officer v/s enlisted in Ranger Batt

[DarshSingh]

Hi everyone, you all must remember the last time i posted a similar question, it didn't go quite well.
I just want to first off apologize to everyone whom i spoke rudely to and i understand that the question which i had posted was quite premature given that i have no experience in the military world at all. I'd also like to clarify that i actually am a high schooler (17 years old) and not a 25 year old, i am sorry that while making my account i did not pay heed to the fact that there is not a age limit but honestly speaking i genuinely usually put 2000 as my year of birth since many other websites have age limits. I know many of you all must be thinking that i am here to waste more time and ask dumb questions but i would like to think otherwise.

In the past months I have spent alot of my time connecting with and talking with Army Ranger veterans (officers and enlisted) and i have gained immense clarity on which sof unit i would want to be a part of, which is the 75th ranger regiment. When i first came here i was quite confused because there are many SOF units and on a surface level to anyone who does not know alot they all seem to do the same thing at the end of the day hence the confusion about which one to pursue arises, that person who did not know alot was me, but over these past few months i have researched into the various units and their respective mission sets and cultures etc. deeply and i have decided that i would love to be a part of Ranger Battalion and the Ranger mission and hence want to pursue that path.

The thing is that after talking to the ex-officers and ex-enlisted people i have realized that officers usually tend to get a very short term of 2 years in Ranger batt 1 year as PL and 1 as Company commander, and besides that officers also get rotated out to the conventional units for career broadening aspects. I know both the enlisted and officer paths have their own pros and cons and that these are two very different paths, but i cannot decide between either for some reason, i know i want a lot of tactical time as the enlisted people get but on the other hand the officer pay and the fact that officers deal with far less daily b.s makes me rethink it. The general point that i heard coming from all the officer side people was that the officer was almost always outside the target building and/or area and was very rarely in the stack with the guys and that their job was to control the battlefield rather than participate in the battle and that makes sense, at the same time i want genuine time on the trigger. Is there any insight anyone would be willing to share or any info which i might be getting wrong or am missing?

The solution which i have come up to deal with this dilemma is that i think i should go to college with ROTC and try it and get a feel of it for a 1-2 years and get to know more about the specifics from other officers and enlisted people and if i feel like it is the right path for me i should pursue it else i will just do college (or drop) and enlist, I have talked to ROTC recruiters as well about the process of the application and i will be applying for the Army ROTC scholarship this june when the applications open.

As for putting in the work towards the goal , i have been training physically for the past months consistently 5 days a week with weekends for rest and recovery, i have been hitting 2 miles in sub 13 minutes and i am actively working on adding more volume and distance into my workout and currently my max for push-ups and pullups is 56 and 15 respectively. One thing which i consistently face trouble with is my push-ups i cant seem to break past the 55-56 mark, is there anything which i can do to increase them upto atleast 80?

Sincerely,
Darsh

 

[Spooky]

“officers have to deal with a lot less daily bs”

Haha, right…

Dude at the end of the day it’s your decision, you seem like you have a VERY general idea of the difference between them, and only you know what you want for your future. Do you want to pull triggers? Enlist. Do you want the degree and higher QOL? Commission. Nobody here is a magic genie that can see it’s your future to know which option is the best for you. You have the general idea between the two, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

 

[policemedic]

Hi everyone, you all must remember the last time i posted a similar question, it didn't go quite well.
I just want to first off apologize to everyone whom i spoke rudely to and i understand that the question which i had posted was quite premature given that i have no experience in the military world at all. I'd also like to clarify that i actually am a high schooler (17 years old) and not a 25 year old, i am sorry that while making my account i did not pay heed to the fact that there is not a age limit but honestly speaking i genuinely usually put 2000 as my year of birth since many other websites have age limits. I know many of you all must be thinking that i am here to waste more time and ask dumb questions but i would like to think otherwise.

In the past months I have spent alot of my time connecting with and talking with Army Ranger veterans (officers and enlisted) and i have gained immense clarity on which sof unit i would want to be a part of, which is the 75th ranger regiment. When i first came here i was quite confused because there are many SOF units and on a surface level to anyone who does not know alot they all seem to do the same thing at the end of the day hence the confusion about which one to pursue arises, that person who did not know alot was me, but over these past few months i have researched into the various units and their respective mission sets and cultures etc. deeply and i have decided that i would love to be a part of Ranger Battalion and the Ranger mission and hence want to pursue that path.

The thing is that after talking to the ex-officers and ex-enlisted people i have realized that officers usually tend to get a very short term of 2 years in Ranger batt 1 year as PL and 1 as Company commander, and besides that officers also get rotated out to the conventional units for career broadening aspects. I know both the enlisted and officer paths have their own pros and cons and that these are two very different paths, but i cannot decide between either for some reason, i know i want a lot of tactical time as the enlisted people get but on the other hand the officer pay and the fact that officers deal with far less daily b.s makes me rethink it. The general point that i heard coming from all the officer side people was that the officer was almost always outside the target building and/or area and was very rarely in the stack with the guys and that their job was to control the battlefield rather than participate in the battle and that makes sense, at the same time i want genuine time on the trigger. Is there any insight anyone would be willing to share or any info which i might be getting wrong or am missing?

The solution which i have come up to deal with this dilemma is that i think i should go to college with ROTC and try it and get a feel of it for a 1-2 years and get to know more about the specifics from other officers and enlisted people and if i feel like it is the right path for me i should pursue it else i will just do college (or drop) and enlist, I have talked to ROTC recruiters as well about the process of the application and i will be applying for the Army ROTC scholarship this june when the applications open.

As for putting in the work towards the goal , i have been training physically for the past months consistently 5 days a week with weekends for rest and recovery, i have been hitting 2 miles in sub 13 minutes and i am actively working on adding more volume and distance into my workout and currently my max for push-ups and pullups is 56 and 15 respectively. One thing which i consistently face trouble with is my push-ups i cant seem to break past the 55-56 mark, is there anything which i can do to increase them upto atleast 80?

Sincerely,
Darsh

Here’s my non-75th opinion based on how you’re presenting yourself just in this post. I’m making these comments to mentor you.

First, it’s obvious you’ve made some strides to correct your prior missteps on this forum. Well done.

You’re also starting to ask better questions. Again, well done.

With that said, I’d never select you for any conventional Army or special LE unit I’ve been part of. The primary reason is a demonstrated lack of integrity.

You’ve admitted here that you lied to gain access to our forum and others. Let me be clear—no one cares how much of a physical stud you are. What matters more than anything is whether you can be trusted. I want to know you can be depended upon when we go through a door together and there are bad guys on the other side who want to kill us. Think about that.

The other thing that concerns me is the way you’re deciding the enlisted vs. officer route. You mention increased pay and less bullshit if you commission. Neither is true, but it says a lot about your character that these things are considerations for you, especially since you want to go to the 75th Ranger Regiment. Remember—selection never ends and refused for standards is a thing.

I’ve been in command of people in harm’s way. So have many others here. If dealing with less bullshit as an officer is even in your mind, you are fundamentally unsuited for command. I know you don’t know this yet, so I’ll tell you. Good officers place their troops first, second only to the mission. The best officers are servant leaders, and taking care of their troops is the rent they pay for their rank.

Now, the good thing is that you’re young. You can learn.

There are tons of books you can read to help you. I’d start with the United States Military Academy Commandant of Cadets' Recommended Reading List. All 43 or so books.

Just give this post some thought.

 

[DarshSingh]

“officers have to deal with a lot less daily bs”

Haha, right…

Dude at the end of the day it’s your decision, you seem like you have a VERY general idea of the difference between them, and only you know what you want for your future. Do you want to pull triggers? Enlist. Do you want the degree and higher QOL? Commission. Nobody here is a magic genie that can see it’s your future to know which option is the best for you. You have the general idea between the two, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Fair point. The more people I talk to, the more I realize there isn't a perfect answer that gives me everything I want. I'm going to continue learning about both paths through ROTC, enlisted Rangers and officers before making a final decision. Thanks for the perspective.

 

[DarshSingh]

Here’s my non-75th opinion based on how you’re presenting yourself just in this post. I’m making these comments to mentor you.

First, it’s obvious you’ve made some strides to correct your prior missteps on this forum. Well done.

You’re also starting to ask better questions. Again, well done.

With that said, I’d never select you for any conventional Army or special LE unit I’ve been part of. The primary reason is a demonstrated lack of integrity.

You’ve admitted here that you lied to gain access to our forum and others. Let me be clear—no one cares how much of a physical stud you are. What matters more than anything is whether you can be trusted. I want to know you can be depended upon when we go through a door together and there are bad guys on the other side who want to kill us. Think about that.

The other thing that concerns me is the way you’re deciding the enlisted vs. officer route. You mention increased pay and less bullshit if you commission. Neither is true, but it says a lot about your character that these things are considerations for you, especially since you want to go to the 75th Ranger Regiment. Remember—selection never ends and refused for standards is a thing.

I’ve been in command of people in harm’s way. So have many others here. If dealing with less bullshit as an officer is even in your mind, you are fundamentally unsuited for command. I know you don’t know this yet, so I’ll tell you. Good officers place their troops first, second only to the mission. The best officers are servant leaders, and taking care of their troops is the rent they pay for their rank.

Now, the good thing is that you’re young. You can learn.

There are tons of books you can read to help you. I’d start with the United States Military Academy Commandant of Cadets' Recommended Reading List. All 43 or so books.

Just give this post some thought.

Thank you for taking the time to write that out.

Looking back, I understand why the age issue raises concerns about integrity. I wasn't trying to deceive people for some larger purpose, but I can see that the reason doesn't really matter when trust is involved. That's something I need to own.

I also appreciate the correction regarding my comments about officer pay and "less BS." The more officers I've spoken with, the more I've realized I had an oversimplified understanding of what officers actually do. I wasn't trying to suggest that officers have an easier job or that pay should be a deciding factor. If anything, I'm trying to understand whether I'm better suited to leading soldiers as an officer or serving in a more hands-on role as an enlisted Ranger.

Your point about servant leadership is something I'll spend some time thinking about. If I pursue a commission, I want to do it for the right reasons and with the understanding that the responsibility is to take care of soldiers and accomplish the mission, not to avoid hardship.

I appreciate the honest feedback and the reading recommendation. I'll look into the Commandant's reading list.

 

[Spooky]

Thank you for taking the time to write that out.

Looking back, I understand why the age issue raises concerns about integrity. I wasn't trying to deceive people for some larger purpose, but I can see that the reason doesn't really matter when trust is involved. That's something I need to own.

I also appreciate the correction regarding my comments about officer pay and "less BS." The more officers I've spoken with, the more I've realized I had an oversimplified understanding of what officers actually do. I wasn't trying to suggest that officers have an easier job or that pay should be a deciding factor. If anything, I'm trying to understand whether I'm better suited to leading soldiers as an officer or serving in a more hands-on role as an enlisted Ranger.

Your point about servant leadership is something I'll spend some time thinking about. If I pursue a commission, I want to do it for the right reasons and with the understanding that the responsibility is to take care of soldiers and accomplish the mission, not to avoid hardship.

I appreciate the honest feedback and the reading recommendation. I'll look into the Commandant's reading list.

Something you need to consider as well here is the differences in getting the opportunity to serve in RGT as an O vs E. As enlisted you just have to raise your hand, get the Opt. 40, and go to RASP. It is EXTREMELY competitive to even get a shot at RASP 2 as an Officer. You are saying that you need to decide whether you want to be an Officer or Enlisted in RGT, but the better question for yourself is do you want to be a Ranger or an Officer.