Which military school did you enjoy the most or learn the most from?

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 14:22:23 -0500

When, where, why?

Response by SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS made Nov 14 at 2014 2:35 PM

SFC Dr. Joseph Finck, BS, MA, DSS — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 14:35:45 -0500

Protective Services and Antiterrorism Evasive Driving Course taught by the United States Army Military Police School (USAMPS) at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. We shot MP5s, M11s, ran obstacle courses, and drove cars to their limit. Not to mention ramming, PIT maneuvers, and training Operations. It was a blast (pun intended). That was the most fun.

I learned the most at Crisis and Hostage Negotiator Course also taught by USAMPS at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. It was a three week course taught by the most professional and experienced hostage negotiator I have ever met. The course was filled with volumes of information and practical exercises which were role played by professional actors. This course combined with the Special Victims Unit Course and the Child Abuse Prevention and Investigation Techniques course were a motivating factor in my choice of a Master of Arts Degree in Forensic Psychology.

Response by SGT Edward Thomas made Nov 14 at 2014 3:51 PM

SGT Edward Thomas — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 15:51:59 -0500

US Army Airborne School, September 1996, Fort Benning, GA. It taught me how to put my fear of heights into proper perspective. It also allowed me to bond with my brothers and sisters who are also Airborne qualified.

Response by SSG Peter Ludlum made Nov 14 at 2014 3:58 PM

SSG Peter Ludlum — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 15:58:39 -0500

Light Leaders Course at the Ranger Dept Ft Benning.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2014 4:06 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 16:06:50 -0500

Pathfinder, most challenging. But FreeFall school was the funniest. Airborne school, because I was a private and thought it made me a bad ass. Air assault, coz it gave me my third badge and made me think I was more of a bad ass. But NCOES was my favorite. Nothing like buffing floors and listening to crap I already knew from a guy who wasn't as smart as the dumbest guy in the class. Lol. Just kidding NCO academy. Not really, but let's say I am.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2014 4:29 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 16:29:26 -0500

Comsec Account Manager course. It opened the door to a new world of opportunities in the IT/Cyrpto world. I learned its a VERY document tedious as well as time sensitive course. I enjoyed it however.

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Nov 14 at 2014 6:58 PM

Capt Richard I P. — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 18:58:44 -0500

How to pick a favorite? OCS is the proving ground, TBS is the shared misery that unites the Corp's Officer Corps, IOC is "man school" and SSPCC was a lot of fun shooting and sneaking around.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2014 7:01 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 19:01:56 -0500

The counterintelligence agent's course. It was my MOS producing school and I learned a ton. That was 1979, Fort Huachuca, AZ.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2014 7:08 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 19:08:52 -0500

CV-22 Avionics School.

Being an electrician, I was able to learn a lot about GPS and guidance systems; was super neat. Also enjoyed it because it was a TDY, and it was funny when marines yelled at me when I didn't shaved on weekends and I told them I'm airforce...

Response by CMSgt James Nolan made Nov 14 at 2014 7:16 PM

CMSgt James Nolan — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 19:16:05 -0500

US Army SRT School (SWAT), 1989, Fort McClellan, 2 full week of "induced stress". Nothing but shooting, PT and teamwork.

Response by MSG Gene Potocki made Nov 16 at 2014 11:37 AM

MSG Gene Potocki — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 11:37:18 -0500

Pathfinder was fun! Infantry Mortar Leaders Course refined my knowledge to the next level in making me a better Weapons PSG / PL. Sniper employment course at Camp camp Lejeune was another fun one.

Response by 1stSgt Daryl Allen made Nov 16 at 2014 1:33 PM

1stSgt Daryl Allen — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 13:33:55 -0500

I learned and enjoyed more from the U.S. Air Force Emergency Services Team Course then any school while I was in the military. For those of you who don't know it was the Air Force SWAT Course. I learned both my strengths and weaknesses and how to overcome the weaknesses. Great instructors and later in years good friends and team mates.

Response by SFC Dave Joslin made Nov 16 at 2014 2:50 PM

SFC Dave Joslin — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 14:50:38 -0500

Army Mountain Warfare School - 2008 - Vermont: It was an extremely physically challenging course that also required collective team involvement and individual skill utilization. And as a mountain climber as a hobby, being able to climb for two weeks on the Army dime was pretty rewarding.

Air Force Hyperbaric Course - 2001 - Brooks AFB, TX: Probably to most mentally challenging (gas laws and physics -eww) course that I took during my time in. As a young Medic sitting in a room full of doctors and nurses was a bit intimidating, but when I graduated I felt quite accomplished and a bit smarter.

I know this one was not a military course, but the cool factor was off the charts:
Counter Narcotics and Terrorist Operations Medical Support (CONTOMS) - 2006 - FLETC Glynco, GA. This was a joint DHA/DOJ taught SWAT Medic course. For a conventional side of the fence Medic to play with the HRT/SRT teams...cool factor = 10+. And, I learned quite a bit of unconventional medicine that helped me better serve my unit when deployed to Afghanistan!

