Anon

Agreed, a Cav unit fights MUCH differently than an Armor of Inf unit.

An ACR is really a scouting/screening force, intended for highly mobile and fluid manuever warfare. It would be highly vulnerable in an urban area or the like.

Anon

I change my sig from time to time to keep it fresh.

My preferred sig is "US Army Snipers...Providing surgical strikes since 1776".

Bluesman

My son has been making noises of joining the Army as a cav scout.

That would be fine with me (like I even HAVE A say; I don't), but me and his mom would MUCH rather he join the Air Force.

He has a buddy that's a light infantryman with 10th Mountain that is having the time of his life in Afghanistan right now. My son may decide that's what he wants, too.

My current OIC is an old cav guy, and I put him and my son together to talk about life as a pony soldier.

At any rate, I'm thinking the lad is going to end up in uniform someday. I just want him to finish college first, and see what the options are THEN. Whatever he decides, though, I hope he serves in the military. It's an experience like no other; I bet that's even more true for a cav scout.

__________________
"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell

Anon

Tell your boy this Top, short of SPECOPS types, no one- NO ONE- spends as much time in the field as Cav units do.

Depending on the boys outlook that could definitely affect his thinking one way or another.

Personally i loved the field(and hated barracks life), but many troops were the exact opposite.

Bluesman

True dat. I liked going to the field, too. Of course, it was shorter and easier than a typical Army FTX. But like I posted before: a cold-weather FTX in Michigan in January is no cakewalk, and doing Rapid Runway Repair while wearing chem gear is the hardest work I've EVER done. So, we sweated and froze a bit, too, just not on the same scale as the grunts.

As for the kid, he WANTS to go do hard stuff, and the more military it is, the better for him. His pal e-mails him from the TOC out in the Back-of-Beyond, Afghanistan, and he's lovin' life. Sometimes, my boy feels like he's missing something great. He wants to do that stuff, too.

Anon

Of course he's missing something.

Bluesman

Well, it's settled: Bluesman Jr. is going into the Cav after he gets his Associate's. I wanted him to finish the four-year degree first...but there's no holdin' the lad in. He wants to get into the fight (I sure know what THAT is like!), and in June of next year...off he goes to the Big Green Machine.

Wish it was the Air Force, but it ain't my call.

ANYhoo, it'll be a proud day for Mom and his ole man to watch him march across the field with his class.

May he never have occasion to regret his decision.

Officer of Engineers

My congratulations. We're the lucky ones.

__________________
Chimo

Bluesman

What a very classy thing to say.

I passed it on to my son; he sends his regards and appreciation to you.

Officer of Engineers

Part of the compliment has to goto you and your Lt Bluesman, MSgt Bluesman. You've made him. No, correct that. You've forged him.

Bluesman

Poor kid never had a chance. He's been militarily-oriented since about three years old. He's already been in uniform for a few years: he rose to be his Civil Air Patrol squadron's First Sergeant.

I didn't think I'd ever be prouder than when he became a cadet NCO. I pinned it on, and as the squadron's guest, I led him and the other new cadet NCOs in reciting the NCO Creed.

But I bet I max out when I watch him take the Oath, and pledge his life to our country.

Every step of the way was with our encouragement, but we NEVER pushed him in that direction, and he made his own choices. It says something about his character that he wants to subordinate his own interests to serve something bigger, that he will submit to discipline for a greater good.

He's a good kid. Whatever part I or his mother played in that, he has decided for himself that he wants to help make the world a better place.

TopHatter

Pass my congratulations and appreciation on to the lad for me Blues.

It'll be good to see him again next week when I'm not chemically impaired...

Bluesman

Junior Bluesman signed papers and swore the Oath of Enlistement yesterday. It's now an Army of Another One.

He leaves for Ft. Knox, the Home of the United States Cavalry - in July. He's moving out of MY house next week, to go spend some time with some buddies in Atlanta until then.

Proud of that man.

glyn

__________________
Semper in excretum. Solum profunda variat.

Bluesman

That has certainly been my experience, as well.

The very best people I've ever known have been from my service days. The very WORST, too.

There were many, many times when I would think to myself, 'Had I stayed in my old job in Ft. Worth, Texas, I would not be doing THIS right now'. And that thought occurred to me over and over again. I wish I could relate to all of you the incredible variety, the sheer uniqueness, and the engrossing subject matter of a military life. (And I've never even been shot at!)

If you haven't known this life, you can't know what it's like; you have to LIVE it! And when you do, you'll be changed forever.

He's off to one helluva great adventure.