quote:
Originally posted by tswiley:
First of all please do not respond to this if you have no idea what you're talking about. I am AD Navy going to the Army July 1st. I am interested in 19D but I am having a hard time finding much information. And yes I've been to cavalryscout.org. I know how the OSUT thing works but I do not have to do that. I go to WTC then AIT. I'm assuming AIT is the 7 remaining weeks after the 9 week BCT? I would also like to hear what any of you Scouts have to say about the job. I realize there is good and bad with everything. Once again if you're not a Scout of work with them don't respond to this. You're just wasting my time.
I trained as a Recon/Scout but thought I was enlisting to be a tanker, so eventually OJTd into tanks. Recon is a cross between Infantry, Artillery (Forward Observer), Engineers, and (Light) Tankers.
It's infantry, because you train with light weapons and have to be able to dismount and do all the patrolling, sneak and peek things the infantry can/must do, except (hopefully) the bayonet charges. Reconners try to use their radios to hurt the enemy rather than their own weapons, since that tends to draw return fire. So you call in artillery or jets or your own mortars whenever possible. It is Engineers, because you have to be able to handle all kinds of explosives and mines to blow up stuff, and you have to be able to classify (judge) routes, roads, bridges, etc as to their capacity to hold your battalion's heaviest (60 ton) vehicles. If one of them falls through a bridge or gets blown up on a mine, it's your fault, because you were supposed to see all that. Of course, it's light armor, because you got to have something to get around in rapidly, ahead of your battalion, to discover where the enemy is and where the best routes are to get at him, without getting your own azz shot off in the process. Because you are the "eyes" of your battalion, the enemy needs to find and kill you first. That puts a price on your head, and you're always out front on point - the tip of the SPEAR. That could make life expectancy in a real, nose to nose war a bit chancy - -!
As for being Reconner (I was buck sgt E-5), I enjoyed it for several reasons. I loved learning all the weapons, both US and Foreign. I loved working with all kinds of explosives. I loved working on all the vehicles (You learn everything in an Armored Battalion). I loved all the map-reading, radio work, artillery adjustment, and leading a squad or platoon. But a whole lot of 11Ds (19D now) were getting killed in Viet Nam, because the vehicles were like Swiss Cheese when it came to AK-47 and RPG fire. They were getting just as many killed as the infantry at times. Being out front meant being the first to catch HELL from all directions - still does...
I wanted to be a tanker, so that is the direction I went. But great Scouts out front calling in the shyyt from land, sea and air can save a whole lot of people a whole lot of grief, and that is what they do - -
In reality, Reconners are now doing a lot of infantry, house to house, and convoy protection duty in Iraq - not good use of anyone's talents. If they go to Afghanistan, they'll probably still be more infantry than armor because of the terraine, but at leat they'll be out in the hills using their skills to bring shyyt down on the enemy's head, the way they should. Good for them if they do... Raining Down HELL with a hand-held radio has a certain satisfaction to it!
On a parting note, the best officer I ever served under, Lt. then Capt Gant, first as Plt Leader of Recon Plt, then as Company Commander of Bravo Tank Company 3/33 Armor in Germany, was a former Navy Petty Officer. He had both feet frimly, constantly, and calmly planted on solid ground every time he made a decision and did some thing, no politics or BS. Best man I served for - -
Good luck
Wandering and Wondering
