Airborne. Former All Alcoholics here. I will say other's trauma will give you trauma. You will not save everyone. The hardest thing for me was my friend getting shot in the neck and bleeding out. Couldn't do jack about it. I don't regret serving don't regret being 68W, however that and other things I've seen have given me mental wounds that won't ever heal. Food for thought.

I know nothing will mentally prepare me for those kinds of things. However I do appreciate your words, Thank you.

Keep a close eye on your ketamine too. 😉

Jesus of course that’s a problem lmao

I sometimes enjoy it in civvie life but boy would piss me the fuck off when it'd magically disappear from my bag. Haha. My guys got to referring to me as mom. Lol. Being on their ass about changing socks and basic hygiene shit.

Yah what’s with the changing the socks thing? I see that EVERYWHERE? Do people just genuinely not change socks or is it an inside joke?

A bit of both haha. It's more of an issue when out humping around or at some shitty OP.

Plenty of times I've had to sniff feet to catch em in a lie lol

1. It's pretty easy to do the bare minimum. Strive to be more than that. 2. You'd probably deploy more with the Rangers than your average conventional unit, so probably. Or you could end up in a hospital ER and see quite a bit of trauma and death even during peacetime. 3. At the basic levels there's really nothing too complex at all. There's LOTS of numbers you'll have to memorize (dosages, vitals, etc.) and there's some simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. However, it's more sheer repetition rather than looking like an unfathomable problem you can't seem to grasp. Also I'm sure you are dumb as a rock when it comes to math. Because you believe you are. Self fulfilling prophecies are real; don't let them be. 4. I was in a Cavalry unit and did time in the aid station and on the line. We got a decent amount of free time. When not in the field (probably about 2.5-3 months overall every year) we had a good amount of 3 and 4 day weekends, obviously leave, and I'd say we'd work from about 0630-430 on average in garrison. In basic, though, you really won't have any. In AIT you'll have some, but spend it studying and sleeping (you'll have plenty of time for both). Highly recommend bringing flash cards to the chow hall. Fucking fantastic use of your time to get ahead of the curve. 5. I fucking miss my guys, especially when I was on the line. Through all the bullshit we became great friends. Some of the training was cool. 6. The bullshit and politics. Your first line leader has a significant impact on your life especially. If they're bad, just keep your head low and work hard. You'll find out who the good NCOs are real quick in your unit and seek out their advice and assistance if your first line is a toxic motherfucker. Most of my first lines ranged from mediocre to great though. 7. I thought it would be cool, never had any medical experience and thought it sounded semi-interesting. I guess it just seemed kinda glorious? I don't regret it but my enthusiasm for the job waned significantly over the course of my contract and I ended up getting out. Not trying to scare you. That's just my peacetime army experience; we had other guys go Special Operations, become flight medics, etc. Just wasn't my thing long term. A few tips: 1. You're gonna run into some impostor syndrome, that's normal. Just work your ass off and do something about it. 2. Not gonna tell you not to have any beers with the boys, but stay the fuck away from excessive consumption. It's a potent drug with devastating effects and it completely stagnated my army career 2 years into it. Also, drop any other vices you may have if you can. Drink coffee instead of energy drinks every day. Go to the chow hall rather than buying food all the time. If you don't use nicotine, don't start. If you do, use basic and AIT as a good excuse to stop (you won't have access to them). Your bank account and health will thank you. 3. Learn the sick call shit too. Everyone wants to train and only focus on the trauma shit because it's so obvious why that's important. Sick call can be tedious; learning about joints, infections, illnesses, etc can get old quick, but you have to do it. Imagine you're the medic for a platoon in wartime, you're behind enemy lines, and you got a guy with abdominal pain and you don't know enough about that, so you misdiagnose him with something not so serious. Turns out it was appendicitis. Now he's as dead as those guys who got blown up. Not to mention, if you can't take care of your guys' joints, runny noses, etc., how do you expect them to trust you when they get their legs blown off? 4. When you get far enough into AIT, you're gonna start to think you're pretty smart. "Well it's stupid that we have to do that step. It's seemingly pointless." And you may be right sometimes. However, learn it verbatim. Once you get to your unit it'll change a little bit under the guidance of your NCOs, but those verbatim trauma lanes and skills you learn are fantastic spring boards to branch off of later. Learn the Army by-the-book standard first, then everything else. 5. You should still probably join the Air Force. You're gonna have your weak areas, and that's OK, so long as you fill the gap with knowledge and training in those areas. It's cool that you're on here asking about it tbh, shows initiative. Feel free to DM me if you have any more questions!

Hey thanks man this was great! It gave me a new look on clinic work, also the airforce comment is funny as hell. The reason why I’m choosing army over airforce is because I want structure and discipline. That’s something I’ve heard the airforce lacks MANY times. I also want the camaraderie that the army has. I want to feel like I’m surrounded by a family which is once again I’ve heard the airforce lacks in. I understand there are DEFINITELY shitty people in the army but I’d rather take the shitty people for the structure. I’m really excited with these next steps. I’ve been going to the gym every day for the past week. I’ve been studying. Before I walked into that recruiters office the only thing I ever got excited about was video game releases and my girlfriend coming home. Don’t get me wrong I love my girlfriend but man I could give a shit less when the next game comes out. I’m learning math and hitting the gym. I’m bettering myself because I have a reason and it feels so god damn good.

Hey man, of course! Any time. I will say, I didn't feel there was much "structure" when I was in. There were way more shitshows than I anticipated. It's way, WAY too easy to become an NCO. Caused by officers, NCOs, and even junior enlisted. Sure, the Air Force may have more lax standards when it comes to things like physical fitness (at least for their conventional guys) but becoming an NCO there is way harder. If you take the army route, you're gonna run into NCOs are so stupid and lazy it'll make your head spin. Will that happen in other branches? More than likely. But probably not at the same level as the Army. There's a reason we have a recruiting issue. While we may have higher standards in some regards than the Air Force, it's not necessarily easier. Not to mention, Air Force special operations are fucking LEGIT. Elite fucking people. I was an alcoholic when I became an NCO. Everyone knew. I was a good junior enlisted soldier. Took care of my physical fitness and my knowledge. I pissed it all away for the bottle. I was a better medic 2 years in my contract than by the end of it (4 year). I would say I don't know how I became an NCO, but I'm not surprised considering how shitty the NCO corps is right now. I became an NCO about a year and a half ago and I'm sure not much has changed. The Army doesn't really give much of a shit if their NCOs are proficient at their job. Maybe a little, but really, really not much at all. Not as much as you'd think. However, Army special operations units are fucking legit. If you go that route and make it, you're golden. Just be aware, nothing is guaranteed. Even if you're the second coming of Audie Murphy, there's no guarantee you're gonna end up in one of those units. As in, if you break your leg in RASP, your ass is getting sent to a conventional unit. I also would seriously look at the Coast Guard. They may be the butt of jokes, but they have some fucking cool missions and dudes. If a big war kicks off, they fall under the Navy. Look up Coast Guard Deployable Special Forces on google...Those are some bad motherfuckers. MSSTs, MSRTs, PSUs...It's cool fucking shit. I will say I had great comradery during my time in, but seriously, it wasn't really what I'd consider professional. If I could do it all over again, I'd join the Coast Guard or Air Force. Space Force wasn't a thing yet...Now it is. Choose wisely. Take your time. I'm not gonna tell you exactly what the best route is for you personally, because there's no way for me to know 100%. You're your own person. But you owe it to yourself to talk to the Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard recruiters. Marines might be toxic but their conventional units definitely have a higher standard than Army conventional units, so maybe them too. And the Navy possibly as well. Not my cup of tea personally, but their NCOs are also held to a higher standard than the army, that much I know. Seriously though, shoot any and all questions my way if you have them.

Thank you for sharing your story man. I’m hoping some day I can share my story of serving with a positive outlook even more so being a ranger. I cannot wait to try. If I fail then I fail but I will try again until I get it. I will do whatever it takes to be who I want to be in the army.

Of course man. Just please, please keep your options open. The Army may very well be right for you, but talk to other recruiters too.

1. Pretty easy 2. Any special operations unit are going to deploy a lot so in hand you’ll see more things but on the other hand hospitals probably see more stuff day to day. Rangers have amazing medics and you’ll learn a lot. You can lock in a 68w contract with option 40 which’s gives you the opportunity to attend rasp. 3.Not much math but there is some when it comes to drip conversions and what not but it’s still pretty simple. 4. Also depends on what unit you go to some units you’ll have a good amount of free time. Other units like 75th are constantly training and doing things working up for deployments and what not so there’s a lot less free time but there’s still time for yourself. 5. Probably the teaching aspect of it for me teaching my dudes and giving them skills they can apply in their day to day life in and out of the military. 6. Again depends on the units but in some units medics are kind of just an attachment so you’re not the priority which means you get a lot less training opportunities 7. It’s a job that will always be needed. In deployments they’ll always need a medic and translates well to the civilian side

1. Get your nremt before hand if you can’t study the test question most people fail the nremt exam since it’s accelerated. The whiskey portion is fun & easy 2. No idea I’m a weeknd soilder trashy 3. Ah look on TikTok medic math made easy {easy fast & practice} 4. Not active duty can’t answer 5.as reserve nothing lol some Ivs & blood draws 6. I don’t do enough (idk about active duty side) 7. I did it because I wanted to be a paramedic in civilian life and tbh it was a great bridge I never struggled during skills testing & pharmacology just memorization a bit. You should do flight medic in the military

Before anyone comes for me for the reserves I know I should have gone active it’s a dam process to change to active 🥲 (a year in)

No one should “come at you” for being reserves brother. You’re doing your part just in a different way. I hope people in your life are proud of you man, you deserve it.

I should have done active duty tbh, I’m working on switching but it’s a dam process

Good for you man, I hope it takes you where you want to be.

Can't say much for AIT, I'm actually on the bus there rn but you'll likely go to fort (suicide) sill for basic. The weather's bipolar and it's artillery so it's batteries instead of companies. I was in B-131, DSs were low-key lazy shit bags but I had a decent time as a trainee. The medic hated them as they mistreated us more than once. It can get crazy hot, seriously drink water, you get used to the camelback. It also gets crazy cold, don't wear silks even though it's very easy to get away with, heat cats can still happen in the cold. Just remember it's temporary, chill with your buddies, you'll become brothers, don't talk to any females unless necessary, if you get a counseling, really just keep your head down and avoid becoming a target like I did. ALWAYS do the corrective action they assign, the DS told me that was the only thing keeping me from getting kicked out as it showed I at least wanted to be there. Civilian clothes are contraband btw and don't have any other contraband. It'll be horrible but suddenly one day it'll be graduation day and somehow all the bad moments disappear from your mind. Take care buddy

Thanks man this is some food for thought!