I'd like to interject a few points that might help - don't take any of it as a personal thump - but as advice from an old guy who has a son in the Army - a son that I tried to steer AWAY from following in my footsteps and encouraged to be his own man. He is now a leg infantryman of his own choosing even though I tried to get him to join the USAF as an MP.
...I have been dead set in the 18x program.
If you are dead set - then go talk to a recruiter and enlist as an 18x. Don't pussy-foot around - do it.
Consider the following statement:
I have been dead set on having a steak - I'm going to eat some pork chops.
Just like 18x doesn't "buy" you a slot on an ODA - Option 40 doesn't buy a ticket into the 75th. You still have to pass RASP; I suspect RASP is difficult because the non-select rate is significant. Take option 40, fail RASP, and then you end up working "where ever" as a 68W - maybe you get lucky and score a sweet job as a paratrooper medic in the 82d. Maybe you don't get lucky and you get a job working at a basic training TMC helping with sick call. Enlist as an 18x and the FIRST thing you need to do is finish infantry boot camp before the number "18" gets anywhere close to your MOS. If you don't get selected and you are an Infantryman - you can turn right around and try to go to RASP - or down the street to the 82d. Who knows -
Recently a new guy came into my local mma gym and he happened to be a former Army guy. He had been to sfas but was a 21 day non select. He later gave me some advice... go 68w with option 40 (since my goal is to be an sf medic and later transition to the civilian med feild).
A few things from your post you should keep in mind:
former Army guy: that means he was not happy enough to stay in the Army - now he is giving YOU advice on how to be happy?
non-select: he never learned the secret handshake - that is no different that me giving you advice on how to play lacrosse - ignore his advice on how to navigate the SF pipeline
my goal is... ...the civilian med field: if your goal is not, "serve as an SF guy" your head is in the wrong place to be in SF. We don't need folks that just want to have an adventure before they go to med school -that attitude gets good men killed. SF is not an adventure - it is a calling - or at least it SHOULD be.
There is NO shame in joining to be a medic and focusing on medicine. If your GOAL is being a health care provider, 3-4 years as a rifleman is not leading you down that road.
He continued to tell me that this would allow me to insure I’d be a medic and I could later go to sfas and I’d be better prepared. To me I feel like I’d be playing into fears of not passing sf selection instead of fully committing to sf.
Your friend is wrong - you are correct. If you are "dead set" now and worry that you are not prepared, going somewhere else in the Army thinking that you will get "better" prepared is a fools errand. As well - just because you get selected - it doesn't mean you will get EXACTLY the MOS you want. You could end up as a Communicator, Engineer, or Weapons Sgt just as easily as you could end up as a medic.
Don't play into your fears - commit - do it - don't look back - don't quit - focus on success.
I’m not looking to make a career in the military but to find my limits/grow and service with those fighting.
I had no intentions on making a career in the military. It has been my experience that very few career Soldiers joined the Army as their primary career path. If you really really really
really
want to 'find your limits' - then military service will provide that opportunity.
Then, just as you think you have found "your limit" you'll realize - there are no limits.
I really like the work sf does especially the medics.
Truth be told - you wont know that until you are on your team in a foreign land trying to figure out what the fuck is going on around you. Everything else you have in your head right now is a slightly romanticized version of reality. I started off as a support guy in SF - I was certain that I also "really like the work sf does especially the medics" and much to my chagrin - I didn't know as much as I thought I did. I spent 16 years as an 18D and within the first year I was annoyed at grown men expecting me to carry their moleskin, band aids, and aspirin.
I enjoyed working as a part time Paramedic and didn't mind doing detail work at the ER - everything else about being an 18D was boring as fuck - until it wasn't.
Disappointment - in its most tragic form - is a huge part of being an SF Medic.
I also would like to go to halo and dive.
Why? MFF and CDQC are just the Army proving that they can take the fun out of anything. Try civilian skydiving and scuba diving - they are both a lot more fun and don't require an enlistment commitment that might get you killed or dismembered.
I think I’d like the rangers and I’d probably have more respect in a sf group if I was a rangers but still can’t find the clarity I need before I sign. What would be your advice/thought?
I cant count how many douche bags I have met over the years that thought a "tab" somehow bought them some preconceived level of respect. Don't buy snake oil - don't take any wooden nickles - don't buy into the rationale that you need some type of patch or tab to earn 'more' respect. The best way to earn respect in SF is to be yourself and adopt a preference for being hated over who you are before you spend time trying to be liked by pretending to be someone who you aren't.
Don't waste your energy thinking about what you will do if you fail - suck it up and keep moving forward towards the goal line. I think it was Shane Falco that said,
Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever.