** Should I be in this club? **

[FourthNail]

Gentlemen, I'm new to this forum and was recently introduced to the tank clubs. My name is John Zercher, Sgt. Texas Army National Guard on my way to state OCS on March 23rd. After my commission, it's off to Ft. Knox for AOBC and then back to the Dallas area for a platoon. Would like to come back to Bravo Company 1/112th tanks but since I'm leaving from here, it's not likely.

Any information or advice any of you have would be very welcomed. I haven't been this excited about something since Marine Corps boto camp back in '88.


Z

[Templeton Peck]

SGT,

Welcome to the site! I may be departing Knox before you get here, but we'll be sure to have you well prepared to kill tanks! Oh, and do feel free to hang out here in the O Club. Got questions? Ask em!

[DeathDealer6]

Originally Posted by FourthNail

Any information or advice any of you have would be very welcomed. I haven't been this excited about something since Marine Corps boto camp back in '88.


Z

Welcome aboard,
You probably belong in both this club and the NCO! Seriously, there's not much distinction regarding rank here, I think that Jason ("Hannibal") set them up so that there'd be a way to segregate issues like schooling without everyone having to wade through them.
My comments are tempered by time (I finished active duty 11 years ago) but I'll make a few comments.
You're probably well aware that the standard for PT is more rigouous in the school environment than in many units. Don't show up to AOBC out of shape. It's not worth the grief.
You're showing up with far more experience than most of your peers will have. Don't keep it to yourself. However, I'd suggest that you try to learn the "school method" while at Knox and add it to the way that your unit does things rather than adopting the "It ain't that way in the real world." mode. Your instructors will appreciate and honor your point of view, but they are duty bound to teach the "book."
Have fun!
Best of luck.

[Hannibal]

Seriously, there's not much distinction regarding rank here, I think that Jason ("Hannibal") set them up so that there'd be a way to segregate issues like schooling without everyone having to wade through them.

Yup!

[Tanker93]

I had the experience of showing up at AOBC after having been activated for Desert Storm as a cadet. (PS, Green to Gold, SMP....)

My peers pointed to the fact that I shared my experience with them "without acting like I was better than they" as a positive. You have the advantage that so much of what is new to the other LTs is old hat to you, so you can concentrate on learning the higher level stuff better. You'll find that some things will finally make sense, or at least you'll know why LT so-and-so seemed so confused.

Bottom line, use your enlisted experience to become a better officer.

Steve

[DInbody]

Originally Posted by FourthNail

Gentlemen, I'm new to this forum and was recently introduced to the tank clubs. My name is John Zercher, Sgt. Texas Army National Guard on my way to state OCS on March 23rd. After my commission, it's off to Ft. Knox for AOBC and then back to the Dallas area for a platoon. Would like to come back to Bravo Company 1/112th tanks but since I'm leaving from here, it's not likely.

Any information or advice any of you have would be very welcomed. I haven't been this excited about something since Marine Corps boto camp back in '88.


Z

Hi John,
My name is Dave and I'm headed the exact same route as you. TX NG OCS in march and AOBC after that. I'm hoping to come back to the 4th/112 around Houston afterword but maybe one of the Cav units around Waco. I'm sure we will have more than one chance to meet up, but I would love to have an experienced "old hand" to learn from.

[FourthNail]

Hey Dave, send me an email to john.zercher@us.army.mil and I'll help do what I can. By the way, would you be available the weekend of April 16th? Hehe, we're gonna need some extra hands from your class for our graduation.

I just re-read the post and realized that my original one may be a bit decieving. It was written about a year or so ago. We're headed to Phase III in Feb and will graduate in April.


Z