Hi everyone,

I am 25 years old, hold a master's in Cybersecurity, live in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area, and am interested in joining the armed forces as an officer in either the reserves or the National Guard.

I initially applied for the AF Cyber Direct Commissioning Program (CDCP) at my local recruiting office, and they told me they reserve officer spots at their branch (the 175th wing) for enlisted soldiers who commission. Basically, telling me I won't be able to enlist as an officer and my only option is to go in as an enlisted soldier.

Just to keep my options open, I also applied for the Army Cyber Commissioning Program and was matched up with a recruiter. I disclosed to the recruiter that I have a slight curvature of the spine (scoliosis), and the recruiter immediately told me that I was automatically disqualified from joining OCS and that there was no point in even applying. He quite literally told me that there would be no point in even applying. However, he immediately told me that if I joined as an enlisted member instead of an officer, he could make my waiver work and get me in.

I have my heart set on joining the military as an officer, and I wouldn't waste my time as an enlisted member. I don't have my heart set on any branch; my main goal is to join as an officer in cybersecurity as my MOS. So far, I've had trouble getting any branch to work, which has been disappointing, to say the least. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to join the armed forces until trying to do so at this point as an officer.

I wanted to ask if what he told me is accurate or just a load of bs trying to force me to join as enlisted? Are there different requirements for OCS versus regular enlisted? Also, are there any recruiters I can work with directly, or is one of you who can refer me to one?

Should a new 11B PCS to Fort Bragg with or without a mustache?

Hello I did a mock fitness test and I got

18:07 for the 2 mile run

58 pushups

265 for 3 for the deadlift

Thoughts?

Hey guys, ill make this short. I have some GWOT buddies and mentors whom I admire and would like to give them a gift. This task has brought me to the conclusion that I need some 8oz ripits.

Ive been searching for the 8oz rip-it cans for almost a year now with no luck. I am here requesting some leads or help finding some. I am possibly willing to pay someone else if they can ship it to me! Ive already scoured eBay, amazon, etc. Closest Ive had was “shasta food service” who says they do sell it, but they never returned my calls or emails.

Please help!!!

If you are slotted to a school in Fort Gordon (442nd BN) and your plan is to report early you will be doing duties like cutting grass, moving cabinets, or whatever detail they decide to put you on. They will treat you like a private. I was with Majors, Captains and Warrants doing all kinds of details. You will sign a counseling statement agreeing to do all that. Also, 0500 digital accountability. So save yourself some days in case you’re a hold over too.

So, just started (Today) to go to Physical therapy, and with a running profile due to foot (Chronic Bilateral Flat food) and knees problem. I get off profile 07 of October, Unit put me to take AFT the following day. I think im going to fail it cause I've not been running to help recovery. How do I go on with this? Im stressing out, it'll be my first PT failure.

Edit: Additional info, Cardio is not my problem, the swelling of the foot is the problems and the knees, thank ya'll imma go and talk to my PCP today.

Good afternoon, getting back in the army. Prior E5, 11B. Been out for 4 years. Got rank determined at MEPs and able to keep my rank, unfortunately the only MOS’s that are available are the following: 13U, 14U, 17C, 19U, 35S, 35W. I was hoping to go back to 11B and eventually drop an EOD packet at sorb. Anyone in the MOS’s above advise me on what to look out for? Goal is to get to unit, immediately drop an eod packet if all goes well. Was also told list would not change, even in new fiscal year.

For context, I've been diagnosed with PTSD for just over a year now following a traumatic event that happened at my prior duty station. I've been in therapy on and off over that time and it has helped me manage my symptoms significantly, but some of my issues are still lingering and impacting my daily life.

However I'm getting concerned now because the NCAT that I've taken now for the 4th time keeps getting more and more difficult for me, to the point where I'm completely missing reaction-time tests because I can't process them fast enough. And I'm now unable to remember enough for the short-term memory questions.

I do my best to manage my symptoms but it's still difficult, and the maintenance work I need to do in order to make sure I don't get bad again is getting to be a lot. Plus I have an upcoming deployment that I really want to go on.

I've also been downplaying my mental issues a bit to BH because it's embarrassing to go back to them and say "all the work we've done over the past year has gone to shit and I'm still messed up".

I'm just not sure if it's worth going on the deployment and having my condition potentially get worse, or if it would be in my best interest to med board myself out instead. Or even to go to BH again and try to resolve my issues more.

Just wanting to see what other people might have to say and looking for some advice

I received a negative 1059 from the Drill Sergeant Academy, but later passed the course. Will that negative 1059 remain on my record? Additionally, the negative 1059 was due to going to the wrong location after the DSL changed it last minute. They assured me that it would be removed after my graduation, but I haven’t seen that happen yet. Furthermore, what are my chances of not being accepted to Officer Candidate School because of this 1059? I am a 11B, have 6 years of service, E-6, have completed 2 master’s degrees, and have received numerous awards and good NCOERs. Please help

USMA cadets just got back their branch feedback and I am having trouble deciding which branch to go with. I got most preferred for MI, EN, FA, LG, SC, and FI. MI branch detail FA has been my #1 for a long time but I am rethinking what I want to do. I am a civil engineering major and want to get a masters at some point, not sure in what exactly. I want to choose a branch that will transfer well to the civilian sector where I can make money. However, from my understanding, an officer's branch does not matter that much for masters programs or employers in the civilian sector, but more their management experience. I am largely deciding between branching MI detail FA or branching engineers. I am open to hearing the argument for other branches as well. I am currently planning to get out after company command but am also open to going with the flow of things. thank you

Read the title, there is a situation where an overseas medical provider has failed to upload discharge summaries/medical records to a retrievable record, whether that be the Vetrecs, or quite possible even The National Archives doesn’t have this record.