Response by SSG Maurice P. made Nov 16 at 2014 3:11 PM

SSG Maurice P. — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 15:11:25 -0500

Besides MCRD Parris Island .....................Marine Corps N.C.O School at Camp Smith in Hawaii taught me alot about surviving on a battlefield espirit de corps and true team work and military bearing when your exhausted tired and in pain you always look and act like a marine...............the Gysgt Senior Instructor was a Marine thru and thru...............Oohrah and Semper Fi

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 16 at 2014 4:04 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 16:04:29 -0500

Kind of a toss up here, USASMA and MOUT. As for DINFOS, IPC.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 16 at 2014 6:03 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 18:03:18 -0500

I'd say mine was as one of two Army NCOs at the Air Force Advanced Communication Course at Oklahoma University. Had a lot of fun with the Air Force class and was amazed at how little they knew about other services....despite being very intelligent, they didn't know the Army had dress blues which I wore at graduation....(or that the Air Force Blues actually derived from it in the Army Air Force....)

Response by SSG Chris Cherry made Nov 17 at 2014 12:56 AM

SSG Chris Cherry — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:56:59 -0500

SERE-C, by far. It'll get you to the limit and make you go just a bit further. Learned a lot about myself and gained several skills that I'll have forever.

Response by SSgt Bobby Skinner made Nov 20 at 2014 4:36 PM

SSgt Bobby Skinner — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 16:36:13 -0500

NCO School and favorite was SERE School

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 3 at 2014 7:50 PM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 19:50:14 -0500

U.S. Army Ranger School! although I didn't necessary enjoy all aspects of the course while there. I had a great time and learned a ton!

Response by COL Jean (John) F. B. made Dec 4 at 2014 2:17 PM

COL Jean (John) F. B. — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 14:17:12 -0500

Ranger School --- It taught me a lot about myself and other people. It taught me the importance of teamwork and unit members looking out for and taking care of each other. It taught me that you can continue on, even when your mind and body want to quit. It taught me to respect others who have gone through the course and completed it, because I know what they had to do to graduate. It taught me leadership and communication skills that remained with me throughout my career. It taught me that I love the Army and the people in it.

It did not teach me humility... :-)

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Dec 4 at 2014 2:55 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 14:55:13 -0500

Telecommunications Managers School. College Level Administrative Course and the instructors were outstanding. Learned every Government Form and Requirement and how to request anything and everything. There were 2 colored pens If I remember right red and green Red counted against you and what you drafted was wrong and it could be spelling to lots of other things green didn't count against you but there was a better approach and or wording you could have used. I very rarely got red marks but got plenty of green right overs. Where I first learned about SOFAs (Yes I had to learn how to write a SOFA with a Foreign Gov't in order to obtain Telecommunications Service).

Response by SP5 Joel O'Brien made Dec 4 at 2014 2:59 PM

SP5 Joel O'Brien — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 14:59:32 -0500

The Journalism and Broadcaster courses at DINFOS. This was when they were still at Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 4 at 2014 8:03 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 20:03:20 -0500

I would have to say, All Army Combatives Level 3. The most physically and mentally challenging 4 weeks of my life, so far.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 4 at 2014 8:50 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 20:50:24 -0500

Not exactly a "school," nor is it very exclusive as most combat medics go through this training prior to deploying, but I got a lot out of Brigade Combat Team Trauma Training (BCT3). Live tissue training is about as close as you can get to simulating combat trauma, and the instructors did an excellent job making the scenarios as stressful and realistic as possible.

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Dec 4 at 2014 11:13 PM

LTC Stephen C. — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 23:13:09 -0500

SGM Private RallyPoint Member, I would say the Weapons NCO Supervisor Candidate Special Forces Course at Fort Bragg, NC, JUL-AUG70. This was the Vietnam era version of the current SF Weapons Sergeant course. I can't even remember all the weapons we had to learn about, light and heavy, current and obsolete, foreign and domestic. Extraordinary training!

Response by MAJ Chris Ballard made Mar 12 at 2015 7:59 AM

MAJ Chris Ballard — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 07:59:54 -0400

Ranger school. Enjoy it? not so much, but I did learn a lot - mostly about myself. The biggest thing I learned: when you think, "that's it, not one more step. I'm done," you are about at the halfway point of the level of suck you can endure.

Response by GySgt John O'Donnell made Jun 9 at 2016 2:57 PM

GySgt John O'Donnell — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 14:57:25 -0400

Pathfinder, Ft. Benning (both most enjoyed and more intense learning). As Marine there are very few of us that have earned the torch. Even though (as Marines) I can't wear the badge in uniform it is one of my most proud accomplishments.