Our son recently finished infantry training and he had a contract for R.I.P.. While they were on one of their last FTXs, in the woods, the first sgt. appeared and called out all the guys with these contracts. He then told them that unless they had perfect PT scores of 300 they should give up their R.I.P. contracts. He said the day they arrived at R.I.P. they wouldn't even be given a chance but would be shipped off to wherever the army wanted them to go. He said if they resigned their contracts they could keep their bonuses and name three top choices for where they want to be stationed and he would try to get them one of their choices.

Our son is now at Airborne and is seeing that his PT score of 275 was as good if not better than many of the other guys who still have contracts. Is there anything he can do to get the contract back?
It's outrageous that the army would allow our guys to be treated like this? They were at their lowest point, exhausted and in the middle of the woods. They weren't even allowed a day to think about it. Any suggestions, we just would like to be able to give our son some advice of how to work through the bureacratic red tape?

Make sure that what he's saying actually happened. I'm not saying he's lying; he might have misread the cobversation or sequence of events while he was exhausted. It's understandable if that's what happened.
Once he is very, very sure of what happened, he should contact his old drill sergeant or 1SG for OSUT. He should get whatever paperwork together that anyone may have. The OSUT Personell office can help here, too.
Unless he goes to the Inspector General's office, he's probably lost it. I don't see anyone giving it to him, since he's about to be sent to a new duty station and NOT a Ranger Batt.
I am not an expert, but I figure some info is better than no info until the experts post. Good Luck.

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's office, he's probably lost it. I don't see anyone giving it to him, since he's about to be sent to a new duty station and NOT a Ranger Batt.
I am not an expert, but I figure some inf

They did the same thing when I was in basic. They also applied it to SF guys aswell, and they were pretty happy when they got said duty station of choice.

They said that ranger batts and all the ranger programs were so full that it was a waste of time to try. So they encouraged the recruits to quit. Unfortunate.

^^^ So that sounds like a pretty good reason to me to offer an alternative.

Sad but thats how force management works in the Army and the National Guard. My Nephew graduated Infantry OSUT only to be told 3-4 months later he had to reclass because all the State NG positions were full due to a reorg to a new BDE structure and they sent too many newbies to 11X training.

So things could be a lot worse. Ranger school will offer itself as an opportunity at some point in the future I am sure. Your Son just has to stay in shape.

Thanks for your replies. Apparently, this happened in all 4 platoons but one of the platoon drill sgts got his guys back their contracts prior to graduation.
It really bothers me that they do this to young guys, our son is just out of high school and wasn't in the state of mind to say to this sgt. that he wanted to think about it. I thought the Army had changed through the years and had risen above this kind of duplicity and deceipt.
The funny thing is most of the guys didn't get any of their top 3 choices for bases.
I've suggested to him also that he contact his Drill Sgt. but he says they wouldn't care at this point. And, going to the Inspector General would be a pretty intimidating prospect, I'm sure.

quote:

Thanks for your replies. Apparently, this happened in all 4 platoons but one of the platoon drill sgts got his guys back their contracts prior to graduation.
It really bothers me that they do this to young guys, our son is just out of high school and wasn't in the state of mind to say to this sgt. that he wanted to think about it. I thought the Army had changed through the years and had risen above this kind of duplicity and deceipt.
The funny thing is most of the guys didn't get any of their top 3 choices for bases.
I've suggested to him also that he contact his Drill Sgt. but he says they wouldn't care at this point. And, going to the Inspector General would be a pretty intimidating prospect, I'm sure.

Your Son has to fight for what he believes in. Thats part of being in the Army. I don't know what to tell you here. He signed off on a amended contract, it's his problem to try to fix.

I know it's daunting, but I'd have him do what he can. He's young, in great shape, and ready to do these things. This is the best time to be a Ranger before he gets hurt, fat, or worse yet- married...

Exhausted and in the middle of the woods is Ranger territory. Throw in being cold, wet, hungry and having people trying to kill you and you get an idea of Ranger missions.

