My son is getting order to Ft. Bragg after 25 u school. I would appreciate any info. on the base,and what he could expect there as a 25u.
Thanks Crasher

It all depends.

I'm assuming your son didn't go to Airborne school which kind of makes it less likely he'll be stuck with an airborne infantry unit. I went straight from 25U AIT to Bragg with two other 25U. One of the three of us ended up going to 18th Field Artillery and he has had a much different experience than I have had. The other one, like myself, is in a support BN. He works at BN level, I'm at company level in a Maintenance company. Our jobs are very similar. Our companies are very close back in Bragg and when we deployed 14 months ago we deployed to the exact same post where we basically do the exact same thing as all the other support out here. I can tell you since your son is going to Bragg it is very very likely that he will deploy within a year. I was at my unit for about 6 months before I left for my 13 month (extended to 15). My friend in Field Artillery also deployed a few months after I did. So, it all depends as far as what to expect in your Company depending on what kind of unit you end up in. I also know that when I first arrived my company had one 25U slot. They now have 3. It is possible he could end up in a company like mine - which is pretty safe and laid back, but also very boring. Not much I did in the rear except for maintain and troubleshoot some radios and give classes to the company. Field Artillery friend is in the field almost every weekend staying in a small vehicle on the radios training. I assume a 25U attached to airborne infantry unit also has a much different job.

The base is alright. I personally don't like the area or the side of post I am stuck on. It is much more run down. Fayetteville is a town much different than any I grew up in/around and I'm not a big fan of it. Kind of trashy to me. The good news is I'm pretty sure they are done redoing most of the barracks, which means your son will have a room to himself. When I got there a year and a half ago I was stuck in a 4-man room that was horrible. Worse than AIT.

Anyway, all depends on where he ends up. One company could be a horrible experience while the one across the street could be the best of his life. Either way, go in with a positive attitude, hope for the best and expect the worst.

Goodluck

quote:

Originally posted by sigsouljah:
It all depends.

I'm assuming your son didn't go to Airborne school which kind of makes it less likely he'll be stuck with an airborne infantry unit. (Deleted for brevity)

Not necessarily true. For some critical, critically short specialties, 82nd is accepting non-Airborne troops to fill shortages in Airborne units. 25U has been critically short for over three years now - so there's a good chance he'll go to 82nd.
Once there, he can expect a LOT of pressure to go Airborne. I recommend that he give in and learn to jump. That will give him extra pay and faster promotions, not to mention getting his leadership off his back. If you'll look at my profile, you'll see that I do not wear jump wings, I never went Airborne - so I'm not making this recommendation because I hate "leg soldiers," but because I really feel that in that environment, he'd do better to fit in.

Does going airbone mean he won't be doing the job he trained/signed up for? Or does he train for a secondary job and have to change to airborne. What does the airborne actually do? I don't understand going to training for radios then not using it. Thanks for all the help. Crasher

Crasher89, I understand that you are wanting definite answers on this stuff. You need to realize that every situation is different. Soliders are the needs of the Army whether or not it appears to make sense, they will do what they need them to do. With that said, I know that about half of my current company actually does a job they were trained to do. If you are worried about your son being in a dangerous situation and hoping that his job may be less likely to see combat and/or be safer it honestly doesn't matter once you get down here. Companies are assigned missions based on what is needed. You can have a quartermaster company pulling convoy security or a field artillery unit kicking down doors. That's just how it goes.

Everyone in the Army works with radios pretty much regardless of job once you get out here. In the states there's really not that much other than training to be done with them from what I've seen. Your sons knowledge of what he does learn in AIT will prove useful regardless of what he is doing and most units will use a 25U to do radio-type things if they know their stuff because it is a pretty critical MOS that every unit needs.

Airborne vs non-airborne really doesn't mean much if he's just in the unit. The unit will do jumps, but if he hasn't got his wings then he won't. Like BobApril said, they will strongly encourage going to jump school and if he is interested it might be a good thing to try. I personally don't want to sacrifice my legs to the Army, but plenty of people do it.

Anyway, hope that helped a little

quote:

Originally posted by Crasher89:
Does going airbone mean he won't be doing the job he trained/signed up for?

Just to add a little to Sigsouljah's notes - Airborne is sort of an "add-on" to your regular job. Anyone can be Airborne - Infantry, Signal, admin clerks, mechanics, cooks, whatever. Your son would still do 25U work, but he would also learn how to jump out of an airplane, and then continue to do so from time to time in order to maintain qualification - sort of like we have to qualify on rifle marksmanship every year. In theory, he would then be qualified to air-drop into a combat zone, thus getting to the location to perform his mission, even if that location is behind enemy lines. In reality, a 25U without his equipment is nothing but a poorly-trained infantryman. That equipment is pretty fragile, no matter what sort of super-duper packing crate they load it in, so it's pretty unlikely that he would jump into a hot-fire zone - if bullets are flying, he and his equipment will be too busy and too vital to risk like that.

In the meantime, he'd get some added pay for maintaining Airborne qualification in an Airborne unit, get extra promotion points towards SGT and SSG, get a pretty badge to wear on his uniform, and get his 1SG off his back.

Now how much would you pay? But wait, there's more! He'd also get a small risk of a bad chute or bad landing causing serious injury or death, plus the cumulative damage to his knees that most Airborne troops experience. That latter part is what Sigsouljah was talking about - "sacrifice my legs to the Army" - and is what VA benefits are for.