CPrice243
Verified Military
So there I was, 19 years old, walking into the recruiters office for the first time with the bright eyed, motivated aspirations of youth burning ever so brightly on my face, determined to settle for nothing short of what I wanted. "I want to sign for Infantry, and I want an Option 40." only to hear "Well, with screws in your shoulder requiring a medical waiver, I cant give you an Option 40..." then with the smooth tones of a small town used cars salesman, the recruiter retorts with the line "...But if you perform well enough, they can give you it during OSUT."
So then, with the naivety of youth, I signed on that dotted line, not knowing better until much later that having a medical waiver truly did not stop someone from getting the ever sought after Option 40. My recruiter was just a dick. Go figure?
Just to prove that my luck would hold true, no one in my OSUT class that came in with and Option 40 or an 18x contract dropped it, meaning no one else was ever presented with the chance to pick one up. But, ever the optimist, I pushed on to my new duty station at Fort Carson, thinking the whole while I would try again later. For a year and some change I trained up for deployment, all the while fantasizing, and saying "One day, I will go to SFAS." or "One day, I will go to RASP." You say these things often enough, and you yourself start to believe them with time.
Then, deployment hit. This was it, this was my chance to test my mettle, to see if I could hold up to the stresses of real conflict, and give me that last final bit of insight into whether or not I had what it took to follow through with my constant statements to friends of "One day this" or "One day that". Then, we hit KAF.. Say what you will about the luxuries of a Mega-fob, this place will suck the motivation right out of you. And the very nature of Southern Afghanistan all but precludes you from getting into a fire-fight. No one wants to open up on a convoy of MaxxPros with an AK when you have 1000m of flat ground in between. No one is that dumb. So there you sit, as your motivation is drained, as the training you had gone through is all but wasted by lack of action (A problem I am sure any real combat veteran would be overjoyed about) and as you realize that saying and thinking all of these stories about "One day..." does you no good.
The moral of the story ladies and gents, is dont be the guy who sits there and says "One day I will...". Instead, find the intestinal fortitude in yourself to say "TODAY I will." and take that first step, while you still have the motivation to actually push yourself through it all. Dont worry yourselves with the Ifs and whens of life, grab it by the horns and get after it.
I myself, I have to find my motivation again, and determine for myself if SFAS or RASP is still something in the cards for me, or if I was just never meant to be among those men that I so idolized growing up. This is a question you have to answer for yourselves, no one is going to do it for you. But if you have within you a drive, a motivation to try something, push for it. Do your research, ask questions of your recruiter, make it impossible for him to set you up for failure just because he is tired of pushing paperwork. And if you still get screwed? Get over it, and keep pushing. That is where I messed up. Dont be me
Get out and DO.
Thats my 2 cents, and my vent session for the day I apologize in advanced for sounding like a whiny little girl.
Edit: I dont want this to sound like I am blaming my problems on the recruiter, or anyone else for that matter. My lack of motivation is my own fault, and no one elses. I just want to put it out there that if you have an opportunity to try for something that interests you, dont put it off. Get after it, or get over it.
So then, with the naivety of youth, I signed on that dotted line, not knowing better until much later that having a medical waiver truly did not stop someone from getting the ever sought after Option 40. My recruiter was just a dick. Go figure?
Just to prove that my luck would hold true, no one in my OSUT class that came in with and Option 40 or an 18x contract dropped it, meaning no one else was ever presented with the chance to pick one up. But, ever the optimist, I pushed on to my new duty station at Fort Carson, thinking the whole while I would try again later. For a year and some change I trained up for deployment, all the while fantasizing, and saying "One day, I will go to SFAS." or "One day, I will go to RASP." You say these things often enough, and you yourself start to believe them with time.
Then, deployment hit. This was it, this was my chance to test my mettle, to see if I could hold up to the stresses of real conflict, and give me that last final bit of insight into whether or not I had what it took to follow through with my constant statements to friends of "One day this" or "One day that". Then, we hit KAF.. Say what you will about the luxuries of a Mega-fob, this place will suck the motivation right out of you. And the very nature of Southern Afghanistan all but precludes you from getting into a fire-fight. No one wants to open up on a convoy of MaxxPros with an AK when you have 1000m of flat ground in between. No one is that dumb. So there you sit, as your motivation is drained, as the training you had gone through is all but wasted by lack of action (A problem I am sure any real combat veteran would be overjoyed about) and as you realize that saying and thinking all of these stories about "One day..." does you no good.
The moral of the story ladies and gents, is dont be the guy who sits there and says "One day I will...". Instead, find the intestinal fortitude in yourself to say "TODAY I will." and take that first step, while you still have the motivation to actually push yourself through it all. Dont worry yourselves with the Ifs and whens of life, grab it by the horns and get after it.
I myself, I have to find my motivation again, and determine for myself if SFAS or RASP is still something in the cards for me, or if I was just never meant to be among those men that I so idolized growing up. This is a question you have to answer for yourselves, no one is going to do it for you. But if you have within you a drive, a motivation to try something, push for it. Do your research, ask questions of your recruiter, make it impossible for him to set you up for failure just because he is tired of pushing paperwork. And if you still get screwed? Get over it, and keep pushing. That is where I messed up. Dont be me
Get out and DO.Thats my 2 cents, and my vent session for the day
I apologize in advanced for sounding like a whiny little girl.Edit: I dont want this to sound like I am blaming my problems on the recruiter, or anyone else for that matter. My lack of motivation is my own fault, and no one elses. I just want to put it out there that if you have an opportunity to try for something that interests you, dont put it off. Get after it, or get over it.
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