Posted on Jun 30, 2019
SPC Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic
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I have been wanting to go to airborne school and get my other set of wings. But everyone in my close chain of command says that it is impossible to get a slot for it. Or that they dont need Airborne people. I was a first time go at air assault so i know that it wouldn't be to hard to pass airborne. All it is, is running and jumping. so what are some ways to get slotted to go to the school. I dont wanna go to 160th, but i wouldnt mind going to bragg. I just wanna be able to get a slot for the school and progress in my career.
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SFC Retention Operations Nco
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Airborne school is not an additional skill identifier like air assault. It's not a school you go to in order to add a badge. It's a special qualification identifier like Drill Sergeant or Recruiter, and so you will only go to Airborne School on your way to an Airborne assignment.
To explain it more clearly, Air Assault is a badge, Airborne is a way of life (at least for the next three years after you pass).
A non airborne unit is not authorized to send Soldiers to Airborne School. You may only attend enroute to an Airborne assignment and you will owe 3 years to the Army after that. Again - Airborne is not a school for a badge, it's a 3 year commitment. In your case, you'll have to reenlist for Airborne school.
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SPC Erich Guenther
SPC Erich Guenther
>1 y
Perhaps the Army has changed? My company at the 101st got two Airborne school slots in the mid-1980's. They gave them to whom they felt were the two top Infantryman in the unit that they wanted to see enlist again for the unit. They were sent to Fort Benning and returned with Airborne Wings and were shortly afterward promoted to SGT. Maybe they don't do that anymore? Not sure because I am not serving now. However, back then they needed paratroopers outside of the 82nd Airborne in kind of a reserve that were school qualified but never jumped and were not on jump status. Every year both the 82nd and 101st Airborne units exchange Soldiers via PCS just like other units do. My presumption in the 1980's was Fort Benning distributed airborne school slots across the Army to maintain the paratrooper reserve numbers. It was just two slots in 18 months though so the slots were very rarely given out back then.
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SFC Retention Operations Nco
SFC (Join to see)
>1 y
SPC Erich Guenther it has changed over the last few years. What was happening was that people were going to Airborne School and when HRC would attempt to place them on an Airborne assignment, they would refuse the assignment. HRC got tired I'm having an inaccurate count of available paratroopers in the army.
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SPC Erich Guenther
SPC Erich Guenther
>1 y
SFC (Join to see) - Wow, that is pretty crappy. I mean if you go to Airborne School for the reserve status you should be willing to go to a jump unit. Reminds me of the time at the 101st when we first had an EDRE and 2 Soldiers from our unit went FTR thinking the drill was real, ran back to their wives off post. Their excuse was they joined the Army for the benefits they never wanted to be sent anywhere they might get into a real war.....lol. Unbelieveable. Thanks for the new info though.
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LTC Charles "Pappy" Patchin
LTC Charles "Pappy" Patchin
>1 y
SPC Erich Guenther - The 101st is an All-Leg unit now. No parachutes at all. The only thing AIRBORNE about is the lyin' shoulder patch. The Army took every jump slot away at FY 2018.
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CSM Michael Chavaree
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“Other set of wings”? Dont spend your career trying to look good in uniform, spend it trying to perform well in it. Master the basics, be better with your hands than anyone else, be the “go-to guy”. Your mentor shouldn’t be the clothing sales mannequin, it should be someone that drives you to be better than you were yesterday. Airborne is a capability for a unit to mass assemble on a drop zone to perform a function. How is that capability an asset in your organization? I refuse to waste the Army’s money semding folks to schools that do not bring a return to the Soldier/unit/Army. If you want the airborne badge, join the Airborne!
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SSG Mark Ledford
SSG Mark Ledford
>1 y
AIRBORNE IS IN THE TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS WHY NOT LET THIS INDIVIDUAL GO TO AIRBORNE SCHOOL. WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH VOLUNTEER FOR THE MILITARY, TALKING ABOUT WASTING MONEY ? I WAS ON ACTIVE DUTY FOR 6 MONTHS WITH OUT PAY. STILL WAITING ON MY CHECK FOR 25YRS AND STILL WAITING ON MY DD-214 AND PERDEIM PAY . HAVE A GOOD DAY.GOD BLESS
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CSM Michael Chavaree
CSM Michael Chavaree
>1 y
He can go to Airborne School, then to an Airborne assignment. Nothing is free. Sorry about that bud, not much I can do to help you there. SSG Mark Ledford
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SPC Brett Robertson
SPC Brett Robertson
>1 y
SSG Mark Ledford You would have been with the 7th I.D. and 3-27th wolfhounds would you? This happened to one of our guys as well first 6 months no pay. We had front gate gaurd and I ordered him not to salute any and all officers to piss them off. Finally a general stopped and started to chew him out when I came out of the gaurd shack informed the General that I ordered him not to salute so that one of them would get pissed and stop.
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SPC Brett Robertson
SPC Brett Robertson
>1 y
SSG Richard Reavis Apparently not ,this poor young E-2 was in the Army 6 months with no pay , nothing had been getting money from his parents to live off of. Co had the 1st sgt go down to finance on base basically told by a Major to pound sand. Caption goes down to square it away told the same . This had already been going on for 5 months no resolve. We had no Lieutenant Colonel at the time he just got promoted to Colonel and put in another position we had a Major as acting battalion commander. He went down their as well I do believe this was 25 years ago. Or he was left out of the loop. I know our chain tried everything to keep things in house at company level and used every technique to do so. So yes as messed up as it was I was willing to give him an unlawful order and lose my rank of PFC E-3 at the time to help him. Besides I am 3rd generation Army direct line and 5th generation skipped Army. My 2nd great grandfather was a frontier soldier when he and the men would go without military pay they were temporarly released so they could get jobs in a near by town so they could make money. Look it up in the regs it's still on the books.
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SSG(P) Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Operations Specialist
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You can re-enlist for the school or try to work your way over to 5th SFG(A) who is also in Campbell and always needing 91B’s and they will also send you to airborne school
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CPL Joseph Elinger
CPL Joseph Elinger
>1 y
So will Rangers.
Or, transfer to an Airborne Post like Bragg.
LOL !
Off the cuff, they'd have a fit about new officers assigned to 82nd who weren't jump qualified & worse yet, wouldn't make BAT.
Ha ha.
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CPL Joseph Elinger
CPL Joseph Elinger
>1 y
SPC (Join to see)
"Trust me," they'll be more than happy to tell you to go BAT if & when they need you to jump. Until then, chill.
Try a sport jump.
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CPL Joseph Elinger
CPL Joseph Elinger
>1 y
SPC (Join to see)
There are also MANY Army correspondence courses available. Yes you get credited & points. Not all schools have badges & ribbons. Some of the best ones don't.
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CPL Joseph Elinger
CPL Joseph Elinger
>1 y
SSG(P) (Join to see)
& you'll keep ending up there.
Promotion Boards (for E-5 & above) look @ your picture, HQ and Personnel look at your file. Any: Airborne, Spec Ops, Security Clearance, or in some cases *Special Identifiers (even good ones) will get you "pidgeon holed" into Special Posts, the only way around it is when they need your rank above your Identifiers ie you reach a high enough paygrade.
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