Sorry to have to be so blunt but if he couldn't keep sight of his goal and remember the number 1 key to getting through RIP is "Never Quit" maybe he didn't have what it takes to be a Ranger.

If he does well and wants it he will be offered an opportunity later in his career to become a Ranger. Hopefully, with some more maturity and experience, he will make the right decision next time.

Maybe you are assuming he isn't fighting to get back what was his. Just because I'm a concerned parent trying to figure out how this [army] all works doesn't mean he doesn't have what it takes. I thought I'd glean some info and have something to share with him IF he asked me. He's no wimp, he doesn't even know I'm searching out info. He, and the others, were lied to by the 1st Sgt., why shouldn't they have believed him? Their response was not at all indicative of their abilities to be a Ranger. It was presented to them as if they had no choice in the matter.
Maybe some young guys who haven't started training yet will read this and when it happens to them they'll know.
Bottom line is that as a civilian it bothers me that an army contract can be so flippantly set aside. Integrity is still what makes the strongest amongst us a hero.

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Originally posted by 20457507:
I thought I'd glean some info and have something to share with him IF he asked me.

You were given the advice, your Son has to try to fix this and to try the Inspector General if he wants to fight for it. I have my doubts he can reverse a voluntary contract revisement but it's not going to hurt anyone to try.

Nobody knows what might have been. He could just as easily gone onto RIP and failed it or injured himself. All he had was a shot......which he signed away.

Your Son will get another shot at Ranger School and/or Special Forces if he is in the Infantry MOS for any length of time. Really this is only a temporary setback for your Son.

In all fairness he never should have signed that. The ONLY time you should EVER sign away any kind of promise or benefit, is your BAH pay when being assigned on-post quarters. It's kid of like- when carrying your rifle in an FTX. A drill SGT or officer will try (by asking or slight force) to take the rifle away. If the soldier gives in- he has lost a very important lesson. Never let someone take your weapon, never let someone take your ranger school.

I should have put this in my first post: Congratulations on your son becoming a soldier! That is something to be proud of and he should never forget that.

Now his mission is to "Never Quit" trying to get his RIP contract back and if that is not successful then to "Never Quit" trying to get to Ranger School.

Tell him to work hard on his PT while he is awaiting word on RIP. That will help him a lot whether he gets to RIP or not.

What Bat/Company/platoon was he while on sand hill?

I don't think I should reveal what plt/Bat he was in, why do you ask? As for the rifle being taken away__well, that's pretty common knowledge that the Drill Sgt. will try to do that. I think the recruiters five that info to their recruits.
Maybe the 1st sgt. was trying to do the guys a favor and maybe without a 300Pt score, they'd be booted out of RIP the first day. Although, there's so much more to strength then that PT score__such as do they have the endurance for long marches, etc.
Thanks to McPeak for his last response__we are very proud of our son. I have a great amount of respect for what you all have to go through. Not many of us in the civilian world could do that

This happens every cycle. It's done to ensure that only people who are deadset on being the best of the best make it. I know it sounds harsh (and it's definitely not what you want to hear) but the bottom line is part of being a ranger is being "mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight" and a big part of it is never quitting for ANY reason, no matter what anyone says. Your son voluntarily withdrew from it.

That being said, I wish him the best of luck in the army and I hope he's learned something from this.

This is/was not a test for mental alertness__you guys don't get it. They were told they couldn't continue with their contracts because they didn't have a 300 PT score__they were lied to. They weren't given a choice. What soldier, during a FTX is going to tell the first sgt. he is lying? And, apparently, the Sgt. Major heard about it and he was plenty upset about what this first sgt. did. Also, the DS in one of the other plt. heard about it and gave the contracts back to his soldiers before graduation. End of discussion. The soldier is not the enemy_and the army is an employer and, bottom line__ a contract is a contract. They underwent plenty of mental alertness tests and obviously, this was not one initiated by anyone other than this first sgt. Please discontinue thread.

Please, no more replys.

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The gentleman has requested this thread closed.

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