind.
I've been training hard for a few months now. Unfortunately I overtrained with ruck running , which - when paired with a heavy weekly running mileage - left me with severe shin splints. In line with the experiences of many people in this forum, I made things worse by training through the pain. As a result, I've been off of running for the past month, with frequent physio visits. Starting this week, I will be easing myself into running/rucking again, and hope to be back at my previous numbers in 2 months.
Before I stopped, my stats were:
35:42 min 5 mile run
13 min 2 mile run
2:42hr 12 mile ruck at 50 pounds
I am currently sitting at 70 correct form push ups , 75 Sit ups, and 19 dead hang wide grip pull ups. I'm hoping to bring this up to 80, 80, 25 (respectively) by the time I ship out. I was recently doing a strength/free weight cycle, and am now cycling onto a more crossfit style of working out (18A fitness, for those interested).
To prepare myself for the doctrine side of the shop, I've read the ranger handbook/LeFavor's SUT Handbook several times over. I've also scanned other relevant FMs, such as Rifle Platoon and Squad.
For more practical - hands on - knowledge, I've learned as many knots/lashings as possible. I am also becoming more acquainted with the AR-15, and taking shooting lessons so I can excel in the marksmanship components of OSUT.
Though I've read parts of the Land Navigation FM, I would consider this my greatest weakness as I haven't had much real world practice. However, I will be getting out with some mentors in the coming months to improve.
On a side note, I have dual citizenship (UK/US), and was hoping someone on this forum would be able to provide info on whether I would have to relinquish my UK citizenship. While not optimal, I would be more than happy to give it up for a shot at SF.
This was a long post, and apologies if it should have been split into more manageable pieces for other parts of this subgroup. For those who have read to the end, thank you, and feel free to reach out at any point.
-Slampky