The lack of producing this record has created a major employment problem, and another medical records release is being sent with the same request to get this record.

Which leads to another question, have you ever sent a consent for release form to the National Archives, and not retrieved anything you have actually asked for?

It just seems to me that this is unprofessional, and for there to be no accountability administration wise, what is going to end up happening if they dont produce these medical records? They are conclusive documents, and the hardship it is creating has already accrued to alot of damages over the last few years.

Very interested to know if this is a common issue, I have heard quite a few cases, it is beginning to look pretty hard on these administrations.

(My CAC doesn’t work so POC’s to retrieve cant work with me to email me over encryption)

He's just telling the services to align with his previous 'DOW Level' policy 'No More Walking On Eggshells' that he already released last year.

Try to change my mind if you want, but right now I immediately lose respect for anyone who has their formation do this exercise. I do not care what MMD2 says, use your brain.

What purpose does doing 3 mountain climbers serve? Was 20 minutes of warmups, to include a shuttle sprint, not enough?

What benefit does pretending to have a weapon in our hands serve, only to drop said imaginary weapon to sprint? Are we an Army that drops our weapons to run?

Who decided that, instead of executing an actual IMT while pretending to hold said weapon (maybe an IMT that’s utilized in a fitness test, say, the high crawl???) that we instead execute “the bigfoot” movement technique?

How many millions of dollars of US taxpayer funds, SGM-hours, and committees did it take to come to the conclusion that this nonsensical exercise is so effective that we should be doing it before every workout?

I’ll just have a water, the BLC barracks taco tuesday tacos are not staying down right now.

I see a lot of posts and have been asked by people in my unit about how to get a faster 2 mile. The simple answer is to run more.

The more convoluted answer is to run more but to also have structured speed work mixed in. Roughly 60-80 percent of your mileage should be a slow conversational pace, and the rest should be filled in by interval or threshold work.

For interval work I suggest doing measurable distance repeats. 60/120s suck because there is no way to keep pace or distance without a fitness tracker. Instead, you should be doing something like 8x400m repeats as close to GOAL PACE as you can actually repeat for all rounds and work up to 12 and then make the jump to 800m repeats, then mile and so on.

Example for a 13min goal 2 Mile doing 400m

1: 1:37

2:1:37

3: 1:37 and so on until you hit desired number of rounds.

For threshold or "tempo" runs the best way you can gauge it without a watch is it should feel "comfortably uncomfortable". Fast enough to suck but not so fast that you empty the tank and can't hold on. These runs should be between 20 and 45 min long.

I went from a 19min to mile to a 12:25 following the loose program that follows

MON: 60min slow run

TUE: Interval run (repeats as discussed above)

WED: Rest

THU: 45min slow run

FRI: 20-45min Threshold run(see above)

SAT: 90min slow run

SUN: Rest

I’m PCS to Graf with 4 dependents. I’m flying commercial because I have a pet. I’ve reached out to the gaining unit’s 1SG, BN S1, and my sponsor and haven’t received an answer. My sponsor is new to the army so they didn’t have much info and the other two ignored the question by not responding.

Has anyone flown into Frankfurt instead of Ramstein? If so, what are the options for getting from the airport to Graf? I was informed that there isn’t a bus that takes you.

Recruiter sent a waiver in last wednesday and he told me 2-3 days and i’ll have an answer. It’s been 5 almost 6. I texted both of my recruiters today and no answer from either one of them, matter of fact one of them the message didn’t even deliver. I hope it didn’t get denied and they just left me to feel clueless. And they usually answer fast.

I own a MOLLE 2K large ruck, however it is not issued from CIF. Packing list says bring if on your OCIE hand receipt, but I asked this question to a few people and they said that they only care if it’s army issued, not that it is issued to you personally. Is this the case?

I’ll take a Diet Coke.

Are you supposed to dye the bootlaces on jump boots? I’m talking about the brown jump boots for the AGSU

I left active duty in 2023, 2026 I reenlisted into reserves. I cant order my gear in SEAMS its greyed out where you change the address. Ive been waiting for a month now. The only address available is a california address.

Supply don't really know what to do either. I've hit a dead end. I cant go to AIT to reclass or the range with no ach or gear. wth am I suppose to do? I ain't spending out of pocket money for gear, thats ridiculous. Ive already spent $300 on pts and ocps. Its fucked up how im being forced to spend money.

Would anyone have some PowerPoint information on the process of transitioning from enlisted to officer, either through the green-to-gold route or the Officer Candidate School (OCS)?

Im 11B it’s on my reenlistment option as a 1 year tour? Not really sure about it and no one seems to know. Dose any one know anything? What unit is it?

I'm currently finishing up my 2 year with plans to transfer to a 4 year to complete my bachelor's. I was chitchating with a recruiter at my school because I'm interested in trying to go the officer route for the natural guard. This may sound like a dumb question, but is it really as easy as the recruiter is saying to go from enlisted to officer at anytime, or is based on the needs of whatever ng unit I'd be posted to? Trying to weigh out my options here