Playing Soldiers. US style...

Feburary 2012 

I have realised I haven’t written about the ROTC since my first post waaaay back in October when I first joined. Having now ended the semester with the UNC ROTC unit (“Tar Heel Battalion”) I feel it’s time to write about it. Now I know that many of the guys and girls within the Unit have heard me comment and compare aspects of training and traditions between UNC and MSUOTC, and I still stand by my comment of there being both positives and negatives of both units. But the British Army is better. Obviously. 

As mentioned in my last post (LINK), the training is very different in structure to Manchester. At UNC there a two “lab” sessions a week – one in a classroom and one in the field (well, a park really), and 3 PT sessions a week at the God forsaken hour of 6am; alongside a two day FTX at the end of each semester. This is very different from the Manchester way of one drill evening a week and a weekend every few weeks. The PT sessions have been an interesting experience. One due to the fact that I injured myself from over training (went a bit mental with all the free gym facilities) and two; I failed the PT test. Twice.

NOW BEFORE YOU OTC-ERS JUDGE, I passed theoretically. In that if I did a PT test British stylee I would have passed. Comfortably. However, the US lot do it a bit differently, and so I have struggled to adapt to it and subsequently failed. Shameful I know. The big difference is the fact that one is not allowed to put ones knees down during the press ups (i.e. you have to be in the press up position even if you aren’t pushing), or lie back on the floor in the sit ups. This makes the tests significantly harder if you’re resting in a tensed position already. Also, sit ups are done with hands behind the head, fingers interlocked. I failed both tests because my fingers became sweaty and I lost grip, thus failing the test - called “terminating” (always though that sounded quite final and sinister for a PT test!). You automatically fail if you come out of the approved positions before the time is up, even if you have fulfilled the requirements. So obviously I failed. So much for that British pride in trying to out-run the fat Americans….

Standard Issue Kit

I have also worked out the rank structure and training structure of the ROTC since my last post. The programme is four years; so three years training, one year directing, compared to Manchester’s two years training and one year directing. I’ve been placed with the MS2’s (second years) which have passed Basic (so MLDP1 for you Manchester lot) and are currently doing all the leadership and beginning the orders process and slightly more advanced tactics, similar to our MLDP2. Now this suits me fine as a) I have no idea, and b) I have no responsibility. It is a little frustrating to go back over the leadership stuff again, but never mind. It’s the field tactics I’m more interested in, and being a “2” seems to be the best level in terms of that at this time. Maybe next semester I will be given a bit more of a chance to have a command appointment.  Its also a little weird to begin with to have someone who isn’t directing tell you what to do. I think the guys appreciate my input with things though (well I hope they do as I keep butting in!) as I bring a different perspective to things. Although it does usually bring the comment of “Bloody Brits!”

I also attended the FTX with the Unit (can never turn down a bit of fun in the field), in which I had great fun and really enjoyed it. And it was cold. And wet. Like Bleak Leek wet (for you who get the reference). But I loved it because I got to wear my lovely new combat jacket to prove how water resistant it is. And how dry my feet were compared to the thin desert boots the Americans get issued (poor buggers – they were soaked!) But simple pleasures for me! Aaaand because I got to prance around the area in my British uniform looking all sexy and interesting to the US units training to go to Afghan. Simple pleasures again! This was again a VERY interesting experience. I can’t quite remember the order of events (as it was quite a while ago now!), but there was Land Navigation, Night Navigation (a total bitch – me and a guy called Cliff back to battle through some pretty thick scrubland), lessons on cold weather injuries, command tasks, orders process, tactic revision (more learning than revision for me!) and the bit joy; paintballing (known as “Sticks lanes”).

Paintballing was a very useful experience to be honest, as I was just the same as what we do in Manchester with blanks, except you get shot at. And they hurt. A lot more than I can remember. So the usefulness comes from actually thinking properly about where to take cover, rather than just crouching down in some long grass and thinking that will do. I really enjoyed the STX Lanes (apart from when my squad lost our kit in the middle of dense woodland for about half an hour!), and really learnt from them as well. Which is always good I guess!

MRE's AKA Rat Packs

Out in the Field

Familiarity was welcomed over night as we slept out in bashers as per usual military tactics (called something different – can’t remember what) and as per usual it was freezing. And we weren’t issues bivvi bags. not sure if this was an oversight or just not provided, but god it would have made a difference to the temperature! The US also conduct stag, contrary to the popular belief that they are so hardcore they don’t need to look out for the enemy (cheeky humour there!). Food was another bizarre experience. I had been looking forward to getting my hands on some MRE’s for a while, and when I got them I was sufficiently entertained. They are HUGE. Like one meal MRE is about three quarters a 24 hour ration pack. And that’s one meal! SO MUCH FOOD! The best bit of the whole two days was discovering “Patriotic Cookies” – little biscuits in the shape of the Stars and Stripes, American Eagle and Statue of Liberty. I was chuckling for hours with that one!

