1) 13f is difficult in a few ways. It's extremely physical. Carrying a radio along with your combat load adds on quite a few pounds. I use to amuse myself by watching the infantry guys unload my ruck off the truck. There was always a little swearing when my ruck was unloaded. My combat load (everything I carried to the field) for JRTC was around 115 lbs not including food and water. Don't worry about it too much. You get use to carrying heavy loads. Also, there is a lot of responsibility in being an FO. In other jobs, if you screw up, you may damage some equipment. If you screw up calling in mortars or artillery, you kill friendlies. It happened once in training and the command took it very seriously. I would rate this job a 9. Sometimes it sucks, but most of the time it kicks arse.
2) Being with the infantry is what we do. The only time an FO may be on his own is in the defensive. In the Army, that doesn't happen too often in real life. I'd say about 95% of the time you'll be with the INF. In training (field time), you will probably spend about 60% of your time with the INF. The rest of the time is spent on the OP calling in live artillery.
3) I have yet to be an FO in a war so I have not killed anyone. Being an FO, you will not really have to kill someone right in front of you. You will be calling in indirect fire on targets anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousand meters away. In no way do I regret taking this job. If I do my job well, I save the lives of American soldiers. Remember, in combat there is an enemy who is trying to kill you. you must kill the enemy before he kills you or your fellow soldiers. That is the fact of combat
4) The perks are fast promotions, the ability to easily prove yourself in training by recorded kills, awards and being in the best shape of your life.
5) The hardest thing I had with this job was getting into optimum shape. It took me several months after AIT for me to get into optimum shape. To do this, you must do lots of PT on your own time.
6) I have never been hit, but my own artillery has come close to hitting me. Someone on the gun line put in the wrong powder change and the resulting round landed about 100 meters from my location. Because of that incident, I laughed at the Iraqi artillery that landed about 400 meters away from my location.
7) being a 13f is dangerous and my mom hates it. It is as dangerous as any combat MOS. I tell her that I am good at what I do and she shouldn't worry. She is impressed at my confidence but she still worries. My wife accepts that this job is what I was meant to do.
8) If you know your job, shut your mouth and are physically fit, you will go places. Once I learned those things, I was promoted very fast. I got my E-5 in 2 yrs 9 months.
9) Score a 300 on your PT test and your BC (battery commander) will ask you if you want to go to ranger school. It's pretty easy for an FO to go. I regret not going when I had the chance.
10) My job has given me a huge sense of accomplishment. It has showed me what I can do with hard work and discipline.
also read this post I wrote on 13f
http://www.military-quotes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2164&start=15
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well I am off to bed now. Let me know what you think. You should also ask questions about how things work in the field. THat is where we make our money. Good night
SSG Doody