As much as I enjoyed the two days, it is always a relief to climb back into the vans and get back to campus. Especially as free pizza was laid on! The only downside I feel was the lack of socialising once we were back. Where as in Manchester we would all go home, shower and then meet back up for a curry and drinks down Robbos (called something else I now understand!) I was really disappointed to find everyone just disappeared off to their dorms or houses and that was it. I guess I’m just lucky to have such a social unit that I’ve gotten used to at Manchester, and also a bit of cultural difference as well. I commented on this as well in my last post, and whilst it is now where near the level it is like in Manchester with parties every few weeks and drinks after every parade night, now I am getting to know the lads and lasses a lot more, I am starting to go out with them more regularly, especially to a wing night on a Monday with some of the MS2’s and occasionally Country Night on a Tuesday with a wider crowd, and the odd Friday.

Lost in Translation...

One social event which I made up for the lack of other socialising however was the Dining In. This was basically a meal to welcome in the new guys to the unit. Very similar to Manchester in one way. Very, very different in others. The first big difference was the lack of alcohol. Obviously with the drinking age being 21, and lots of guys in the unit being under, alcohol couldn’t be consumed. Not that it really mattered as enough laughs were had anyways! Skits were performed by each platoon, and various pranks and forfeits had to be carried out by people, usually involving drinking from the “grog bowl” which was a toilet bowl with a mixture of vile things put in by the 4^th years. Naturally I had to take a drink and trust me it was vile. Food was provided which was nice, as was grape juice (instead of wine – clever eh?!) and a slideshow of the semesters training photos. Plus some embarrassing ones of people away from the unit. Including some terrible ones of me, from the Bavaria trip the year before with MSUOTC. Awkward trying to explain them! One really nice and poignant element of the night, which I found very touching was a place laid slightly away from the main table, but set up for a meal. This was for the fallen soldiers, and its traditional in the US Army to lay a place for the fallen, as not to forget them and to remember them during the enjoyment. I found that really touching and would like to see that started in the UK (some units may do this, but not at MSUOTC). 

Whilst the Dining In was a world away from Dinner Night in Manchester - where dinner jackets has to be worn, and silverware is on the table and port has to be passed to the right and the container cannot leave the table until finished – I really enjoyed being a part of the Dining In experience and it really made me feel a part of the Tar Heel Battalion. I think it has really summed up how the semester has gone with the ROTC, and I’m glad I pushed to be transferred to the unit for my time at UNC (plus I needed the money from the TA!). I’m sure I’ll have as much fun next semester as I did last semester and get to know the girls and guys even more!

"So, just who the **** are you?" (Joining ROTC)

October 2011

I’ve forgotten to mention in the last post that I’ve started up ROTC here at UNC, transferring from Manchester and Salford OTC for the year. Now I’ve got to be careful with what I say about comparing the two, certainly in terms of not pissing off the higher echelons of both Units, but also for security reasons (can’t be posting on the internet all the tactics each Army uses now can I!) Nevertheless, the past few weeks of involvement with the ROTC has been interesting for me. My first interaction with the UNC Tar Heel Battalion (as it is known) was a rather intense one-on-one interview with the Commanding Officer. It took roughly 3 hours for me to explain who I was, what I was doing there and what the English OTC system was like in terms of where to place me in the American ROTC system.  Typical with all things public sector, the papers I had sent off in May beforehand still hadn’t got through to the unit, and as such they had no real idea (apart from a few emails) who I was. Typical! Anyways, being the British guy in a unit of Americans is cool – with a lot of fascination flowing both ways. It was a bit of a baptism of fire, as the first parade involved getting up for a 6am 4mile run on a Monday morning. Very grim. And being a lazy **** all summer made me even more nervous about not wanting to stand out for being the unfit douche rocking up and looking dumb. Luckily I managed to pull it out the bag and finish just over the 30min mark (very proud of myself!) and was glad to realise that like back home, there are some VERY unfit people within the unit.

I am wearing my British Army uniform whilst training here (making me stand out even more!) but walking around campus is great with all the double looks I get! That’s another thing, on a Wednesday you have to go to class in uniform – very different from the Manchester security conscious attitude of not wearing uniform anywhere except at the Unit. I guess this links into the different attitudes towards the military here in the States compared to back home. The military is truly supported here and people genuinely think the world of the soldiers. This is very different to back home where we are not allowed to wear uniform in public die to security risks, and on Remembrance Day last year we were followed by riot police in case of a violent reaction to us marching in the streets. Despite having my own uniform, I don’t have any of my own kit, and as such am having to use the kit issued by the ROTC unit. Let me say now, I am never bitching about the kit we get in Manchester ever again. I really don’t like the kit we use here – the webbing doesn’t have any utility pouches, doesn’t tighten properly and has things hanging off it everywhere. So when crawling on the ground everything falls off and it looks like a bag of shite. I also really don’t like the compasses we use – they look like they were designed in the 1960’s and are rather bulky and cumbersome. Furthermore, taking a bearing is a right bitch, as it can’t be done just using the compass itself – instead lines have to be drawn all over the map with the use of a protractor. Bloody hard in the woods in the dark whilst also trying to find a torch! However, I have been issued a cool American digi-cam camelback, and a t-shirt with ARMY written across it (simple pleasures!). The uniform I bought with me from home really isn’t suited to the climate here (being designed for cold raining England), and as such I am always hang out of my arse sweating within 30 seconds of standing outside. But I have to say training in sunshine and the dry for a change is VERY nice. Especially in comparison to the “Bleak Leek” days of always raining and snowing, even if the rest of the country is enjoying 30 degree Celsius temperatures!

The training is also very different to home, with only one weekend per semester (compared to Manchester’s every other week) and shorter training sessions during the week of 2 hours or so. However, there are a greater number of sessions – 3 PT sessions at 6am, one classroom ‘lab’ and one outside ‘lab’ a week. It’s been a bit of a challenge trying to integrate into the unit, especially with all the different acronyms for things (the US army likes acronyms just as much as the British one!) and the fact there is no socialisation outside of the unit activities for me to get to know people – a far cry from the massive drinking culture prevalent within the UK OTC units (I mean, we don’t drink to excess, just a responsible amount obviously…)

It is interesting to see who the US ROTC is treated as a Unit in comparison to the UK OTC, in terms of pay etc. In the UK we are paid per training session we do, with a minimum requirement for out year bounty, but the ability to choose a little or as much training as possible, with the amount of take home pay collected reflecting that. In the US as far, as I’m aware, you receive a set amount of money monthly depending on your time served, regardless of the amount of training you do. Further to this within the US ROTC when you join you have to contract into the US army after you graduate, in return for paid tuition fees and money towards books etc. This is a far cry from the (current) OTC system where there is no obligation to commission into the Army after you graduate. However, I feel this has positives and negatives, in that it helps aid a professionalism within the unit here as people know that they will be leading others once they graduate, but at the same time I feel it prevents others from potentially joining to see what the ROTC is like, and as such in the future they may have National Guard Reserves under them and not allow them time off for training – something the (current) OTC system aims to happen for those who don’t wish to commission into the British Army. It also seems a lot more common for ex-soldiers who wish to go to Uni to join an ROTC unit whilst at college, and so within the Tar Heel Battalion there a few US marines knocking around and apparently an SF guy (although I don’t think I’ve met him yet). Obviously being British I manage quite successfully to bridge the gaps between years and can quite happily chat away to anyone which is pretty good – some fantastic stories come out that’s for sure!

Now I would write about tactics, but in the interest of national security I won’t (OTC-ers, fairly similar but some key differences – some good some bad in my opinion!), instead I’ll write about my ROTC mentor, DJ. I’m not sure if this is US wide, but certainly within the Tar Heel Battalion a mentor system exists with 4^th years having 1 or 2 mentees with whom they are supposed to look out for and help integrate into the ROTC and college way of life. Personally, I think this is a fantastic idea, and would seriously push for this to happen at Manchester. The Mentors take the mentees out a few times a semester and simply act as a person to talk to about anything, and help out with issues that may occur within the ROTC programme or the wider college life. DJ is a really nice guy and seemed pleased to have me as a mentee (British charm coming out there too!). I just hope he still is please to have me… And h studies in Nottingham for a year doing his Masters, so it means he understands the nature of living somewhere else away from home, and also parts of British culture which is refreshing to be able to talk about and hear about UK Uni life from an American perspective! So far we’ve met up twice – once for a nice Tai meal in Durham (I think) and then again for a drink in the Station bar in Carborro. What with now having a solid group of friends, alongside Pat and Connor, I don’t really think I need another mentor as such, but it’s still good to have someone else to turn to if needed and also to meet up with and chat about military things – something I can’t really do with non-ROTC people!

So all in all transferring to the ROTC whilst at UNC seems to have been a decent idea, and means I can continue to do something I enjoy doing, meeting other people who have the same sort of attitudes and interests as myself. I would like to say thanks to all the guys who have helped me out with the various bits of paper work and admin malarky that had to be done, and the different years who have helped me not look like a bag of shite not knowing what is going on when various things are shouted about! It would just be nice if there was a little more socialising outside of training!

I don't have any ROTC photos yet so here's one of a racoon I saw one night